Hands-on Review: Sanyo M1 Music Phone

I got my grubby mitts on the new M1 from Sanyo (available on the Sprint network) for a little hands-on time (Tom had some coverage from CES). Here are some thoughts.

The Sanyo M1 is, like many recent vintage cell phones, designed for music. So let's start there. You can download music to the phone via an overpriced web service or from your PC. Figuring out how to get songs onto the M1 requires a trip to the manual: You'll find how to put the M1 into "mass storage mode" on page 129 of the 270-page instruction book. The M1 supports MP3 and AAC files, and once you figure it all out, transfers to the phone are speedy.

One of the highlights of the phone are music controls on the front of the clamshell. The iPod-like wheel doesn't have scroll features, but it works perfectly well. You can also play tunes by opening the phone and playing music from the standard menus. Stereo speakers are mounted directly above the external display on the front of the phone, and many songs come through quite loud. You can also, of course, listen through headphones. The phone includes 1GB of memory, which is good for about 220 songs (assuming you have no videos or pictures on the device).

The phone includes 3G-class EV-DO high-speed wireless which lets you browse the web, view (at additional cost) TV programming, or send email. Without a keyboard, few will be using the M1 as a smart phone, but the features are there in a pinch at least.

That's the good, now for the bad: Most obvious is the girth of the M1. In an era of 11-millimeter slimline handsets, the M1 is a full 0.9-inches thick (about 23 mm). In your pocket it feels as substantial as a wallet, and this thickness is going to turn off a lot of potential buyers.

The screen quality is also not very impressive. It's very bright and vibrant, but if you look at it at even a slight angle off of straight-on, pictures and video become difficult to discern. The 2-megapixel camera sounds nice, but my shots didn't come out particularly well.

Other little issues include the lack of a media card slot (you're stuck with 1GB forever), a proprietary USB connector, and tiny port covers that are extremely difficult to pry open. The power plug port is particularly tricky to gain access to; it took me a full minute to manage to wedge the A/C adapter plug into the phone.

The 4 hours, 10 minutes of talk time aren't particularly impressive either, though Sanyo claims the phone offers 18 hours of music playing time (via headset), and that's in line with its other battery specs.

In an age of umpteen music phones flooding the market, the M1 has some cool features, nice styling, and exceptional audio quality, but it falls short in just about every other category. Stick with the LG Fusic if you want a phone in this arena.