Panasonic X700 review: Glossy Symbian

Every mobile phone that breaks through the limits deserves attention. Panasonic X700 certainly belongs among devices like that. It is a luxurious clamshell phone with Symbian Series 60, a well-known operating system from Nokia smartphones. X700 is a success of Panasonic, now you can read a large review with many pictures.

Key benefits

• attractive design
• small size (compared to the Series 60 phones)
• Symbian Series 60 smartphone
• comfortable and large keypad
• quality display
• torch (white diode)
• QuickOffice application for handling with office documents

Key drawbacks

• music functions missing (radio and MP3 player)
• the phone matches a year old Nokia 6600 in the meaning of functions
• low quality camera
• there are cases when the phone can't display missed calls
• memory card with low capacity
• obsolete way of communication with PC

Panasonic X700 is the second flip phone running on Symbian Series 60. The first was released in October - Nokia 6260. But whereas Nokia is making flip phones in its own way (that doesn't mean it is bad), Panasonic bears on tradition. It is a clamshell phone in all aspects and however, it has been produced in Czech Republic it cannot deny its Japanese origin. We can see it for example on design, construction or keypad style.

 

Big, but the smallest Symbian

Looking at the X700, immediately recalls me Panasonic GD87 that I was using two years ago. It was a clamshell phone of the same size and with similar design. Overall, compared to all the phones, Panasonic X700 sizing 97 x 49 x 24 mm obtains a mark "mid big", but with its weight 107 g the X700 ranks as a "heavy phone". However, comparing to its rivals in the Series 60 class it is the smallest and the most lightweight mobile phone. You can find exact comparison of sizes and weights in following table:

 

Phone	Dimensions	Weight
Nokia 3650	130 Χ 57 Χ 26 mm	130 g
Nokia 6260	102 Χ 49 Χ 23 mm	130 g
Nokia 6600	109 Χ 58 Χ 24 mm	122 g
Nokia 6670	109 Χ 53 Χ 21 mm	118 g
Nokia 7610	109 Χ 53 Χ 19 mm	118 g
Siemens SX1	109 Χ 56 Χ 19 mm	116 g
Panasonic X700	97 Χ 49 Χ 24 mm	107 g

Comparing size: with a card, a hand and Nokia 7610

It appears like Japanese phones: X700 is complete silver, except a gray oval on the front and generally combines matte surfaces with mirrored edges. I find just these chrome parts a bit slushy. The only material used for covers is plastic but the construction is solid. The clamshell is perhaps locked too strongly when it is being locked or opened - you can hear a loud click when you manipulate a cover. In open position, you can sometimes hear soft creak of a hinge and a battery cover sounds if you clasp the phone. Anyway, the overall phone construction is above the average.

Details on the front part of the phone

 

Secret of a small display

Front display features resolution 64 x 96 pixels and size of 16 x 23 mm. Information about type and color scheme is diverging a bit. The display is visibly passive and even that the producer claims 65K colors in the user's guide, it is obvious that it is 4K colors (it is confirmed also from other sources).

A clock with blue wallpaper appears on a small display (Panasonic calls it Sub-LCD) after you close the clamshell; display illumination turns off after some time. Using a key on the left side of the phone it is possible to turn the display on again and besides that, you can use it to shift between the clock and the menu, where you can see the operator name, time, date, remaining battery power, signal strength indicator and other icons.

Small display: wallpaper and menu

One of the drawbacks of the X700 is that the small display sometimes do not show missed calls and messages. It is true only partially - the phone is doing that only when you have set the clock on the display. But if you set the menu to be displayed, usually you will not be reminded of the missed calls. It is not 100% sure; I was not successful to find rationality in that how it works. Panasonic should solve this function better, because you should leave some missed call out like this.

Left button also can mute a ringing by an incoming call, which you do not want to answer immediately. It is used for shooting with the phone in a closed position as well. Small display is used as a finder in this case.

Left side button

The first Symbian with a torch

Besides the info on the small display, also a green blinking diode alerts you on an incoming call. The diode is hidden above a lighting diode on the edge of a gray panel and you will not even see it when it is not blinking. It can also shine in red - during charging and when the camera is activated, so that your "victim" should see you are shooting. White diode light is sufficiently strong to help you to find a lock but it is not a full substitution of a hand torch. To turn the lighting on, just press the star key for a while.

Torch detail • during charging and shooting in the dark • the torch is sufficient for close up pictures • this scene was lit by Panasonic in absolute dark

In the opposite side of the diode on the gray panel, you can find a small window of an infrared port. In the middle, there is an aperture of speaker used for ringing and loud handsfree, as well as camera lens on the top. Silver rounded space cannot be used as a mirror, because soft grooves are ground on it, causing the light refraction. Thanks to the display, a mirror is not necessary at all.

On the right side of the phone, you will find a connector under a rubber plug that is used to connect a personal handsfree. The plug is attached to the phone so you will not lose it. The same stands for protection of a system connector. A wrist strap eyelet goes across the right upper corner of the phone.

Twice protected aperture for handsfree • system connector

 

Panasonic loves SD cards

Panasonic did not hide the antenna inside, therefore a small "chimney" is dwarfing over the phone. After removing a rubber plug, it is also possible to connect the external antenna. X700 is a triple band phone, supporting 900, 1800 and 1900 MHz frequencies.

Antenna is really not "in"

Door on the upper edge is hiding a memory card. Panasonic is using miniSD cards and so X700 is one of a few Series 60 phones that are not using MMC format. With the phone you'll get also an adaptor that "makes" a standard SD card from the mini size, so you can use your miniSD in common card-readers.

MiniSD card and Panasonic X700

Panasonic provides the user with a 16 MB card, which is not a lot. Card is replaceable during normal phone operation; before you remove the card it is necessary to select "Remove the card" in the profiles menu. That will close all applications so you will not lose any data.

With the card you'll receive an adaptor that enables to use the card in a common card-reader

Card management application • safe removal selection •
file manager doesn't show you everything, install another one

A Li-Ion battery with capacity of 780 mAh is placed under the back cover. Official duration data are diverging. If we rely on the user's guide, Panasonic X700 lasts 77 - 170 hours on standby, 120 - 350 minutes of call. Real values will be lower, of course. I cannot share my own experiences because I do not have the phone for such a long time and testing during writing a review is not a normal use (anyway, eight hours is not a good result; we will see how the phone will go on). Charging takes 1,5 - 2 hours. SIM card fits completely in the slot under the battery.

Look under the back cover and the battery

 

Display is unusually small

Inner display features classic resolution of Series 60 phones: 176 x 208 pixels. Sizes on each side are by two millimeters smaller than at other mobiles of the class: 33 x 39 mm. The active display shows 65K colors and it is of a high quality, indeed.

Display is smaller but its size is still above the average

Wallpapers can be loaded on the display; Panasonic X700 also supports graphic themes that change also the menu appearance. Standard appearances are, with a few exceptions, terrible, but Panasonic accepts common themes used at Nokia Series 60 phones. It is possible to set brightness of the display and delay for the display saver activation. A "jumping" bar with date and clock forms the saver.

Various graphic themes

 

A respectable keypad

I am going to close the hardware part of the review by a description of the keypad. Main control element is a four-way button with a confirmation key in the center. Four functional keys are around the main button - two are placed traditionally below the display, next a "pen" key to access the context menu and a correction key. Below them, there is a row with call control keys and a key for entering the main menu. Softly bent rows form a numeric keypad; keys arrangement is regular. In the bottom corners there are two small keys for wap browser fast activation and a switch joint with profiles control button.

That's how the Japanese keypad looks like

Thanks to the clamshell construction the keypad is quite big, there is enough space left for it. Keys are pretty good; it is easy to know when they click. To make typing more comfortable I would remove those two buttons in lower corners, which I frequently pressed by mistake instead of correct keys in the lower row.

The keys lift is not too high but it clicks clear enough after press

Keys legends are black; by illumination, they get blue. In addition, bends separating the rows of keys are illuminated. Panasonic added to blue also green and red for the call control keys; but there were no diodes left for the main control cross-button.

Keypad illumination

New mobile phone with older functions

Panasonic X700 is using the operating system Symbian 7.0s with graphic build Series 60 v.2.0. That is completely same as e.g. at Nokia 6600 and that is also the reason for controls and choice of functions. Today's Nokia phones are already using more sophisticated environment with new applications. We can take it as a drawback - Panasonic is coming with the same applications a year after Nokia and Siemens did. In some cases - for example with the multimedia functions - it is a step behind them.

As Siemens SX1, Panasonic also modified a standard environment of the Series 60 - they added its icons, modified titles, placed the standard programs in the menu totally differently than the common way. Overall, I am quite happy with the phone control.

Icons and arrangement of programs is different form other Series 60 phones • various types of other selections

 

Measuring the phone speed

I enjoyed the Panasonic speed until I loaded my contacts list and synchronized my tasks. Speed of the phone was the same after this operation as the speed at the other Series 60 phones. During setting of e-mail box the phone was restarted by itself but it happened just once.

Panasonic X700 uses processor ARM4 on frequency 104 MHz. Even that official specification claims about 8 MB of user memory, the overall capacity is 16 MB. Entire memory is not available - even at the phone without any running applications, there were only 4 MB of memory left. RAM memory right after startup is round about 9,5 MB.

With SPMark04 program I was able perform a 3D graphics test and to compare Panasonic X700 with other phones. With the result 424, it is the slowest Symbian Series 60 phone, together with Sendo X.

Let's go straight to measure Java speed, supported by Panasonic X700 as MIDP 2.0. jBenchmark computed result 2156 (1.0) and 76 (2.0). It is the average result in the first case and above the average in the second case.

 

Starting with the phone

Functions description takes us back to well-known system Series 60. Except small details, everything is the same as e.g. at Nokia 6600. I cannot say much good about calls sound quality; Panasonic is on the same level with Nokia and that means "not much". The sound is with bass backgrounds but also often with noises in the background; generally, the loud handsfree is good but could be better.

Entering and dialing a number

Address book uses complete shared memory and can be synchronized with a PC. Access the address book by pressing a key and then search by entering letters of a name. There is an address book in the phone, an address book on the SIM card and callers group management. It is possible to assign to contact a number of various information - e.g. a date of birth, which is a change compared to Nokia phones. This item is not copied in the calendar, so its usability is questionable.

Searching in the address book • detail of a contact

Each name can be assigned with a picture that appears on the display by an incoming call; it works also at the inner display. An individual ringing tone can be assigned either directly to a name in the address book or to a group of callers. Ringing profiles offer classic possibilities, e.g. filtering by groups that you can set. Holding the "#" key switches the phone to a silent mode.

Ringing profiles menu

Panasonic X700 normally uses 40 tones for ringing XMF files. This format combines real sounds with MID melodies. MID files can also be used, as well as WAV format. Unfortunately, the Panasonic cannot work with MP3 files and it is not even possible to use them as a ringing tone.

Ringing tones are in XMF format in default.

Writing a message

We can choose from normal text message, MMS or e-mail message. Panasonic X700 is not supporting instant messaging or Push to talk function. With the X700 writing goes easy, the keypad is brilliant and responses of the phone are fast.

Messages menu is unnecessarily "hidden" in the submenu • and here it comes in full parade • writing a text message

Multimedia messages editor is not bringing any innovations. It is possible to add there photos and other pictures, clips and sounds. The same stands also for an e-mail client. It knows how to work with attachments and can adapt HTML e-mails to a readable form.

Creating an MMS • e-mails overview • message that was originally in HTML

Panasonic scores thanks to a QuickOffice application that is installed in the X700. The application allows the user to read attachments such as MS Word, Excel or PowerPoint documents. DOC and XLS files can be even edited. You can find the same application for example at Nokia 6630 and it is really excellent.

E-mail with attachments • viewing an Excel table • reading a Word document • Quickoffice application icon

 

Organizer and other functions

Alarm clock is not repeated and the calendar comes with the same features and drawbacks as the Nokia smartphones. It is better than at the ordinary mobile phones, but some things are missing too. You can view an event in a day, week or month view - you will set one of these as default. There are three types of events available: a meeting, a note and a birthday. You can set reminder and repetition for every event. It is a persisting problem that notes you have written e.g. in the MS Outlook will not appear in the phone after you synchronize it with a PC.

A simple alarm clock • day, week and month view on the calendar

Tasks belong to a To-do list; it is possible to tick them off after completion. Notes are used for entering the texts, but alike new Series 60 phones, Panasonic cannot synchronize them with a PC. Voice recorder (that works also as a call recorder) can make just up to a minute records.

To-do list • notes • voice recorder • calculator (also a bit stupid)

Two games are installed in the phone - a minigolf and a 2D arcade (I didn't get it). You can load other games thanks to Symbian and Java.

 

Poor multimedia and low quality camera

Panasonic is absolutely short of multimedia functions for working with the sound. It is neither featuring a radio nor supporting MP3, applications that are commonly integrated in the most modern phones. There are no headphones included in the original accessory, so forget the installation of external MP3 player. The only way is to install the UltraMP3 application that can partially solve the problem with playing the MP3 files.

X700 is, from this point of view, on the same or maybe on the worse level as a year old Nokia 6600. The old Siemens SX1 was offering these functions.

Integrated camera features resolution of 640 x 480 pixels. Fortunately, Panasonic did not content himself with Nokia primitive solution and added a PhotoBase application, which extends the camera possibilities. However, it is starting slower than the integrated program.

Standard camera environment • poor settings possibilities • standard gallery

You can select from three different resolution modes and three quality levels. Use a digital zoom to bring the scene closer; it is possible to use the exposure compensation during shooting or to turn off the sound of a shutter if it disturbs you. With the PhotoBase, it is not possible to use the integrated torch during shooting in worse light conditions. With a standard application there is not such a limit but you have to turn on the diode e.g. from a standby display - a keypad shortcut is not working during shooting.

PhotoBase has regrettably slower startup • it is possible to use the exposure compensation during shooting • built-in gallery

With the PhotoBase, one can use various effects and borders; join up to three pictures to horizontal or vertical panorama pictures; add text, clip arts or borders to pictures; rotate, resize and crop them, edit their brightness and contrast.

How are the pictures themselves? I have already seen worse camera mobile phones but these pictures are definitely below the average. All the pictures look like foggy so I looked for one more time whether there is no protecting slide remaining on the lens system by accident. There wasn't any, this is really the final output. Pictures are fuzzy, even fuzzier towards to the edges. The nicest pictures are those of the close objects - if you place an object in the middle of a picture, fuzzy edges induce an impression of space.

Sample pictures

Besides the photos, the X700 also handles video record. It records in common 3GP format, in resolution 176 x 144 pixels. Video length depends only on a free memory but you can also set a limited size to be able to use it in multimedia messages. You can play a video in the phone in a RealPlayer program.

No EDGE on this one

Panasonic X700, as well as Siemens SX1, features a Bluetooth, an infrared port and a data cable connection to a PC. In some countries, the phone is delivered straight with a USB cable but there was none in our package. Data transfers are ending with GPRS class 10 - do not expect EDGE or 3G supports from the phone.

Selection of communication applications

Panasonic X700 is not supporting HSCSD technology.

I will pay attention to a Bluetooth for a while. I do not remember any Series 60 phone enabling an option to set for how long it will be visible to other devices. Hence, the Panasonic is safer than the other smartphones. Moreover, it is possible to set the data transfer speed in three levels; I could not verify whether it has any sense.

Bluetooth options • setting the visibility time • speed setting

Panasonic X700 supports a Bluetooth in these profiles

• serial port
• dial-up connection
• fax
• object push
• files transfer
• headset
• handsfree

To connect to the Internet via Bluetooth it is not enough to set only the Internet APN in GPRS menu. It is also necessary to enter known parameter +CGDCONT=1,"IP","APN" to the initialization string of a Windows Bluetooth modem. I did not spend much time connected to the Internet, but if we can consider 30 minutes of connection as an authoritative test, then the connection was stable and acceptably fast. At T-Mobile, I reached speed about 55 kb/s.

If you want to use the phone as a modem, you have to initialize the connection
via infrared port and USB cable also from the phone

Wap browser displays wap pages perfectly well and also opens the text versions of web pages quite good.

Wap browser

 

Smartphone must know how to co-operate with a PC

Together with the handset, you will receive a CD with a PC Suite program. Panasonic X700 comes out from older Symbian phones and therefore the way of communication with a PC is obsolete. I am spoiled by a modern version of Nokia PC Suite hence the comeback to mRouter was a bit unpleasant for me. I didn't succeed running the communication via Bluetooth but that could be a problem with the Nokia PC Suite, which was already installed and set in my PC. I did not want to put away a program that I am frequently using, so I connected the phone to a PC via an infrared port. It was necessary to wait some time until both devices found each other and started to communicate and responses were quite slow.

PC Suite for Panasonic X700 consists of several applications:

• Backup/Restore: for backup and restore of data
• Control Panel: PC Suite settings
• Data Import: this function can load data to the X700 either from Palm computers or from other Panasonic X700
• Synchronise: application used for synchronization of the address book, calendar and to-do list (notes are missing)
• File Transfer: application for files transfer; it is quite limited - the user has no access to a complete folders structure
• Image Transfer: special program that is used for transferring pictures between the phone and a PC
• Settings Wizard: setting accounts for data services, e-mail or MMS.

  PC Suite programs are functional but it could be more comfortable to work with them. I expect something more from the software for contemporary mobile phones. I had similar reproach to a awfully slow PC Suite for Siemens SX1 - why only Nokia can do it?

 

Look at the best Panasonic

In this review, I compared the Panasonic with other contemporary Series 60 phones and it is obvious that the X700 cannot keep up with them in some details. By these details, I mean the multimedia, utilities for work with sound. Nevertheless, after evaluation of all features and functions, Panasonic X700 reached the seventh position in the editorial chart. Nokia 6260, its biggest competitor, stands right behind that with only a few tenths of percent loss.

If we would say that Panasonic X700 is a bad phone, we would doom also the other Series 60 models. They are the same from the functionality point of view; they differ just in details. Conversely, it is necessary to acknowledge attractive design, the best size in the class and thanks to the clamshell construction the large and comfortable keypad.

Four views on one of the most beautiful contemporary smartphones

Panasonic X700 will not bring anything new to experienced users of the Series 60 phones. It can offer them just a different appearance and perhaps a better ergonomics for quite a lot of money. However, for beginners who are deciding among smartphones I would recommend the Panasonic X700. It is a very good phone.