Sagem my700x Music Centric Handset

The lowdown

Sagem has often had to be content with supplying mostly middle to low end handsets and seems to have struggled to pick up many network resellers. However, the Sagem my700x could be set to change all that; this latest flagship handset has all the right features to make it in a the fast paced music phone market and has a pretty distinctive style too

The my700x sports a slim candybar design (106 x 46 x15 mm, 95g), MP3 player, 1.3 megapixel camera, Bluetooth and removable memory. It is available in two different styles; a pink floral pattern on white for the ladies and a light blue pattern on black for the men.

What's good?

This handset is a pretty good all-rounder, MP3 playback is good quality and backed up by a reasonably straight forward media player. You can also surf the web and record short videos and play games, just as you would expect. The keypad seems pretty well designed although the keys are a little squeezed together and may not suit larger fingers. There a couple of useful side-buttons that can control your music and there is also a couple of interesting shortcuts which, once you get used to them, prove to be a pretty sensible piece of design.

The use of a MiniSD removable memory has turned out well and this format is slightly cheaper than the Sony Ericsson Walkman phone compatible Memory Stick PRO Duo format - you can pick up a 1GB card for around £30. Actually the my700x designers seem to have applied the Sony Ericsson school of thought a lot when making this phone and the result is solid and familiar.

The speech quality is one of the my700x's strongest features; when tested, my voice came through strong and clear and there was rarely any hint of popping or crackling on the line.

What's bad?

The 1.3 megapixel camera is a little bit weak compared to other phones you can pick up on contract, even though in reality they may cost more. Similarly the screen resolution is a little bit lacking and that is catalysed by a slightly odd layout of items on the screen. Battery life is again a little bit weaker than the competition, and clocks in at 4 hours of talk time and 240 hours of standby time.

The greatest irritant is the complete lack of a 3.5mm jack - the earphones are permanently integrated with the handsfree remote section.