Siemens SL55: Small is beautiful (Siemens SL55)

Member Name: exca1ibur

Product:	Siemens SL55
Date:	22/09/03 (1942 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: elegant and classy looks, PDA style functionality

Disadvantages: no bluetooth, cramped keypad

The Siemens SL55 proves that great things really do come in small packages.
Measuring a mere 81.6 by 44.5 millimeters, with a depth of just 22 millimeters and a weight of 79 grams, it literally fits into the palm of your hand. It resembles a mouse but much smaller and lighter. For such a tiny phone, the SL55 is jampacked with all the features you will look for in a phone. Siemens managed to make the SL55 very compact without compromising functionality. It features a sleek slide-down keypad that houses numeric keys. Even when the phone is closed and the keypad is inactive, all menu items can still be accessed and controlled using the two soft keys and the yes/no buttons located on the main face of the phone. On the side of the device is the up/down volume changer key and the button for activating the voice recorder. The large color display, which has a range of 4096 colors, dominates the eye-catching face of the handset. However, it lacks a few millimeters of space just above the top row of the keypad making it uncomfortable to use. Also the keys are very close to each other that heavy texters will have a hard time adjusting especially if they are used to Nokia phones.

SL55?s features include MMS, polyphonic ringtones, integrated handsfree talking facility and voice control. In addition the SL55?s extra large phonebook means that you will never be short of space for a vital contact, and with triband technology you can keep in touch from virtually anywhere in the world.

Although the phone doesn?t come with a built-in camera, you can still take pictures by using the optional plug-in QuickPic Camera with integrated flash and share it with friends over email or MMS. Pictures of 160 x 120 or 640 x 480 pixels can be combined with sounds and text to complete a personal multimedia message. GPRS (class 8) ensures data transfer and downloading WAP content is quick, and appointments and contact data can be synchronized between the SL55 and a PC or note
book.

SL55 is capable of downloading polyphonic ringtones, logos and wallpapers at the touch of a button, the phone is also Java enabled, meaning you can download and install new applications and games easily.

The Siemens SL55 integrates handsfree talking, voice control and voice dialing. Siemens claims that the lithium-ion battery supplied as standard in the phone offers 200 hours of standby time and 210 minutes of talk time.

The phone also contains features that you would normally get from other phones it has a calculator, profiles, pin activation, organizer, calendar, alarm clock, currency converter, stopwatch and countdown.

Like any other phone the SL55 has also its shortcomings. There is no Bluetooth, the battery life is a bit weak and the display is not even close to other phones that I have seen. There is also a tendency for the phone to crawl especially when you access the games but the wait is worth it. According to my 6-year old son, the games ROCK and very entertaining. The problem of cramped keypad is also a factor to be considered but using the phone for about an hour will make you forget about it.

Overall the Siemens SL55 works well in my tests. While it has nothing flashy in its function, I fall in love with its elegant and classy looks. The PDA style functionality is also a plus in the SL55.

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