Panasonic X700 review: Glossy Symbian

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 Panasonic X700 comes out from older Symbian phones and therefore the way of communication with a PC is obsolete.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.