Siemens CFX65 review: The chameleon clamshell

Style is hidden inside

If you were thinking that there is no reason to classify this phone among the stylish phones, I am sure that you'll change your mind after opening it. Inside, only the area around the edges is made of the silver like plastic. The bigger part of the phone is decided in the same light blue changeable color supplemented with chrome details. This combination is suitable for the phone and I think women will especially enjoy it.

In opened position the Siemens CFX65 flip phone looks much better

The display is embedded in the blue area. The producer's logo is placed above the display and the phone type sign stands below. The earphone is traditionally covered by a metallic grid. A wide shiny frame borders the entire area.

Metallic grid of an earphone and a hinge detail

The keypad is completely flat in the bottom part. Again a wide shiny frame borders it. The functional and the alphanumeric part of the keypad are joined together in one unit. Outer keys are decided in blue color whilst inner keys are silver. The chrome dividing lines between these colorfully distinguished parts are very impressive.

Demonstration of how the color changes from light blue to violet

The main 4-way key with a confirmation button in the middle is also optically highlighted. Moving it in all directions and the confirmation is steady. I experienced small difficulties by pressing the context keys, which are located right on the top and used for confirmation of the functions displayed in the status row on the display. These keys are quite narrow and pressing them is a bit problematic.

Keypad is completely flat

Keys are very well separated - horizontally due to the dividing lines and vertically thanks to the sharp edges. The keys are slightly bulging. This is not recognizable at sight but your finger will notice it. Keypad illumination is blue and striking. Keys legends and space between them are also illuminated.

Keypad illumination is blue, strong enough and even

Displays

The inner display is sized 28 x 35 mm and can display up to 65K colors. Its resolution is good (128 x 160 pixels) and is assuring quality. Unfortunately passive (STN) technology is used, which degrades display quality with a very long inertia. This makes fast moving through the menu very difficult. The phone is not a sprinter itself.

Inner display is big enough, but should be bigger for there's enough space • Outer display

The outer display is monochrome only. It shows a digital clock, the name of your GSM provider and a status row, where you can find signal and battery strength indicator. The size of the outer display is 20 x 14 mm with 96 x 64 pixel resolution. Its illumination is crème white and it supplements a design of the phone.

Outer display shows the basic information • Missed calls or incoming messages appear on the provider's name place