Siemens S75 review: Serious competitor

The new Siemens Class S is not just a "boring" mobile phone meant for work. Apart from luxury elegancy, brilliantly elaborated functions and fast data transfers, it offers an excellent MP3 player and a high-class camera. And what about the price? It's so low that it is hard to believe.

Key features

• good price/performance ratio
• brilliant phonebook
• fast data transfers with EDGE
• improved MP3 playback
• 128MB memory card

Main disadvantages

• poor display resolution
• unstable software
• loud click sounds of the buttons

All Siemens mobile phones from the S class are famous for their excellent working features. In particular, the latest S65 model has become very popular for its decent outlook, large display, superb phonebook service, calendar and messages, as well as for its Bluetooth and marginal orientation towards multimedia functions. Obviously, the manufacturer has decided to supplement it with several entertainment applications in order to keep the pace with the competition. And here we have Siemens S75 - a music mobile for managers.

Siemens S75

Good job

Siemens S75 looks very luxurious. Its front cover is made of black shiny plastic material, touched with chromium plated elements: the frame around the display, the decorative band above the metal grid of the speaker, the manufacturer's logo and the rectangular frame of the control button. The entire front side of the device is flanked with silver-like plastic material, which is trimmed in the middle part of both sides, thus making the phone look narrower. L

 
Fortunately, the shiny black surface is not so smooth as to make fingerprints stand out too much

  
Business style - black in a combination with chromium elements

Looked aside Siemens S75 reminds a sandwich. Both top and bottom courses are silver. In between them there is a dark grey section, in which several elements are mounted. On the right side of the phone you will find buttons for volume control of the earphones, while on the left side the camera release button and the music player button are to be found. In the bottom part of the left side you will also see a dark glass, which is basically the infrared port. The bottom side of the device is occupied by the system connector, which is identical to the system connectors of the rest of the models from the 65/75 series. Above the connector you will find a large memory card slot. To open it you will need a pen or a similar sharp object.

   
Phone's sides • the right one hosts two buttons... • ... as well as the left one

The memory card slot is located above the system connector • removing the memory card

On the top of the phone there is a small slot, which reminds an eyelet hold. However, it is nothing else but a bracket for the car holder. If you hang Siemens S75 on your neck, it will be swinging upside down as the real eyelet hold is located on the bottom side of the device, below its removable back cover. The back cover is entirely silver. Below it you will find an 820 mAh Li-Ion battery, which is said to support up to 300 hours of stand-by performance and 300 minutes of phone calls. By this very moment I have been intensively testing Siemens S75 for full two days. Nevertheless, the battery indicator is still half full.

Note: in the course of writing this review I finally managed to discharge the phone completely

 
The infrared port is located in the very bottom part of the phone's left side • holder bracket is on the top • a detailed view at the side buttons

Siemens S75 features a camera located in the upper area of its back cover. Here you will find the lens in a chromium-plated frame, a flash LED and a tiny square mirror for self-portraits. As usual in all Siemens models, the back cover of the phone also hosts the uncovered and rather ugly external antenna connector.

 
The removable cover takes a major part of the back side of the phone • ...hidden underneath are both the battery and the SIM card

The phone has a solid construction. It did not creak once no matter how hard I would twist or press it. This fact comes to supplement the good impression this luxury phone gives at first sight. The dimensions of the phone (103 x 47 x 19 mm) and its weight of 99 g send it into the category of medium big and medium heavy mobile phones.

   
Camera lens, mirror and flash diode are elegantly put into the same frame

Click, click, clap, clap

Alike the front cover, the buttons of the keypad are made of shiny black plastics. They are separate and small, but at the same time stand out enough to significantly assist touch control. Press is relatively firm, but at the same time quite loud. I myself find it so loud that I fear it may disturb a lot, if the phone is used in quiet environment.

 
The buttons of the keypad are quite comfortable to use, but still pretty loud

Similar to the SXG75 model, Siemens S75's control key is in a distinct chromium rectangular frame. Selected options are confirmed by a press on its middle part. On the sides there are two context keys and a standard pair of green and red receivers. Besides, on the left there is an additional key, which opens music files, and on the right - a key for direct access to the internet browser.

 
Keys bulge notably above the surrounding surface • keypad is backlighted in white

Apart from the loud clicks, the keypad is brilliant. In general, keys are easy to manage, even if quite small. Fast SMS writing is not a problem. The keypad is backlighted in white, but it is only the legends of the keys that shine. Side buttons have been smartly done as well. They do not need to be pressed strongly, but are somewhat difficult to find by touch.