In the history of every company, there are a few dates that are special. For Sprint, they hope that June 15, 2008 was one of those days. On that day QChat went live across the nation. It was the first tangible step to try to bridge the deteriorating gap between iDEN and CDMA customers. The Sanyo Pro 700 became an important piece to this puzzle.
The Sanyo Pro 700 has a rugged exterior and a no-frills appearance that will be the choice of many iDEN customers. The Pro 700 is not a hybrid device as was seen in times past. The cell phone is certified to the specification of the Military 810F for shock, dust and vibration. It will be the very first non-Motorola phone to offer Nextel Direct Connect or NDC. Some of its other features include a QVGA display, EVDO Rev and GPS. When you purchase a Sanyo Pro 700 you will find the following:
HTC Phones Sprint
o Lithium Ion battery
o Holster with swivel clip
o AC adapter
o User's guide
Design
The Pro 700 is a rugged, no frills device. Most of the cell phone is coated in black rubber. The front display is surrounded by bright milled aluminum. That makes it a sharp contrast between both of the materials. The black hex nuts, which may very well be fake, that hold the housing serves to enhance the ruggedness of the Pro 700. The rubbery finish and narrow design give this cell phone a much better feel sort of like that of a rugged KRZR.
The display along with its milled housing dominates the flip's front when the Pro 700 is closed. The external display is perfectly suited for the outdoors since it is a high contrast black and white. There are several different options of this cell phone. However, the numbers are all black and large and are set on a white background. Both above and below the displays sit the Sanyo and Sprint logos screen printed on the aluminum. The flip part of the phone is shorter than its overall length. You can see the large speaker sitting on a RAZR-like hump.
Along the left side of this cell phone from top to bottom is the NDC button, the volume rocker and a covered micro USB port. The right side of the cell phone features a covered headset jack, the side end key and the speakerphone toggle. The keys of the Sanyo Pro 700 are quite rubbery which seems to make them a bit sticky and easy to use. The right side features a covered headset jack, a side end key and a speakerphone toggle. There is a blue backlight which is featured on the Pro 700 cell phone. It blinks to alert its user of a missed NDC call. This is cool detail to have on a cell phone!
The back of the Sanyo Pro 700 is quite plain and is made up almost entirely of the battery door. There is an NDC sticker that you will see on the battery door. Due to the fact that the "NDC" is not printed on the cell phone seems to be a low-quality move on an otherwise high quality cell phone. Near the bottom of the cell phone's door is a sliding lock that will keep the cover in place.
The Sanyo Pro 700 seems to be a very well designed cell phone. It will not win any awards for beauty. However, it will win the respect of many Nextel users and that is what Sprint had in mind.
Sanyo Pro 700 - Looking For a Rugged Phone? Try This