M700 GSM Watch Phone Review

After reviewing the M800 GSM watch phone, I could not resist trying out the M700 which is basically the same with 3 major differences, a VGA camera, vibration mode and a MicroSD slot.
Here are a few pictures to give you an idea of the size of this watch phone. It is light but thick, however the gloss black colour tends to make it look smaller. The buttons are located on the top face with no buttons on the sides.
On the left, the 3 buttons are the call button, ok button and the hang up/power button. On the right, there is the up/volume up, back and down/volume down buttons. This is the default screen on the M800 giving shortcuts to the Music Player, Inbox, Menu and Voice Command. The touchscreen size is 128x160. There is even a simple pop email client in built.

Another shot from the top side.

The camera features prominently at the top, the strap is an improvement from the M800 and is adjustable for comfort. A short note about the vibration mode, it is very strong. If you have this strapped on and your alarm goes off in the morning, the vibrations itself is enough to wake you from your slumber.

The stylus clips onto the strap, more on that later. Here are the specifications :

Specifications

• Language: Chinese and English
• User Manual: Chinese
  
• Data Transfer: USB, Bluetooth
• Wallpaper: jpg or gif
• Messages: storage for 200, support SMS and MMS
• Alarm clock: MP3 as alarm sound
  
• Games: 2 common games
• Special Features: Calls vibration, calculator, graphics editor, memos, calendar, stopwatch, rates exchange, world time.
• Screen Size: 1.3 inch
• Ringtone: 64 chord; Ringtone format: mp3, mp4, midi
• Music: play mp3 at background with equalizer
• Video Playerback: 3GP, MP4,Support to play in full screen
• Camera: 1.3 megapixel
• Memory: 512MB TF card include, extendable to 2G
• Talk time: 180-250 minutes
• Standby time: 200-280 hours
• Dimensions (width × high x thick): 61.1 x 44.5 x 17.8 mm
• Operating Frequency: GSM
• Network Frequency: 900/1800 MHz
• Colors : Silver, Black or Pink.

Now on to the major features of the M700, ie the MicroSD/Transflash slot. The slot is next to the USB port on the right side of the phone. It is covered by a simple rubber flap.

A 512 mb micro SD is given free with the watchphone and it supports memory sizes up to 1 GB. This makes it very useful as a storage medium, just like carrying a pen drive with you all the time. It also makes it possible to load up your favourite MP3s and turns it into a portable Mp3/Mp4 player.


The camera is situated at the top, just below the speaker. Although it is stated to be a 1.3MP camera, however the resolution only goes up to 640x480 which is a VGA or 0.3MP resolution. The camera is simple and takes ok pics, but the white balance and lighting are not that accurate. I have posted some pics I took with the phone here. It also takes videos in 3GP format and stores them in the MicroSD. When you plug the USB into the computer it also allows you to use the phone as a webcam. Pretty nifty.


One interesting difference is the location of the speaker and mic. The speaker is quite loud and situated at the top of the phone.
A close up pic of the camera and speaker at the top.

The microphone is located at the bottom. This simple difference makes conversations with the speakerphone much clearer as most of the echo is gone. This means you can really do the Dick Tracy thing and yak happily away directuly into the phone without a bluetooth headset. Incidentally a bluetooth headset is included also which seems to be a Samsumg Wep 200 replica. Sadly there is no A2DP stereo headset supplied with this model. It comes with a stereo wired headset for music.

Another trick is that the watch is detachaeble from the strap easily with a button just below the microphone.

Here it is detached from the strap.

This gives you access to the battery and simcard. But why did they design it this way? It does make it slightly thicker than the M800.

I finally figured it out, you can detach it and use it like a regular mobile phone without the speaker phone on. This gives you some privacy and also allows you to pass the call on to someone else. Once again call quality seems to be better than the M800.

Removing the 700mAh battery is easy and reveals the sim card slot. The M700 comes with 2 batteries which last 3 days each with moderate use. Not bad for such a small battery. The sim card is easily slipped into the phone. It supports GSM/GPRS only and not 3G, however your 3G card will still be recognised.

A close up of the SIM card slot.

Now on to the stylus, it clips into the rubber strap. Above it you can see the button that releases the watch from the strap.

Now I thought the M800 stylus was small, this one is a toothpick! Definitely the smallest stylus I have seen ever!

....and it is used to tap on the super micro keyboard. As I said before, one of the restrictions of a watchphone is data input. Short messages are ok but you are sure to get a cramp after a while.

In conclusion, here are some pros and cons to consider :

PROS

• Good phone call quality even without a bluetooth headset
• MicroSD slot with a 512mb card included
• Good Battery life (about 3 days)
• Detachaeble watch
• Vibration mode
• Pop email client
• Not too expensive at RM700
• VGA Camera
  

CONS

• Quite thick
• Data input suitable for short messages
• GSM/GPRS only
• Basic watch functions only, no seconds indicator