Sagem Puma Solar Powered Mobile Phone

[Humberto]

Introduction

The sports goods manufacturer Puma and Sagem developed together Puma Phone, which is fairly presented in a handy format. Starting at a market price of just 90 € (without contract, shipping and depending on the provider), it is a different kind of cell phone available in the market. Among the most important components it is integrated with solar cell. Similar to the Samsung GT-S7550 Blue Earth, the PUMA Phone battery can be recharged using solar power as well. How long the device can run and all depends it to lie in the sun, the manufacturer is not known though. Another feature is the PUMA WORLD menu. The user can thus develop specifically to PUMA-access applications, products of the sportswear manufacturer's or can retrieve multimedia content. Also you can link with Twitter, Facebook and YouTube directly. The operating system has a sport and lifestyle features such as route planning, GPS tracker, and a step counter and spin and scratch music player. With a housing made of high-gloss plastic, it scores points from outside. It includes features like memory expansion via Micro SD cards, radio, 3.2 MP camera with flash, UMTS, HSDPA and HSUPA. How does the Puma Phone behaves in everyday use, our review shows.

Sagem Puma Phone - sporty, stylish and powerful mobile phone

Processing

1. First optical impression / special features to support the design - Handy touch screen mobile phone with high-gloss plastic.

2. Housing material / surface quality - Smooth plastic surface.

3. Housing dimensions - With a weight of 115 g and dimensions of 102.0 x 56.0 x 13.0 mm it fits comfortably in your hand and can be stored in almost any pocket.

4. Quality (sharpness / resolution) of the display - 2.8 inch display with x colors and a resolution of 320 x 240 pixels. Good color and sharp display, but small by today's standards.

5. Implementation of the folding or sliding mechanism - NA.

6. Quality of the battery compartment cover - The battery compartment lid is made up of plastic, the solar panel is integrated. This can be opened with a little cumbersome. At the time of closing it, but just sits and fits perfectly.

7. Quality and scope of the supplied items - Manual, headset, battery, charger, USB, 2 GB Micro SD Memory Card.

8. Processing Result - The fashionable mobile phone, consists of high-gloss plastic. With the handy sizes and acceptable weight, it sits comfortably in your hand. The display is clear and sharp colors are visible. The accurately fitting battery compartment lid is made up of plastic with an integrated solar panel that scores points for the Puma Phone, as well as with the standard accessories.

Back of the Sagem Puma Phone


Battery compartment lid made up of plastic, the solar panel integrated


Very thin solution to the solar panel


Loud-soft and camera button


Headset and USB port


Speaker was positioned at the back next to the camera


Accessories in red

[Humberto]

Business Features

1. Supported networks - Quad band GSM: 900, 1800, 1900, UMTS 900, 2100.

2. Data transmission - HSDPA, HSUPA, USB, UMTS, EDGE.

3. Reception and Voice quality - The Sagem Puma Phone has a good reception quality, even if the network coverage is not as perfect. The voice playback at medium volume sounds more true to life, however, is permeated with light listening.

4. Voice quality of the speaker - The voice playback at medium volume is still evident. At higher it is quite scratchy.

5. Battery life (with normal use) - Max. 4 days; The capacity of the battery is not displayed in full or empty. Solar Panel which is attached to the back of the battery cover does not manage to fill up an empty battery sucked in the foreseeable future with new life - even after several hours in the 'sunshine' state, the charge increases only slightly. Nice idea, but the practical effect is very limited.

6. Storage capabilities of Contacts - Image for: for album, camera, standard image, short name, first name, cell phone, home (Home phone), email, SMS, Birthday, Ring

7. Profile - Ringer, silent alarm, vibration, keypad, DTMF pulse.

8. Calendar settings - New entry: title, a reminder: set a,: 10 min, 20 min, 30 min, 1 hour, 2 hours, 1 day, 2 days off; entry: Send change; Text Zoom, input language: German , English, French, Italian, spelling.

9. Notes feature - NA.

10. Operating speed / pace - The integrated processor is far too slow. Even if a simple application like the music player to open, passing by today's standards takes an endless amount of time, until the desired activity is recorded. Here a remedy is urgently required.

11. E-mail functionality - Connection type: POP3 and SMTP. Setting the e-mail accounts is done in a few steps. However, the types of servers even with common providers that are loaded down with other mobiles as a preset is to be entered by hand. The e-mail terminal also takes time. Also, attachments can take some time to download and will only be shown if they are not too large.

12. Internet functionality - The loading of the website also takes time. With elaborate site the Puma Phone tries presenting a clear view. Unfortunately, it does not always succeed. Depending on page layout (pictures quantity, etc.) it needs a little bit of time. It has many settings, however.

13. PC synchronization - A USB cable is included. The synchronization of the Pumas and its data through Outlook was not working. Also it was quite hard to synchronize music, or pictures easily.

14. Other features - Compass, stop watch, hourglass, timer, radio, Puma World, navigation, computer, MP3 Player with Scratch Function, the Dylan Puma.

15. Business Result - The tri-band mobile phone despite having HSDPA, UMTS and Bluetooth, like other mobile phones, takes a little time for data transfers. Max. 4 days battery life, however, are commendable. However, the Puma Phone battery life is supported by the solar panel, which brings it plus points. A voice recorder is not integrated. The email account is set easily, even if you must enter the server types. The retrieval of the mail depends on the size and notes, which is somewhat cumbersome. Also, finding and opening Internet site, takes elaborate time. Synchronization with Outlook is not possible. A USB is included. The Puma has a vast selection of features that enhance the Sagem Phone somewhat.

Memory expansion via Micro SD card (located under the battery cover, unfortunately)


Proximity and light sensor automatically locks the Puma phone in your hand or pocket, video telephony and Fotomat

[Humberto]

Multimedia Features

1. Camera Equipment - Mode: camera, video, Fotomat; Resolution: 3 MP, 2 MP, VGA, QVGA, Flash: Auto, On, Off, Timer: No, 5 seconds, 10 seconds, 15 seconds Sound: on / off; Effects: Normal , Black & White, Sepia, Solarize Negative, Quality: High, Normal, MMS; Exposure: normal, backlight, night, sunny, cloudy, post-processing options: sending: Puma-phone, Bluetooth, Email, MMS, slide show, delete, Fotomat: vortex effect starting from the center, / bulging of the image center slumping, mirroring the middle of the image.

2. Camera quality - In daylight and normal lighting conditions (indoors), the camera of the Puma phone made useful results. Colors and shapes are well represented on the display. We recommend that you keep the cell phone camera shots at extremely quiet, since otherwise the result is blurry and slightly out of focus. In the darkness, it can only capture when light falls on the subject. In complete darkness we can indeed achieve results, but clearly this is lacking in color. The LED flash is too weak to represent authentic colors and shapes.

3. Video Camera Equipment - Video formats: H.263, H.264, 3GP, MPEG4, flashlight: on / off, Quality: High, MMS; Effects: Normal, Black & White, Sepia, Solarize Negative, post-processing options: Puma-phone, Bluetooth, email, MMS; Delete slideshow.

4. Video Quality - Only in 640 x 480 pixels, videos can be taken up. In daylight (outside) and normal lighting conditions (indoors), colors are displayed properly. Pixel curtains are visible if you make too rapid movements. With normal movements, we achieved very good results. This applies only if the display on which the findings can be considered, which is not too large. On a 4-inch Full HD TV the video quality is below average, also noise and lack of sharpness are criticized. In the darkness it cannot achieve any results. In low light, minimal outlines and an extremely weak colors are just visible. It also lacks a stronger video light.

5. Facilities built-in to the music player - Playable formats: MIDI, SP-Midi, WAV, AMR NB, MP3, AAC, AAC +, eAAC +, playback, fast forward, rewind, pause, stop, scratch function, sending; Favorites: Bluetooth, Email, MMS, Repeat: on / from; Chance: on / off, 3D Sound: on / off, speaker: on / off, can the individual songs by tapping selected songs, artists and albums.

6. Sound quality of the music player - The speaker is positioned on the back above the solar panels. In the medium and low frequency, songs sound pretty good. "3D sound" can also be selected and produced minimal touches of space. The included headphone is of decent quality.

7. Radio yes / no, sound quality of Radio - The radio of the Puma phone is not great range of equipment. For favorites (transmitter), 6 stations are in places. In the choice of channels, the corresponding station names are displayed and can be stored along with. It is also possible to select between headset and speakers. If the antenna (headset) is not aligned properly, you can hardly hear noise.

8. Storage / location of the memory card - 128 MB internal memory which is expandable to 2 GB.

9. Multimedia Result - The camera equipment of the Puma phone is easy to use. The results of the 3.2 MP camera is still on average. The results of the video recording scores points, but only if you avoid quick movements. The flash is unfortunately quite weak in the phone. The built-in MP3 player is easy to use. Its scale is certainly very scarce, but not this overwhelming. A radio phone has the Puma too. Transmitter equipped with 6 seats, is very light in use and almost noise free and clear sound scores points for the Puma phone. The mobile phone has only a small internal memory and is expandable to 2 GB. Unfortunately, the insertion of a micro SD card is located under the battery cover.

3.2 MP camera


Camera in Action


Headset with good sound


Headset Control

[Humberto]

Handling / Menus

1. One-hand operation for key functions possible - Yes.

2. Call execute (with menu "contacts") - Calls can be easily executed and finding contacts is also very easy.

3. Adding / Creating / editing contacts - Finding the contacts function in our opinion, takes a little too much time.

4. Readability of the display - On the day and at night, the Puma Phone shows very good readability of the display. In direct sunlight or light radiation content is difficult to see. It is, as like almost with all other mobile phones, with the setting of the theme and background image it can be sorted out.

5. Pressure point of the keypad / reaction of the touch screen - Very uneven and imprecise response of the touch screen. Typing long messages should be avoided due to the strong pressure point which is necessary.

6. Handling the navigation elements to prospect the menus - The hard keys have an unfortunately not very clearly defined response.

7. Clarity of the menu - The menu has badly recognizable symbols, although these are clearly laid out, but unfortunately somewhat meaningful with respect to the graphical representation.

8. Scope of the menus - The menu has plenty of scope with sub menu items.

9. The design of the menus - The graphic design has poorly recognizable menu icons that are not at all convincing, even if the menus look attractive.

10. Opportunity for the assignment of shortcut keys - The Puma also did not miss the instant access points. By depressing, one can add each item to the favorites on the main screen. Online widgets can also be used but charges will apply.

11. Message Handling - SMS: Text zoom, input language: German, English, French, Italian, spelling, T9 on / off, signs, symbols, smiley faces, numbers, Sags with tags; Send to: Friends, contacts, messages such as SMS in the Puma phone is quickly written when the touch screen responds. If it turns around, you can also use the QWERTY keyboard, which is somewhat smaller.

12. Service of photo and video - The settings are fairly easy to find and easy to adjust.

13. Operation of Music Player - The music player is easy to use and is simply decorated. Roll out the red carpet up, and the settings appear.

14. Reading from memory cards - The reading of micro SD card is done quickly. Existing data from the memory card as far as possible from the format and file type is available. Unfortunately, the slot is located under the battery cover.

15. Result - First thing to be noted in Puma Phone - menu icons are not clearly identified, adding that the combination of a slow processor and little responsiveness touch screen in everyday handling makes it even worse. Running a call, adding contacts, as well as the readability of the display in low light conditions speak for the Puma Phone. The simple operation of the photo / video camera and MP3 player also earn praise. The MP3 player will appeal especially for the young generation, because it has a scratch function. In addition, Puma Phone reads the memory card quickly and the data reflect the extent of its size or type is possible. Unfortunately, the insertion of the memory card is located under the battery cover.

Answer, Menu and end keys


Dylan, the Puma will appear as a screensaver, or if you press the center button twice

Overall Conclusion

Designed by Puma, the giant sports market, and created in partnership with Sagem, the Puma Phone seems to be more of a prototype phone for beta testing for sale to the general public. The lack of WiFi is probably related to its 'sport' mind. One thing is certain that the fans of Puma will appreciate the this brand mobile phone and will definitely buy it.

The Puma Phone - interesting from the outside and but completely different from the inside