However like the true professionals we are, we pressed on and tried to open the rather plasticy back cover to get at the battery compartment and also the SIM holder. The problem was that the back case didn't slide easily (in fact at all) to get at the battery compartment and our finders just couldn't get under the case to prise it off. Never fear the careful use of a screwdriver managed to lift the back slightly so we could locate the clips that hold it on and then ping it off. Quite a fight and one we assume that would be beyond many users, luckily it is only the SIM cards and battery within the compartment and Sagem have sensibly put the SD card slot on the outside.

The 106 x 46 x15 mm unit sneaks under the 100 gram mark and to all intents and purposes looks on paper like it should be a great phone. The user interface is a bit basic but then Sage haven't had as much practice as Nokia and we have no right to expect it be be perfect and it is very functional and logical. The start up seems to insist on having a wacky animation which we're sure will wear thin after a while and we'll avoid mentioning the standard ringtones which seem to have been composed by a plank with a Bontempi organ.

As a basic phone we were impressed, it is a small and rugged little chap with an adequate battery life giving around 4 hours talk time and 240 hours on standby, call quality is very good and it seems to hang on to RF well. We managed to test with a Bluetooth headset and found that it has a good BT implementation easily pairing and functioning with both a Nokia and Moto headset. The buttons aren't too small although they feel a bit nasty to the touch and just add an air of cheapness to the user experiences. The screen seems a bit small but is actually a decent size and it's bright and colourful too.

Beyond the my700x working as a phone there is only one other feature to promote it and that is it's audio player which can access media stored on the mini SD card. It provides a quite useable interface the only shame being that you have to use the Sagem provided earphones which also serve as a cabled hands free kit, sadly these are quite uncomfortable and the 700x does not have a 3.5mm jack to use your own earphones.

The other features of the Sagem aren't worth writing home about, the 1,3 mega pixel camera is a bit old hat and doesn't impress our jaded reviewers who already own mobiles with 3 mega pixel cameras built in. There is an FM radio and some games too, it all feels about a year behind the times and the poor headphones make the one good feature in accessible, which is a real shame.

Priced at around £160 SIM free the Sagem my700x redeems itself with a low price and as a second phone or one for the missus it may just work for you. For us the girly looks and lack of cutting edge features make it another also ran that will no doubt sell plenty, it's just not to our tastes.

Published - 03/09/2006

More Mobile Phone Reviews-

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