Siemens stops producing mobile phones. The corresponding division came under the wing of BenQ and was donated by the parent company. One of the latest products from Siemens was the Siemens SL75. This development was entirely created within the company, like the S75, of which it is a copy in a different form factor. Ever since the 55th series, the company has been presenting paired models - a business solution in the S series and its copy in the form of a slider in the SL series. The difference is always described by the reduced functionality of the SL-series; it is not intended to compete with its own products, it is an image decision.

The design of the SL series has traditionally attracted attention; devices with this index have won many awards. They did not ignore the first representative of sliders – Siemens SL55. Most girls chose this device solely due to its design, not paying attention to the functional component, the very poor quality of polyphony and screen. The replication of various “limited” editions of the SL55 for various fashion houses also increased the popularity of this device among the target audience. But the success of the model was very modest; competing solutions, although they appeared later, were sold much more successfully.

The next step was to increase functionality, and already in the 65 series we see best screen, more memory and lack of support for MP3 files, which was necessary for the target audience. The increased size of the case and the presence of competitors from Samsung did not make this device noticeable; it had very modest sales. But even against the backdrop of the developing crisis, they were sufficient for Siemens. Accumulated experience and shaft negative reviews forced the company to pay close attention to the mechanical part of the future device. It took Siemens engineers two generations of sliders to perfect the technology. The Siemens SL75 embodies all the developments from the point of view of design and mechanics. This slider turned out great.

The size of the device is 92x48x23 mm, while the Siemens SL65 had dimensions of 90.2x47.6x20.9 mm. It would seem that the increased height of the case and a slight decrease in thickness should not affect the perception of the device, but in reality this is not the case. The designers used lacquered plastic along with a light edging around the body (silver insert). Three colors are available - black, silver and white (Black, Pure Silver, Polar White).

The black color of the case looks the most advantageous, but it is also the most easily soiled; hand marks remain clearly visible on the plastic. The quality of the plastic is high, but it is relatively soft and quickly becomes covered with netting minor scratches. They do not affect the perception of the device in any way; to see such scratches you need to look closely or specifically search for them.

The body of the phone was made round, but it does not resemble the sleek shapes of Korean phones and does not evoke thoughts of folding phones. It is the curvature of the front panel, the right combination various elements and edging made it possible to achieve visual lightness of the device; it does not look heavy or massive.

The model is extremely comfortable in the hands and fits the width of the average palm. At the same time, the automatic finishing mechanism in this device is one of the best on the market. The halves slide relative to each other with ease, but when closed, accidental opening is impossible due to the lock. You can literally open the device with one finger, and it doesn’t matter where you apply the force: you can move either the side or place your finger under the screen, on the screen (the latter is not recommended, because the screen gets dirty mercilessly from such touches).

The weight of the device is 99 grams, which is quite acceptable for such a phone, there are no problems here. Considering that the model is aimed at a female audience, it can be considered relatively large for wearing around the neck, but there is room for a lace. For men, this device is less suitable, the aesthetics are not the same, although up to 30 percent of buyers will be men.

The side keys are made large, they are extremely convenient to use, although they do not have a large amplitude when pressed. On the left side are the Camera and Push to Talk buttons, and on the right are two volume buttons. At the bottom end there is traditionally an interface connector, it is standard.

The screen in this model is no different from that in the Siemens S75. The display has a diagonal of 1.8 inches, a resolution of 132x176 pixels and displays up to 262,000 colors. The screen can accommodate up to 7 lines of text and up to three service lines. The picture quality is average, it cannot be called terrifying, but there are no advantages as such. Behavior in the sun is traditionally good, the picture is visible even in direct sunlight. In general, we have a relatively tolerable screen, which is not very typical for fashion products. For them, today a resolution of 240x320 pixels is becoming the norm, and within a year the traditional resolution is 176x220 pixels.

The soft keys of the device are small and not everyone will like it, but at the same time, the navigation key is very comfortable, protrudes above the surface, and has clear edges. Under the call and end keys there is a music button, as well as a “My Menu” key.

When you open the device, you will see a numeric keypad; it is silver in color. The keys are closely adjacent to each other, but they are made in relief and have a bend in the upper part. Thanks to this solution, when pressed, there is a good key travel, and the pressing itself is soft. The keyboard is very pleasant to work with, it evokes sincere delight. The first row of buttons is made so well that the upper half of the device does not interfere; even those with large hands will enjoy the device. Keyboard backlight white and uneven, some keys are less illuminated (for example, key 3). On the other hand, in complete darkness there is not much difference; all symbols are readable. In the localized version, the buttons have symbols of two alphabets.

On the back of the slider, when opened, two screws are visible; they have long become a distinctive feature of devices from Siemens in this form factor, a kind of mark. On the back surface you can see a large insert in the form of a mirror; it is constantly stained, no matter how you wear the device. Above is the window of the 1.3 megapixel camera. This is a CMOS matrix typical of the 75 series from Siemens, that is, an average quality module. There is also a “flash” window right there.

Back panel hides the battery compartment, it has no play, but it is extremely difficult to open it. The latch is small in size, you need to press it and open the panel at the same time. Considering that the device is not equipped with memory cards, and the owners probably won’t need to constantly change SIM cards, consider this feature the design cannot be a flaw.

Installed in the phone lithium ion battery capacity 750 mAh. According to the manufacturer, it is capable of providing up to 300 hours of standby time and up to 5 hours of talk time. On average, in Moscow networks, the device worked for about 3 days with 30 minutes of calls and minimal use of other functions. Always activated Bluetooth reduces operating time to two days. Those who lead an active lifestyle and talk more than one hour a day will recharge the device every night. Full charging time is about 1.5 hours.

Menu

The model is an exact replica of the Siemens S75; the differences include the absence of a memory card, but the presence of 58.5 MB of memory in the device itself. Also, for consumers of this device, the presence of an infrared port was considered unnecessary. The menu organization is typical for Siemens phones. In the main menu you see 12 simple icons, they are uncomplicated, although they differ in better side from the same 65 series, where their quality was below any criticism. Traditionally, calling a particular function or dialing a number can be assigned to numeric keys. You can call up the main menu item without even resorting to numerical sequences; they all correspond to the keyboard buttons, including the hash and asterisk.

It is possible to activate an increased font size, then there will be only one main menu item and a caption on the screen. This presentation option is not popular among users.

Entering text does not cause problems, the device supports T9 dictionaries, and quickly switches between languages ​​while typing.

In this model, the interface received a logical development; emphasis was placed on creating bookmarks, especially for functions burdened with a large number of fields. This made it possible to logically arrange similar fields and group them. For example, the event log, which displays all missed calls, messages, missed reminders, alarms, received files, has corresponding bookmarks. That is, now you don’t need to search for the latest events, they can be compactly viewed in one place, plus there is a breakdown into groups.

Phone book. Phone memory is dynamically distributed among all applications, but there is a limit of 1000 names for the phone book. For one name, you can record data such as last name and first name, nickname (display name), main phone, work, mobile, two fax numbers, two postal addresses, link, company name, its address (city, street, zip code, country ), IM. In addition to these fields, it is possible to enter a birthday date and enable a warning about it. Plus, any name in the phone book can be associated with any graphic file(both a photograph and just a picture). From the video viewing menu it is possible to assign a name to the video from the phone book this option not available.

For each name, 22 fields of information are available for entry. It is clear that a reorganization of the phone book presentation was required. It happened due to the appearance of bookmarks. On the first one, you enter basic information about the contact, mainly phone numbers. A nice little thing is the ability to separately specify how a name, a kind of nickname, will be displayed in the general list. An important point is that in addition to a personal melody, you can also specify your own message signal for an individual subscriber.

The second tab is private information. Here you indicate the address, website, postal address and the like.

Next bookmark – personal information, for example, a birthday and setting alerts about it.

The last tab is associated with IM, here you can see the subscriber's nickname and address, his current status.

Bookmarks are also used in the general list; you can see the entire list or go to groups of subscribers. It is possible to create your own groups, change the settings of existing ones (picture and ringtone). A personal ringtone always replaces the group one. Several bookmarks are responsible for displaying additional information, for example, online status.

In the general list there is a search for a name by several letters, there are no complaints about it. There is no voice dialing in the device.

The bottom line is that the phone book has a good number of fields and good synchronization with MS Outlook. This is all that characterizes business devices. The changes compared to other models are pleasant. The impression is somewhat spoiled by the fact that when making a call, the subscriber’s photo is shown in panoramic form, its proportions change. This is extremely unpleasant and negates the very existence of such a function.

When you select a subscriber and press the call button, a list appears with all the numbers, you can select the one you need. Everything is extremely simple and clear.

Messages. Up to 100 messages can be stored in the phone memory. Again, memory is allocated dynamically, something to keep in mind. The general list displays both messages from the phone memory and the SIM card, the latter are marked with the corresponding icon. You can create message templates and separate folders. A list of emoticons has appeared, they can easily be inserted into a message, however, they are immediately converted to text format and are not presented in graphics.

The phone has MMS, the settings are quite simple. The message size limit is 295 KB, which is typical for modern phones. Previously, Siemens devices supported sending messages up to 1 MB in size, but this is no longer possible.

Mail client supports up to 4 accounts, its capabilities are similar to those found in other models from Siemens. Russian encodings, as usual, are not fully supported, you will have to choose carefully mail server with message recoding installed.

The phone has the ability to create your own templates or, if you like, text templates for all occasions. The phone is not bad when it comes to handling messages, it’s up to par best models. Have a nice one additional opportunity is the choice of font size when viewing messages (standard, large and small). You have freedom of choice.

Call lists. The last 100 dialed, 100 received and 100 missed calls are stored in the phone's memory; the time and date are indicated for each entry, and you can also view the duration of the call. Calls from one number are not summed up; they are recorded separately. For numbers recorded in phone book, the type of number is indicated.

Options. This menu contains a large number of different settings, let's look at them all separately.

Profiles. Traditionally, you can customize how the phone behaves under different conditions (vibrate alert, ringtones, etc.). It is possible to copy all the settings of one profile to another. This is a nice touch when you need to change one or two parameters from an already configured profile. In each profile, you can configure the barring of incoming calls for certain groups subscribers or, conversely, for those who are not represented in them.

Vibration. Select one of 6 vibration alert schemes for sections such as Calls, Messages, Alarm Clock.

Themes. Depending on the selected theme, the design of the menu, its color scheme, wallpaper design, and even, possibly, the icons of the main menu change (in default themes, the icons do not change). Installing the theme takes from 15 to 30 seconds. The downside is that there is no preview of the selected theme, you have to install it anyway to see it. The theme format has changed compared to other models of the company; only themes from the S75 are suitable here.

Ringtones. Selecting ringtones for calls and other events.

Bluetooth is turned on from the same menu; the settings are quite simple. The device supports the A2DP profile, which allows you to transmit audio signals to stereo Bluetooth headphones. In the absence of a large amount of memory for MP3 songs, the need for this will not arise often. The file transfer speed via Bluetooth does not exceed 20 KB per second, this maximum speed. On average, depending on the connected device, the values ​​will range from 14 to 18 KB.

Display. Wallpaper settings, animation when turning on or off the phone. The font size is also adjustable here.

EGPRS. Actually, using exactly the same settings as for GPRS, you can view the amount of data transferred.

Key settings– you can reassign functions on soft keys and navigation keys. Plus there is a choice of numbers or functions for the numeric buttons.

The device has an auto-off function using a timer.

In the Settings section there is a license manager; it appeared due to the phone’s support for DRM content.

It is curious that Memory Assistant, located in this menu, indicates the presence of a memory card and constantly says that it is not installed. A clear tail from the Siemens S75, clearly showing the quality of the software development.

File System. A utility for viewing the contents of the device memory allocated for user data. You can create your own folders, move the contents of existing folders, change the display (list or icons with graphic preview). You can easily use your phone as a storage medium; you just need to transfer any file (any format) to it.

Organizer. The calendar itself is organized traditionally, there is a monthly view, you can switch to a weekly view with an hour grid displayed, or a daily schedule. Individual menu items allow you to view all events of a certain type, for example, meetings, notes, reminders. In total, up to 1000 events can be stored in the organizer’s memory.

Events can be recurring or one-time; there is a setting to display all fields when entering an event or only certain ones. A voice note can also serve as a reminder. Recurring events have been significantly improved, in particular, you can use various conditions, for example, set the number of repetitions before a certain date or under a certain condition. This is a small step forward that will be extremely interesting to business users.

There is a separate list of tasks, here you can assign not only a day, but also a warning. The task can be assessed on a 5-point scale.

Sticky notes are the perfect way to enter a short text message. The note can be public or private. In the second case, to read it, you will have to enter the phone code.

From the organizer menu you can view the world time in major cities, a convenient feature. A voice recorder is also located here; the duration and number of recordings is limited solely by the free space in the phone’s memory. By default it is about 99 hours. Unfortunately, it was not possible to get this function to work during a call; the device reports that the function is unavailable.

My Stuff. All programs and files are contained in their own folders. Everything is structured and easy to understand. There are two types of folder presentation: in the form of a list or small icons. For photographs, the second type of display is preferable. Unfortunately, all standard folders look the same in the second type of display, which creates some confusion; you have to look at the signatures at the top. On a separate line access to multimedia card data is provided, you can create your own folders, sort files as you like, and move them.

Alarm. It can be single in the device or set on certain days of the week.

Extras. Recording sounds is analogous to a voice recorder, only from here you can set the recording in the form of a ringtone.

Calculator– in addition to the usual functions, it is possible to remember intermediate measurement results (memory function), the calculator is convenient. An extended version is also available.

Converter different units of measurement, everything is simple and functional.

Stopwatch allows you to get intermediate points. The phone also has a countdown timer. Preset events have been added to the timer, for example, cooking rice, this is 20 minutes by default, for an egg - 5 minutes. An extremely simple and convenient function that can introduce many young people to the rudiments of cooking.

Fun&Surf. The wap browser version 2.0 is located here, the browser settings are slightly higher than standard. It's easy to add new bookmarks, the large screen makes it easy to navigate through various resources.

Applications. A large number of apps come standard, adding value to the phone.

Photo Editor is a utility for editing your files. A new version This utility allows you not only to edit files, add inscriptions to them, rotate them, but also morph two pictures and add special effects. A very interesting program this moment, still works slowly.

Survival Dictionary– a dictionary or, more precisely, a phrasebook with the most common phrases. Translation from English into German, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French is supported. For a Russian user who might need such a utility, it is not very useful. Transcription of pronunciation is not provided for obvious reasons.

Emergency Phone Book – Notebook with phones emergency services for different countries, the country code is indicated immediately.

CityPicks is a travel guide created in collaboration with Lonely Planet. For the selected city, you can see a brief description of attractions, select addresses of restaurants, shops, etc.

Download Assistant. The application helps you download new content to your phone.

Golf Scorecard– an application that will appeal to those who play golf. Allows you to document each game and keep statistics.

Games. The phone has three games: Sea battle, Wappo 2 ( logic game) and Golf.

Media. The player is hidden here. The main window has four tabs. In the first one, you can set the display of files in the player menu (in the form of a general list or in landscape). The second tab is used to create and edit playlists. Limitation - Cyrillic is not supported in the title of the composition. There is no equalizer. The operation of the player can be traced with “smart” control functions. If you make a call while the player is running, music playback is interrupted during the conversation. After the conversation ends, playback is restored automatically, and the song continues from the point where it was interrupted, and not from the beginning, as was the case in other 75 series phones. With incoming calls everything is the same. The third tab is images, and the last one contains video files. Their full-screen playback (landscape orientation) is supported.

Camera. The phone uses a 1.3 megapixel matrix, which completely matches the characteristics of the CX75/M75 devices (CMOS module). The maximum image resolution is 1280x1024. The average photo size is 250-330 KB. They don't look very impressive on a phone screen, but they look pretty decent on a PC. The camera can operate in digital zoom mode with a five-fold zoom. At maximum zoom, the image size decreases to 110-150 KB, and the sharpness of the image noticeably decreases. At maximum resolution, the effects available are sepia, grayscale, green, orange, and purple. When the resolution is reduced, bas-relief is added to the effects. White balance has three setting profiles - automatic, outdoor and indoor. There is a choice of night mode and flash settings. You have to guess the file resolution by the name, since once again the designations that do not carry any special meaning are used - maximum (1280x1024), high (640x480), normal (320x240), low (160x120), background image (132x176). By default, subscriber number identification pictures are taken in the lowest quality mode. You can view the quality of a photo only through the file attributes.

There are no multi-shot modes. The device is not intended for shooting fast moving objects - the shutter time is too long and the recording speed is low.

Siemens SL45 GSM phone review

Say it's easy mobile phone, the tongue does not turn. In fact, we have an MP3 player, a full-fledged digital voice recorder, an organizer that is “friendly” with Outlook, a portable storage device, and plus a GSM 900/1800 phone. And all this in a compact, sleek aluminum body. However, let's take it in order.

Contents of delivery

The SL45 comes in a translucent plastic box. Opening it, we find the following inside:

• the phone itself with a 32 MB MultiMediaCard installed
• standard Li-ion battery 540 mAh
• Charger
• instructions in various languages
• a short brochure listing the main features
• CD with software
• stereo headphones with microphone and button
• "crib" for charging and connecting to a PC
• cable for connection to COM port

The set is excellent, everything you need is there. The instructions are clearly written, and the short brochure will appeal to those who don't like to read long descriptions.

Headphones can be used as hands-free for listening to MP3, voice dialing or voice commands activate the player and voice recorder. If you have an MP3 playing and receive incoming call, the music is muted and the headphones can be used for conversation.

On the clip where the microphone and control button are located, there is a headphone mount, and if you fix one of the headphones there, you get a traditional handsfree for one ear. And if you are tired of listening to music, you can secure both headphones, then they will not dangle. Smart decision. The only omission: there is no volume control or rewind on the clothes clip. However, this does not cause any particular inconvenience.

The crib, or cradle, has two connectors. One for charging, the other for communication with the PC. Communication with the computer is only possible when the charger is connected. You can charge both in the crib and by connecting the charger directly to the phone. The charger itself is compact and convenient. You can easily take it with you. Fully charging the battery takes about two hours.

On the disk you can find software for connecting to a computer, for synchronizing with Outlook and all documentation in electronic form.

"Look and feel"

We take the phone out of the box. The stylish front panel and keyboard are made of smooth, pleasant-to-touch aluminum. The back panel, which is also the battery cover, is made of plastic. The build quality is beyond criticism: metal is metal.

The antenna is small and is actually part of the body. It is impossible to accidentally break it, and it does not cause any inconvenience. The SIM card is secured by housing protrusions on one side and a spring-loaded latch on the other. Simple and yet reliable design.

The phone fits comfortably in the hand, but working with the keyboard, especially the bottom row, is somewhat difficult. On the contrary, the control keys are a pleasure to work with.

What I liked most was the location of the control buttons. The scheme is reminiscent of older Nokia models. Working with this phone is much more pleasant than with the vague four rubber buttons of the S35i.

The scroll button has four positions. Pressing down takes you to the phone book, pressing to the right takes you to the menu. To select menu sub-items, you can also use only the scroll button. Very comfortably. The buttons click clearly and have a tactile feel. feedback. One of the two control buttons can be configured for any frequently used function. To lock the keyboard, you must press and hold the bottom right button. Auto-locking is also possible.

On the left side of the phone there are buttons for turning on the voice recorder, MP3 player and a double button for adjusting the volume. On the right you can find the IR port window.

In general, it’s nice that Siemens chose such a layout for its new models. As a Nokia user, I was annoyed by the layouts of the younger Siemens models. But the SL45, on the contrary, seemed even more convenient to use than the Nokia 6210.

Dimensions, weight, battery

The phone is packed with a lot of different bells and whistles, but, nevertheless, even taking into account the metal body, its weight is only 88 grams. The dimensions are no less impressive: 105x46x17 mm. This phone belongs in a shirt or trouser pocket. In the front pocket you completely forget about it. Putting a cover on this “work of art” is blasphemy.

The standard Li-ion battery has a capacity of 540 mAh. The stated operating time in standby mode is 60-170 hours, talk time is 60-240 minutes. In reality, with moderate load the phone lasts for two days, with active use - for one day. Since the battery is Li-ion, the phone can be recharged at any time without waiting for it to be completely discharged.

MultiMediaCard

The main feature of the SL45 is support for MultiMediaCard. Essentially, it is a compact size flash card. The standard package includes a 32 MB card, and a 64 MB card can be installed as an upgrade. By the way, exactly the same cards are used in the Palm m500 and m505 PDAs.

The best part is that the phone can work without a card. In this case, naturally, the voice recorder and MP3 player will not be available. In addition, the standard address book automatically switches to the book in the SIM card. There is a hole on the left side of the case through which you can remove the card using any sharp object such as a straightened paper clip.

The card stores various system and user files. These are interface languages, bases for predictive text input T9, start animations, The address book, SMS archive, voice recorder recordings, MP3 music and even complete instructions to the phone in PDF format in case you don’t have paper on hand!

Connecting to a computer

The crib supplied in the kit is used for connection, and a standard serial port (COM) is used for data exchange. In addition, there is an IR port for the same purpose. The driver installs very smoothly even under Windows2000. After installation, a new removable Mobile device appears in My Computer. By clicking on it, we see the contents of the MultiMediaCard.

Now, to record, for example, a song to MP3, you only need to drag the file into the MP3 folder. Nothing prevents you from creating your own folder and writing anything there. That is, this phone can quite cope with transferring small amounts of information.

It should be noted that the file on the card cannot be opened immediately; it must first be rewritten to HDD. In addition, another button is added to the standard Explorer window, which allows you to on-the-fly transcode files from the voice recorder format to WAV and convert SMS to plain text.

What barrel of honey is complete without a fly in the ointment? The fly in the ointment in our case will be the slow data transfer speed, which spoils the impression. Write and read large files- an activity for the patient.

The kit includes the Siemens QuickSync application, which synchronizes the phone with Microsoft Outlook. Unfortunately, I was not able to check how it works and how the Russian language is supported.

Screen

The screen on this phone is large, has high contrast and allows you to display up to 7 lines of text. The entire built-in hint system is made in the form of hypertext and is somewhat reminiscent of working with WAP. I think it will be quite convenient to use it, like WAP, due to the large amount of information displayed. The amber backlight goes out smoothly when turned off. There is nothing to complain about here.

Menu

After pressing the “hang up” button, a screensaver with dolphins and an animation with a radar are shown for some time, symbolizing the search for a network, which, by the way, does not take much time.

After turning on the phone, without asking anyone, it transferred all the numbers from the SIM to its memory. As it turned out later, not even to my memory, but to a MultiMediaCard card. The phone book, I must say, is decent, fortunately the amount of memory on the card allows it. In total, you can store up to 500 addresses with 14 record fields each. You can add a mobile, work, home phone, e-mail address, postal address and a bunch of other things.

The menu can be accessed either by pressing the control button or by pressing “right” on the scroll button. You can also go to sub-items either with the control button or by scrolling.

The menu organization system represents a multi-level hierarchical structure. Compared to Nokia, the menu is somewhat more confusing. You can enable the so-called quick menu. This mode will display only the most used commands, which can be quickly accessed using the number keys. The only drawback is that the screen does not display the corresponding button on the numeric keypad. There is also a mode in which an icon and signature will be displayed on each menu screen, like in Nokia.

Connection quality

The sound quality is subjectively quite decent. The speaker volume is quite sufficient, but a little extra would still be nice. The sensitivity of the device is also quite good. At least within the city there were no problems. There is a connector for an external antenna, allowing you to use the phone with a car kit.

Voice recorder and answering machine

Unlike many phones in which recording a few seconds of voice is called a voice recorder, Siemens SL45 offers a truly complete solution. Recording time is limited only by the amount of free space on the MultiMediaCard (one hour - about 1200 KB). Sound is recorded both during a call and in standby mode.

Often during a conversation you will be told a phone number or address. It’s not always possible to find something to write on and with what. In our case, you can simply press one of the side buttons and record the conversation. Then, in a calm environment, listen and transfer the information to another medium. Or another situation: you negotiate with someone over the phone, or, God forbid, of course, you are threatened - the recording can serve as evidence or evidence.

The voice recorder mode itself is also convenient: you can record a lecture, interview, presentation, excursion. Moreover, transferring sound to a computer is extremely simple. If the conversion mode is turned on, then by copying the file with the voice recorder to disk, you will get a regular WAV that can be played on anything. By the way, the card already contains a demo of London City Guide lasting 40 minutes.

As for the answering machine mode, it is nothing more than a voice box implemented by the phone. This is a useful thing if incoming calls to your phone are free, as it allows you to save on checking your voice mailbox. The only limitation: for the answering machine to work, the phone must be in the service area.

MP3 player

As already noted, the phone has the ability to play music in MP3 format. The card comes with several tracks that you can listen to right away. The instructions say that files can be written to the card, but cannot be copied back to the computer. Strange, but both worked for me without any problems.

Music playback quality is similar to that of a traditional MP3 player. However, with a standard 32 MB card there is still not enough space. The fact is that a lot of service files are stored on the card, and at the time of purchase only 16 MB remain free. You can clean up the map by removing anything you don't need, such as demos and language packs.

The second unpleasant moment - low speed downloading information to the phone. A file with one minute of music in stereo 128 kbit took about 3.5 minutes to download! In addition, if you receive a call during the download, you will have to start all over again. Perhaps this is the only drawback of the SL45. So if you're hoping to use this phone as a full-fledged MP3 player, you'll be disappointed.

Organizer

Thanks to big screen The organizer is quite convenient to use. The calendar can be viewed in monthly or weekly mode. In the month mode, the picture resembles a regular calendar; in the week mode, the time line shows the events planned for this week. Any event can be configured for a specific frequency, say, a week, a month, a year, or certain days of the week.

The business card function seemed convenient. By entering your contact details, you can easily send them to another cellular telephone or pocket computer via IR port.

Sound and vibration alert

Nothing unusual here. 39 call options plus 3 of your own melodies, as well as what is recorded on the MultiMediaCard. After making calls on Nokia phones, Siemens SL45 melodies seem somewhat dull and monotonous. However, nothing prevents you from writing your own melody. The ringing is not very loud, but quite sufficient. An interesting point: all melodies on the phone are stored in MIDI format.

The phone has a vibration alert of average power. Feels good in a jeans or shirt pocket. It’s worse in clothes made of thicker material. In addition to vibration, the operation of the vibration motor can be clearly heard.

SMS

For phones of this class, support for T9 predictive text input is standard. In addition, there are customizable message templates. The good news is that many messages can be saved in the phone’s flash card. Reception of messages in Russian works.

As in the case of calls, T9 databases are stored in separate files, and if desired, they can be supplemented or updated. By the way, the T9 developer company, Tegic, has already made support for the Russian language in this system.

Games

There are as many as 6 games on the phone, and they are either logic games, like Reversi, or two-dimensional labyrinths with a face running through them. Nothing extraordinary. In my opinion, the 3D maze and the well-known Minesweeper in C35 look more playable.

Stopwatch, calculator, currency converter

The stopwatch can remember intermediate values ​​and work in the background. There is also a countdown timer. The calculator performs all basic mathematical operations and converts currency.

conclusions

Perhaps today this is one of the most advanced phones on the market. Not yet a smartphone, but no longer just a phone. The ability to play MP3, MultiMediaCard, a full-fledged voice recorder, a metal case and a rich set of equipment make the Siemens SL45 very attractive. The only noticeable drawback is the low data transfer speed, which makes it difficult to use the phone as a full-fledged MP3 player. Yes, another “small” detail is the price of this device. However, it is quite comparable to the level of Siemens SL45.

how long have you had this phone?

Already three years.

Do you use it until now? If not, why did you break up with him?

I don't use it; it's been lying around on the shelf for a long time. It broke - even with fully charged battery says it is low. The workshop said that no faults were found. Replacing the battery did not fix the problem.

How did you get this phone? By what criteria was he chosen?

This was my first phone. At that time I didn’t understand them at all, so I didn’t have a list of criteria. But the budget was not big at all - 1500 rubles. I bought it for its large screen for those times, MP3 player, and stylish design. At the Tushinsky market in Moscow, used. The kit included a phone with a 32 MB flash card, a stereo(!) headset and instructions printed on folded A4 sheets on an amateur printer and stapled ☺ . Unfortunately, I forgot it on the train on the way home.

What do you like? Strengths of the phone, advantages.

This is a legendary phone. It has a stylish design, very beautiful and ergonomic, you can't help but like it. The amber backlight of the display does not irritate the eyes, like the green one on the then popular Nokia 3310 phone, and is warm, unlike the white one on, for example, the Philips 330. The backlight is very pleasing to the eye. The screen is clear and contrasty.

The keyboard is beyond praise! The buttons are convex, separated from each other, pressed clearly, not very easily, but not hard either, with a distinct click. Accidental clicks are excluded. Mistakes too. The joystick, or rather the four-way key, is also very convenient. The buttons are smooth, with a metal coating, but thanks to their relief, your fingers do not slip when pressed. The soft keys are just as convenient, thanks to their specific shape, as the call answer and hang up keys. In my opinion, the keyboard surpasses even the Nokia 6630 in terms of convenience. On the left side there are 3 buttons - the voice recorder start button, the MP3 player start/pause button and the paired volume control key; when you press "+" for a long time, the phone goes into the mode for receiving voice commands.

The phone also has a voice recorder. It can record sound in VMO format for as long as the memory on the flash drive allows.

The phone has an MP3 player, with support for stereo sound in the headset! The sound is transmitted efficiently, the maximum bitrate is 128 kbps, the volume is high, the quality is good. Not all modern phones can play MP3 files with the same quality. Playlists are supported. There is a simple equalizer, playback queue settings - one by one, randomly, or repeating the same song over and over again.

The phone uses flash memory, MMC form factor, with support for hot-swappable memory cards! The card is inserted into a special plastic cartridge, which only acts as a “supporting structure” so that the card stands in its place, and that’s all. In order to get it, you just need to use a ballpoint pen or any sharp object to press on a small point on the left side of the phone, pushing the cartridge with the card out. Those with strong nails can remove it by using their fingernail to pick up the cartridge from the right side of the phone. Tested working with a 256 MB card - everything works stably.

Communication capabilities - GPRS, IrDA, data cable (COM port). Using GPRS from a computer can be done either via a data cable or via an infrared port.

The interlocutor's voice is transmitted well, without distortion and loud enough. The phone has a very interesting “secret word” feature, which is set in the same way as voice commands. When you talk on the phone, the phone listens to you carefully, and when it hears the secret word, it turns on the voice recorder ☺.

Also a big plus is the ability to use the phone without a SIM card. All functions are available, except for calling and sending messages, of course.

Siemens SL42 can be easily reflashed; any phone owner can do this if he has a data cable, the necessary software and direct hands ☺ . I installed the latest firmware on it - 56 from SL45i. Since they do not differ in hardware, with the exception of the brighter backlight of the 45th model, the firmware was quite suitable - this opened up the possibility of using Java applications and games. Also, after installing the appropriate midlet, support for Russian tags in song titles appeared. This phone is a paradise for an experimenter.

What's not to like? Weak sides, flaws.

It does not have many disadvantages - it is a slow modem speed, lack of polyphony, the speaker is simple monophonic, so MP3 can only be listened to with headphones. The speaker, however, does its job perfectly. Vibration alert too, although a little weak. There is only one connector - universal. Therefore, you cannot use the headset and charge the phone at the same time, but you can charge it via a data cable. It turns off and on using the "end call" button, so there have been cases of accidental shutdown. Not very good signal reception.

What phone features do you use frequently?

Rather, I don’t “use”, but “used” - MP3 player, SMS, calls, games.

What phone features do you use occasionally?

Voice recorder, organizer, converter, etc.

Did you have to repair your phone?