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Siemens S66
Wireless/Mobile Phone/Cell Phone
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Rated 4.0 out of 5 This flagship phone from Siemens has all the powerful features you need in a slick, stylish package. With a 1.3 megapixel camera, Bluetooth, expandable flash memory, and much more, the S66 is a serious mobile companion. Design
The S66's candybar form factor sports a very large, 132 x 176 display that supports up to 65,000 colors. A five-way navigation toggle just below the display provides access to most of the phone's menus and functions. The phone, which features 10 MB of embedded internal memory, also ships with a 32 MB RS-MMC flash memory card. Additional storage space can be added via the memory card slot. The S66's camera unit is housed on the rear, while USB and charging ports are housed on the bottom of the device. Lastly, the phone has an IR port for infrared data transfer. 
Click the image to see the S66 in action, or take a closer look at the phone's features: page one - page two. | Calling Features
The S66's built-in address book has room for up to 1000 contacts so you can quickly access email addresses, phone numbers and other info. Calling features such as call waiting, call forwarding and a list of calls received and dialed are also included. Meanwhile, the built-in speakerphone makes it easy to talk without having the phone to your ear, and the phone's Bluetooth connectivity means that your favorite Bluetooth headset is fully compatible. Picture and Ringer ID functions allow you to assign photos and ringers to specific callers. Polyphonic ringtones, as well as a vibrate mode, are also included. Messaging, Internet and Tools
Powerful messaging and Internet capabilities can be found in the S66. While the phone fully supports text, picture, sound and video messaging, it also ships with AOL Instant Messenger so you can text chat on the go. You can get your email on the go, too, as the S66 has a POP3/IMAP4 e-mail client. With a Cingular data plan, the phone can be used as a wireless modem, providing internet access on your laptop or PDA. There's also a built-in web browser for Cingular MEdia downloads and mobile web browsing. Cingular's MEdia service lets you receive and send emails, read news headlines, get weather updates, download games and ringtones, and more. Traditional text messaging, as well as picture and sound messaging are also supported by the phone. T9 text entry, which is a technology that makes it easier for people to enter words and text on handsets, is built into the unit-- a plus for mobile email and text messaging users. A number of powerful tools ship with the S66, including a SyncML-based synchronization function that allows you to sync data on the device with Microsoft Outlook and Lotus Notes via Bluetooth, USB, infrared, or serial connection. Other tools include an alarm clock, a calendar, and a to-do list. There's also a voice memo function for recording notes and thoughts. Imaging and Entertainment
With the S66's 1.3 megapixel camera, you can capture high-resolution (1280 x 960) images wherever you roam. There's also a 5x digital zoom for getting great shots from far away. While the camera is great for stills, it can also capture video in the MPEG-4 format. Video recording time is only limited by the amount of available memory space. Java application and gaming support is also built into the S66. Many games and applications can be downloaded from Cingular's MEdia service. The phone also features customizable wallpapers and screensavers. Vital Statistics
The Siemens S66 weighs 4.29 ounces and measures 4.29 x 1.89 x 0.71 inches. Its lithium-ion battery is rated at up to 5 hours of digital talk time, and up to 250 hours of digital standby time. It runs on the 800/1800/1900 MHz GSM/GPRS frequencies. The phone comes with a one year limited warranty. What's in the Box
S66 handset, lithium-ion battery, standard charger, user guide, 32 MB RS MultiMediaCard.
Features of Siemens S66:
- elegant design with large color display and high quality finish
- integrated 1.3 megapixel camera with integrated video recorder and media player - capture, download and play your own video clips
- multimedia messaging, text and instant messaging
- up to 32 mb rs multimediacard included
- wireless synchronization and communication via bluetooth technology or infrared
Reviews:
| A lot of bark, no bite. | Rating: 2 |
If you are looking for a functional, user-friendly phone, this is NOT the phone for you. I never thought I could actually "hate" a piece of plastic, but i find myself cursing this phone constantly. I am currently looking to replace my S66.
This phone puts on a great front: with a sleek design, it brags about its many features and functionality. Unfortunately the only thing this phone has going for it are good looks. The phone is functionally inept. As a long-time Nokia user, this phone falls short in its ease of use. I find myself navigating through dozens of poorly-translated menus, to accomplish the most simple of tasks (ie: turning on Bluetooth, going to the calendar or alarm clock.) I consider myself fairly technologically savvy, and yet I cannot figure out the logic behind the programming of this phone. The calendar and contacts are dysfunctional: Rather than starting at A, my contacts list starts somewhere around the C's, and it took me an entire night to try to understand the complexities of the calendar.
Structurally, the keypad is ridiculously small, I find myself constantly mis-pressing numbers. The 1 button is used as "space" for text messaging (confusing for us Nokia users) and so close to the "send" button that I have sent more one-word text messages than complete ones. The soft key functions change more often than i can keep track of.
The battery life is atrocious. This phone brags a stand-by time of many days, while i have had to charge it two times in one day. This may be because I am an avid user of Bluetooth, but my Nokia managed to maintain a charge of two days with Bluetooth permanently on. The screen is too big for its own good - it does not have the resolution or color ability to support its size - images appear grey and dull.
I feel as if I have lost a part of my life trying to sync this thing to my PC. I have yet to get it to do so seamlessly after weeks of adjustments. The out-of-date software that you download from Siemen's convoluted website was not written for Bluetooth connectivity and is just plain ugly. For the outrageous size of the manual, there is not even a half page dedicated to the sync abilities of the phone. Leaving you with an awful program and your imagination. This is a far step from Nokia's seamless sync abilities and very functional program.
Just plain dysfunctional and a disappointment, don't pay for the good looks. |
| Sync is cool! | Rating: 5 |
Now I feel like contributing a little since I've had my phone for 2 months now.
At first, I was hating it because the battery life sucked and I could not figure out the calender. Then I learned, hey, Bluetooth, high lumination, stuff like that uses up the battery so I only turn on the blue tooth when I need it and set my illumination to low enough to see. That helped A LOT! So instead of charging every night, every other night is possible. I use my phone about 2 hours a day, 2 pix per day, calender checking all the time.. about 5 SMS per day... and I still think my cingular bill is too expensive!
I bought a usb bluetooth from FRYS and plugged it into my computer. Installed Outlook and synched my yahoo calender to Outlook then through my bluetooth I synched my phone and outlook. I didnt even need that syncML from Siemens even though I did install it! It was great! I don't know if the sync was provided by the USBstick software or if it was built into the phone or if SyncML installed itself into the USB bluetooth adaptor menu. Anyways, its cool. I just have to figure out how to get the repeating events, like birthdays, to sync. They were dropped.
Ringtones and sounds are loud on this thing, but speaker phone.. don't know... The not as clear as the Nokia Communicator I think.
The screen.. You know, bigger screen but not more pixels meaning lower resolution than a Motorola. That pissed me off.. but once you look at your pictures on your computer.. WOW!
And yes, it sucks that the internal memory and the card memory aren't shared. Or maybe not. Anyways, I got a 256mB card for mine anyways. It'll be the cooler memory stick.. hehehehe
But something strange, I poped in my SIM card from my old phone in Finland because I wanted the phone numbers, but my phone wuold not read the card. I wonder why.
So, what can I say. I like this phone. I wanted a phone with calender sync capabilities and a good camera. I almost went for that Treo or Blackberry but realized they have crappy cameras. So I saved 300 bucks by going with this phone!
Now I just have to figure out if I can use this IR port to open my garage door or change channels on my TV.
I've transfered things thru IR and Bluetooth, it's awesome!
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| Pretty good over all | Rating: 4 |
| I have recently purcheased a Siemens S66 phone. This phone has mean nice features and a few draw backs. The first thing to notice is that it comes with bluetooth, InDR, and a 32 megabit scandisc card (for storing photos). The phone has a very large display and it isnt a flip phone. It is Tri-band functional, and gets service better then any other phone I have owned with a internal Antenna. One of the nicest things I have noticed is that you can actually see the screen just as well in direct sunlight as you can in the dark (major kudos in my book). The only draw back I have found is that they battery life isnt all it is cracked up 2 be and it weasn't untill I got a bluetooth headset that I was completely satisfied, a must have with any bluetooth cell phone. |
By Siemens |
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