French Company Sagem, who has a reputation for poor quality phones and very little market penetration, is now trying to change their image with the roll out of a Porsche branded phone in Australia which, to say the least, yesterday’s technology. It has no Wi-Fi, is not even a 3G handset, and like everything with a Porsche labe, is seriously overpriced.
Designed for people who like to flaunt it the phone is expensive at over $1,800 and the only justification for buying one is show it off and brag “I’ve got a Porsche phone”. It’s not even 3G so no fast 3, Vodaphone or Next G services are available which is a bit rich for the price.
The P9521 features fingerprint sensor, 3.2 megapixel camera a touch screen display that can be swivelled 180 degrees, and GSM and EDGE capabilities. The handset is housed in a cover made from a single aluminium block while the screen is made from scratch-resistant mineral glass.
Users who have already purchased one are already complaining that the phone closes down quickly resulting in one having to swipe the phone to re activate the features. Other complaints centre on the mail management system. The Financial Review described it as a “fairly typical phone. and a little basic” which while looking smart on the outside it has little if any enhancing features over a $600 Smartphone from the likes of Nokia, Motorola or Sony Ericsson.
The syncing software for Macs does not work with the new generation of Macs which will be a great disappointment for all those posers who just “have to have” a Mac over a traditional PC. A GSM only phone, browsing is slow according to the Financial Review.
The Sagem Porsche P9521 handset is equipped with various multimedia functions. The screen only has a resolution of 320×240 pixels. The 2.2-inch sized screen is a flip-out, tilting type and with an over $2,000 asking price one would have thought that that Sagem would have installed a much higher megapixel camera.
The 3.2-megapixel camera has autofocus and dual-LED flash however several reviewers including CNet said that they were disappointed by the photos it takes. They said Colours look processed and there were too many digital artefacts present in the pictures for their liking. Another big problem is battery life with several reviewers around the world noticing that the screen appears to be sucking battery juice and that talk time is limited compared to a raft of much smarter much cheaper 3G phones.
My bet is that most people even Porshe owners will give the P9521 phone a big miss especially as we are only weeks away from seeing the launch of a 3G Apple iPhone which has everything the Porshe phone has including bragging street cred.
