14 DAY TRIAL // After reviewing Sagem's my721X 'So Ice' handset, I didn't have any surprises with the latest phone for girls - Sagem my411C. Except for the design, everything seems to be the same and no improvements are noticeable. my411C is definitely a low-end phone and targets women that are looking for an adorable mobile phone, but don't care about performance. Furthermore, Sagem partnered with the French company Lulu Castagnette, a fashion brand that features a teddy bear as main icon, to develop the Sagem my411C clamshell. Thus, the phone bears the teddy bear trademark and has been tagged with the clothing producer's name - Lulu Castagnette. Hmm, there's no wonder most of the girls will want one the moment they see it.
Announced in January 2008, Sagem my411C Lulu Castagnette was made available on the market a month later for about 85 Euros (135 USD).
Design
While the clamshell doesn't come with anything innovative in terms of design, the teddy bear pictured on both front and back cover of the phone will definitely catch young women's eyes. I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't tested it - three out of four women showed interest in owning such a device, regardless of the fact that it offers only basic features. I'll try to be as objective as I can and see what's good and what's bad about the device. Still, I would've preferred to have a woman colleague review this clamshell for a better perspective. Now, back to the design of the phone, I believe Sagem did a good job. Without introducing anything new and keeping the same old school clamshell form factor, the shiny plastic, the colors and the small teddy bear sketched on the surface of the phone suddenly became the truly main attractions of the device. As a side note, I haven't been impressed at all by the little teddy bear, but that's acceptable since I'm a man and not a woman.
Sagem my411C measures 91 x 46 x 16mm, which makes it rather 'dull' for those expecting a slim, small clamshell. When closed, users will be able to notice a microSD memory slot card, covered by a rubber stripe, on the left side of the phone. The right side features two volume keys, which are flanking the key that opens the music player, but also a proprietary Sagem port that can be used to attach the wired headset that comes with the phone or the charger. At the bottom of the clamshell, there's a small gap where users can insert a short string that has a miniaturized teddy bear attached to it. The latter can be found in the sales package and looks girlish enough so I cannot talk about it. The VGA camera has been placed on the front cover of the phone, right above the small secondary display. Below, it's the Lulu Castagnette logo, written with silver letters. The back of the phone features the teddy bear icon and Sagem's logo.
When open, the clamshell reveals a large keypad that strongly resembles Motorola's SLVR handset. This happened for the second time, Sagem my721X featuring the same type of keypad. Fortunately, my411C's keys are easier to press, its only drawback being the fact that is a fingerprint magnet. The plastic used for manufacture seems exquisite and shiny, which impresses. Even if it's a low-end device, the clamshell won't look cheap or affordable. Right above the main display, again, there's a small teddy bear, while below the keypad Sagem strategically placed two rubber dots that will prevent your display from touching the keys.
I have counted a total of three teddy bears printed on the various parts of the phone; in fact, there are four if you include the one attached by the string found in the sales package. Definitely a girl's thing, Sagem my411C Lulu Castagnette attracts through its imprinted teddy bears, rather for its clamshell form or features. Men will surely stay away from this handset, but I suggest you guys try keeping your girls away from the device too as it only offers basic features.
Display and Camera
Oh, well I'm thinking that there are worse phones than Sagem's my411C when testing its display and camera. On the other hand, both are sub-mediocre. The main CSTN display supports 65k colors and 128x160 pixels resolution, but quality is way under today's standards. The secondary monochrome display is there to show you the time when you press any external key (volume or MP3 player). The only positive thing I found about the main display is the fact that it is visible under strong sunlight. Otherwise, as you can see from the benchmarks, this is a low-end display, which means that talking about quality is out of the question.
The VGA camera can take pictures using a maximum resolution of 640x480 pixels and features only 4x digital zoom. Lack of a bigger number of megapixels, flash and autofocus make this camera almost useless. The interface is very simple and features few settings such as: Effects (Sepia, Grey Scale, Negative), Exposure (Night, Back light, Sunny, Cloudy, Tungsten), Timer and Click sound. Videos can be recorded and are limited only by the amount of memory available. Again, we cannot talk about quality.
I took some sample pictures, but they're pretty crappy, so don't bother watching pictures on a bigger screen (e.g. PC).
Menu and Software
Sagem's UI, while not the most user-friendly interface, is pretty straightforward and offers a pleasant user experience. Because of the low resolution, the phone is pretty fast when browsing through the menus. The latter has been divided into more sections, pretty easy to guess what they are used for. The first on the left is the Music player; then, there is the WAP browser, Games area (Air Strike and Brain Challenge).
Multimedia sub-menu offers access to all folders and files stored either on the phone's memory or on the memory card. Messages enable users to send SMS or MMS. When the Camera icon is clicked, users are able to access the camera interface and shoot pictures. The Applications category contains some productivity tools such as: Services (depends on the network operator), Alarm, Calculator, Calendar, Timer, ToDo and Applications folder.
The Phonebook can register around 500 names and 100 SMS. You have approximately 14 fields that you fill for every contact you want to add in your Phonebook (name, 3 numbers, ringtone, photo, name, address, 3 emails, birthday, comment, URL and more). Just as the name suggests, it is the Settings menu that offers users the ability to adjust different settings to their needs.
Overall, Sagem's my411C user-interface is easy to use and offers only basic productivity tools to novices, as well as to mobile phone experienced users.
Communications
I didn't have high hopes, so I wasn't surprised to find that Sagem my411C clamshell lacks even the most usual connectivity technologies. The handset only features GPRS Class 10, but at least it is working within the parameters (39 Kbit/s download and 16 Kbit/s upload).
Besides GPRS, Sagem my411C also features Bluetooth 1.2 and USB 2.0. Data transfer speed through Bluetooth connection was again below average (42 KB/s sending and 23 KB/s receiving), while USB synchronization has been a real issue as the phone doesn't come with a cable included in the sales package.
In terms of messaging, the candybar is compatible with SMS, MMS, but also with some basic email options.
The triband (GSM 900 / GSM 1800 / GSM 1900) network compatible handset has average GSM signal reception. The sound is a little bit muffled and pretty low. The vibration alert is also average in intensity.
Processor and Memory
Sagem my411C features an ARM9 family processor running at speeds up to 90 Mhz. It is a low CPU for a low-end Sagem handset, but seems to be enough for the basic features that it has included. It's true, the phone is a little bit slow, but I haven't experienced any lags, at least not like Sagem's my721X.
The 11MB internal memory is too low even for an entry level handset. Still, this might be enough especially that the phone doesn't have a competitive camera and the music player sound is below average.
Furthermore, the phone is compatible with 4GB SDHC cards, so it can easily be used as a mobile storage device.
Multimedia
The phone hasn't been gifted with any fancy multimedia features. The music player is compatible with MP3 formats, but doesn't have any settings that could improve or at least change the sound quality.
There's no Equalizer or other function that could improve the low quality sound. The wired stereo headset cannot be changed with better headphones as the proprietary Sagem port is unique and the sales package doesn't contain an adapter. The two external volume keys placed on the right side of the phone can be used to skip or go back to a previous song, but that works on a longer press on the keys. The key in the middle of the two volume keys opens up the music player. Clearly, Sagem my411C Lulu Castagnette is not a multimedia device, not even close.
Battery
The 710 mAh Li-Ion battery has an officially stated life expectancy of 200 hours in standby and about three hours in talk time mode. Even if we are to believe the official numbers are real, we still have a low talk time for those that use the phone a lot. I had to recharge the phone every two days and only managed to talk 50-60 minutes per day. If you continue to use the phone even only to browse through the menus, the battery still depletes at an impressively fast rate. It seems that this is Sagem's standard battery, so there's nothing to do about it.
Impressions
Sagem my411C has enough of the 'wow' factor to attract precisely its target - young women. I was horrified when I had put my hands on my411C, but after starting to use it, I could understand why it can be interesting to own a 'teddy bear' clamshell. Other than that, there is nothing worth mentioning.
The Good
Besides its 'girlish' design, that might 'trick' a few buyers, Sagem my411C clamshell doesn't have too many goodies to offer.
The Bad
It should've been made three or four years ago to actually have a mildly success on the market. In my opinion, I don't think it's a phone that should be launched on the market in 2008.
Sales package
Sagem my411C handset 710 mAh Li-Ion Battery Sagem wired stereo headset Charger Teddy bear string Teddy bear stick
Photo: Tudor Raiciu for Softpedia.com