| Philips Fisio 620 |
| General |
| Network | Gsm 900 / Gsm 1800 |
| Announced | 2002 |
| Status | Available |
| Size |
| Dimensions | 104 X 46 X 20 Mm, 73 Cc |
| Weight | 85 G |
| Display |
| Type | Monochrome Graphic |
| Size | 101 X 80 Pixels, 8 Lines |
| | - Zoom Function |
| Ringtones |
| Type | Monophonic |
| Amount | 20 |
| Customization | Download, |
| Vibration | Yes |
| Memory |
| Phonebook | 300 |
| Call Records | 10 Dialed, 10 Received, 10 Missed Calls |
| Card Slot | No |
| | - 7 Fields Per Contact |
| Data |
| Gprs | Class 10 (4+1/3+2 Slots), 32 - 48 Kbps |
| Hscsd | No |
| Edge | No |
| 3g | No |
| Wlan | No |
| Bluetooth | No |
| Infrared Port | No |
| Usb | |
| Features |
| Messaging | Sms, Email |
| Browser | Wap 1.2.1 |
| Clock | Yes |
| Alarm | Yes |
| Games | No |
| Colors | |
| Camera | No |
| | - T9
- Voice Dial
- Voice Memo
- Organiser
- Calculator
- Euro Converter
- Snap-in Front Cover |
| Battery |
| | Standard Battery, Li-ion |
| Stand-by | 330 H |
| Talk Time | 5 H |
|
Philips - Fisio 620Handful with the Philips Fisio 620
Major features
WAP over GPRS (Class 10 - 2U/4D)
Choice of 7 different shades of backlight colours (between green-orange-red)
Customisable hotkeys for specific phone functions or speed dial settings
Equaliser function - to aid voice clarity in different environments
Voice command, dialling and memo functions
Handsfree speakerphone feature
Concatenated SMS feature and built-in email client - with T9 input
PIM functions with sync ability (calculator, calendar, dynamic phonebook)
Screen saver, animations and images album feature
Removable front and back covers
Problems/Issues?
Average illumination from backlights only
Back cover surface of phone somewhat slippery & easy to damage
Covers difficult to remove (especially front one)
Sales package (should contain):
1 x Fisio 620 handset
1 x Li-ion battery @ 570 mAh
1 x travel charger
1 x Fisio 620 user manual
Overview
Philip’s Fisio 620 is the next model down from the recently-released 820 colour screen model. Although the 620 only comes with a black & white display, on the inside this phone is packed with practical features that would suit most users in today’s mobile environment.
New/outstanding features
One of the major headlines for the Fisio 620 would be the GPRS capability that it has - supporting Class 10 speeds (2 upload slots and 4 download slots) and can be used with either the internal WAP browser or via data cable connection with a PC. Also, the phone comes with basic PIM functionality - including calculator, calendar, dynamic phonebook, and built-in email client. Great for those who want to keep their organiser in their phone instead.
Aesthetical features are also available with the 620 - including animations and screen saver options. A picture application on the phone allows the importing of images and pictures which are based on standard formats.
Physical aspects
At 85 grams, the Fisio 620 sits quite comfortably in the average hand while being around the same size as a T68i. Fitting the phone into any shirt or trouser pocket would not be an issue at all.
My first attempts at trying to remove the back cover to put the SIM card and battery into the phone took quite a bit of effort. The 620 uses two clips on each side of the phone to hold the back cover in place. But after a while, you learn to get the hang of it - but it’s still not the easiest cover to remove (due to the somewhat slippery surface of the back cover).
Once opened, the first thing that you may notice is the internal antenna being fully exposed at the top part of the phone. It would have probably been a good idea to keep this area protected (for obvious reasons). When inserting the SIM card into the 620, make sure that it’s pushed all the way down to the bottom so that you won’t get an “insert SIM card” error message after turning on the phone.
The buttons on the keypad had good levels of tactility. But it would have been even better if they were slightly more raised from the cover.
User Interface (UI)
The carousel menu layout is also used on the Fisio 620 (same as the 820 - less the colour). Some may find the “round and round” motion somewhat hard to manoeuvre and confusing - especially when you have a lot of menu items on a particular menu-level carousel. But I feel that it’s better than going through screens of menu items that drives me nuts! The layout of the menus on the 620 is quite logical.
To bring up the menu, simply depress on the joystick from the standby screen.
Appropriately, navigating the 620 mainly requires the use of the 5-way navigational joystick. When dealing with the carousel menu, the left/right/depress actions are only required. As for the up/down directions, these are usually used for the built-in phone features - such as the calendar.
One thing that many people may need to get use to is the use of both the red/hang-up and clear keys. For most of us, when we want to get out of a feature or cancel an operation, we would press the red/hang-up button - but it would do nothing but turn on the backlights only. On the 620, you will need to press the clear key instead.
Making and receiving calls
A unique feature on both the Fisio 620 and 820 phones is the ability to enhance the phone conversation experience with the audio equaliser feature. This feature can be accessed from the SETTINGS/SOUNDS menu and provides improved voice clarity depending on the environment you are in (for example - quiet, noisy, etc).
The handsfree speakerphone feature on the 620 worked like a charm. Volume was sufficient, and the other person on the line was able to hear what I said clearly while the phone was about 50-60cm away on the table in front of me.
Overall sound quality on the 620 was considered alright. I tried all five equaliser settings - but they provided pretty much the same level of audio quality in most situations where I used the phone.
Messaging
The Fisio 620 allows the sending of concatenated SMS messages and email over a dial-up or GPRS connection. In both cases, T9 predictive text input can be used providing for a more efficient message composition experience. The 620 also has the ability to send phone melodies as well via SMS.
Battery life
Through average use of the Fisio 620, I was able to get approximately 4-5 days worth of standby time and 3-4 hours of talk time. The battery on the 620 is internal, while the one found on the 820 flagship model was actually part of the back housing.
Major features...
WAP over GPRS (Class 10 - 2U/4D)
High-speed Internet connections can be established and used by the internal WAP browser or an external computing device (via data cable) thanks to the 620’s ability to support connections via GPRS (General Packet Radio Service).
Choice of 7 different shades of backlight colours (between green-orange-red)
The 620 comes with the ability to change the backlight colours on a 1-7 scale. Setting “1” would provide a green backlight, while “7” would be red. Therefore, setting “4” would be right in the middle - a mixture of green and red providing for an orange shade.
Customisable hotkeys for specific phone functions or speed dial settings
In addition to just using the typical numeric keypad for speed dialling, the Fisio 620 adds the ability for the user to set up commands for each key as well. A list of phone functions can be assigned to the keys of your choosing.
Equaliser function - to aid voice clarity in different environments
Another unique feature is the audio equaliser feature, where each profile (up to 5 is selectable) is designed to enhance the audio experience in different sound environments. For example, if you’re using the phone in a quiet room or at a noisy café, you can simply choose the equaliser profile that would assist in reducing unwanted noise for the person at the other end.
Voice command, dialling and memo functions
Various voice functions are available on the 620 - with a long list of voice commands available, dialling and memo feature. Up to 15 voice tags of 2 seconds each is shared between voice dialling and commands.
Handsfree speakerphone feature
Sick of holding the phone or scared of getting a warm ear? Try out the handsfree speakerphone function, which enables the user to conduct a phone conversation without the need of either holding the phone up to the ear or the use of a headset.
Concatenated SMS feature and built-in email client - with T9 input
The Fisio 620 supports more than just concatenated SMS messages. It also comes with an email client that is compatible with both POP3 and SMTP protocols - enabling a user to send and receive email as if it was the email client on a PC.
PIM functions with sync ability (calculator, calendar, dynamic phonebook)
A basic set of organiser function comes built-in with the 620, and has the ability to synchronise with your desktop PC too. The calendar feature provides a day, week and month view facility as well.
Screen saver, animations and images album feature
Sick of that same old standby screen? The 620 allows you to set up several different screen effects - including a screen saver with a pre-settable timeout period and a choice of different built-in animations. An image album feature allows the management of images currently stored on the phone - which can be used by the screen saver feature and email application. Supported image formats include JPEG, GIF, bitmap (BMP), TIFF, PCS and PNG.
Removable front and back covers
The Fisio 620 has the ability to take on different coloured covers as well - for both front and back.
Problems/Issues?
Several problems hindered the 620’s overall performance, with each issue affecting a particular aspect of this phone.
Visually - average illumination from backlights only
One of the biggest problems I found with the Fisio 620 unit I reviewed was the dim backlighting around the screen area. Two sets of LEDs placed on the bottom of the display are intended to light up the entire screen. When using the green colour, text was pretty visible and was barely comfortable with it while using it for long periods at night. Once you change it to orange or red, it sometimes becomes too dark to be considered comfortable visually.
Physically - back cover surface of phone somewhat slippery & easy to damage
The rubbery material used for the back cover and sides of the front is indeed quite unique and lightweight. On the first time that I picked up this phone, I did see it in this way. After a while longer, I found the material to be somewhat slippery when held in the hand, and could easily be marked or scratched as well. If the phone was to be placed on a rough surface and you pushed the phone against it, the chances of the back cover being marked is pretty high.
Practicality - covers difficult to remove (especially the front one)
As I mentioned previously, the back cover did take some getting-use-to before I could remove them subconsciously. When it got to the stage where I wanted to remove the front cover as well, it took quite a bit of effort before they decided to come off. The front cover was gripping onto the phone too tightly - which was the main reason why it was so difficult. There was a stage where I was afraid that I may just break the cover if I applied a bit more force!
In Summary
When you compare the Philips Fisio 620 with the more popular ones out there, you can definitely see and feel a difference after you use it. This is not to say that the 620 is anything but good. On the contrary, Philips has given the phone all the basic requirements and added features that you’ll find on a typical GPRS-enabled handset by another manufacturer - and is good for use by the average person.
Being priced at around the A$400-mark, the 620 should give that same average person a run for their money. Certainly, there may be a couple of things that can be improved on this model - given that the company’s GSM phones have come a long way since the days of the Genie. |
| Common misspellings on this brand: pilips , phnilips |
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