Overview
Panasonic has once again come up with something special for us mobile phone users. The GD90 was one of the first phones to offer a set of different coloured backlights for the LCD display, while the GD92 gave us a look at what we’re going to see more of very soon - polyphonic (or harmonic) ringers. Up till today, I still consider the GD92 as one of the best Panasonic phones to date.
And now we have the GD95 - Panasonic’s latest upgrade to the GD9x-series of phones. One of the most striking features of this phone - love it or hate it - is the adoption of a larger, portrait-orientated LCD allowing for up to a whooping 10 lines of text. Fortunately, the text size was not too small and was easy enough to read - not having to squint at the screen! The benefits of having a larger screen means also that you will be able to see more of a WAP page than on other phones (this is something that I find annoying when using WAP!)
Something else to complement the big screen is the new 5-way directional joystick located right below. This joystick replaces the 4-way button, “clear” and “application” buttons used on previous GD models - and also makes navigating around the phone somewhat easier than previously since controlling most movements are done with the joystick. The joystick’s sensitivity level is also quite good.
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"A one-line network
description (for example, AUS VODAFONE)"
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Although the GD95 is sized somewhat larger than its predecessors, mainly because of the extended screen size, the phone is still very comfortable to hold - thanks to it being lightweight (84 grams) and having a more appropriate width compared to the GD92 phone.
After turning on the phone and logging into the network, the standby screen was able to display the signal strength and battery level indicators, a one-line network description (for example, “AUS VODAFONE”), a description line for the soft buttons and joystick, and the remainder of the area used for the screen image set - which is more area than your average phone can use for such a display. The screen image set was an analogue clock with a full date - being sufficiently clear when looked at from afar.
Similar to the GD92, the GD95 has an iconic main menu with selection lists in lower menu levels. Thanks to the bigger screen, the icons used throughout the phone are larger than before and are easier to depict thanks to the use of animation effects. Using the joystick to set options and enable/disable features is made easier than using previous GD models.
Some new features of this phone includes the addition of a WAP browser, voice dialling functionality, idle (standby) screen image (wallpaper) function, SMTP/POP3 email capability, and downloadable polyphonic ringtone feature. Being a phone that is positioned towards business people, the inclusion of these new features makes the phone somewhat friendlier and more “easy-going” to use - than simply just offering what a business person really needs.
One thing I had expected from the GD95 was the same number of screen backlight colours available. Unfortunately, for those who have used either the GD92 or GD93 will be somewhat disappointed to know that there are now only three colours - white, soft orange, and green.
I was able to get around 2-3 days worth of standby from the GD95 on average use. These really vary once you use the phone a bit more.
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Overview (Page 1)
