3/24/2005

Electronic/Phone shops in Japan have fake plastic phones on display usually. They look the same as the real phones, they weigh the same, they make the same noise when you open/close them, etc. But they are not the same as the real stuff of course, and often they are just a little bit better. When you are really shopping for something, you can go to one of the larger retailers and ask to see a real functioning charged model, and play with it. Yodobashi and Bic Camera shops usually have a series of all the most recent models available for your enjoyment. Especially now that music is the trend to follow…

So, what does the Penck really look like? Everyone knows it is very cool on paper, but does the real phone live up to the expectations, or does the ad reflect what people really say when they see it for the first time?

After spending a few minutes taking pictures and looking at myself in the plastic imitation of chrome, I have to say I am not really convinced this is the ultimate accessory I need to become the coolest guy on the block. Sad…

First, it is made of plastic, not metal. If there is metal in the shell, it is below a sheet of plastic, and there is not enough of it, obviously. The phone is too light. It feels cheap. It feels plastic, when in fact you expect metal. I understand the advantage of a light phone in a pocket, but when you want to go “chrome”, you need to feel it in your hand. And it doesn’t feel “cold” in the hand like metal would either.

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The two other models are not finished properly either. “Coffee” was supposed to be matte, while in fact it is very shiny. And “Milk” just looks like your average white plastic phone, when they could have played around and made the iPod look dull. Mmm…

What made me angry were the little openings for the cord and the SD card. They were painted over on the outside, and “cheap-plastic” color on the inside. The finish is definitely not a reflection of this phone’s price tag nor the fuss made around its exterior design.

On the good side are the screen, the interface, the sound. Overall, the inside is good, and the outside not so much. The GUI is very cute and original with its low-tech minimalist big pixel animated icons. Once you open it, you feel like there is something well done in the phone. First impression matters and the Penck has a lot of inner beauty.

So, the specs are good, and AU seem to care about their network (which is important since one phone is locked to a network here), so overall, it is probably a good phone, but the Penck didn’t receive as much attention as it deserved to make it the ultimate object of desire it could have become.