Panasonic GD55

Do you remember when the earliest mobile phones--yes, those chunky and ugly ones--were caricatured as water bottles for kids? These days, that's no longer practical. If you used a water bottle modeled after the Panasonic "mini phone" GD55, you'd likely die of thirst.

Itsy-Bitsy
The GD55 is so darn tiny that it inevitably draws gasps from onlookers. Measuring just 77 x 43 x 17mm, it is a good deal shorter than fellow featherweight Sony Ericsson T600. Panasonic does cheat a little, for these specifications do not include the GD55's antenna which protrudes sorely from the top left. This appendage, a no-no for some, also detracts from its otherwise cutesy looks. Expectedly, the GD55 is incredibly light. At 65g, it is ideal for wearing around the neck, and Panasonic kindly provides a lanyard for that purpose. The finishing is a tad plasticky, but the phone seems quite well constructed overall.

Small Use
Being small is well and good, but the big question is: Does the GD55's interface suffer because of its size?

Thankfully, in most cases you don't need to be a Mini Me to use the mini phone, although there is the occasional compromise. For example, the phone's blue-lit display is rather small, and accommodates just four lines of text. The buttons, while quite usable, are close together and lack key depth.

That said, the GD55's icon-based menus generally make for an intuitive interface. There are also customizable shortcuts so you can get to your favorite functions quickly and easily.

Big Voice
The GD55's feature set is quite bare as modern phones go. The highlight here is polyphony, and the GD55 offers a good implementation. The phone simulates a "click" as you navigate the menu icons, while the 30 melodies included are varied and sparkling. The ring volume is also incredibly loud for such a small phone. We had our test unit at two out of a maximum volume setting of five most of the time.

The GD55 also comes with a melody composer, so those who are musically inclined can key in notes in four tracks. Other features include a clock, scheduler, WAP browser, as well as a 250-name phonebook.

According to Panasonic, the GD55 measures 0.584W/kg on Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) tests. Based on the recommendations of the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection, this is well below the limit of 2.0W/kg.

Weak Reception, Good Voice Quality
With the GD55, we experienced poor reception in more places than we were accustomed to with other phones. Still, in Singapore where operator coverage is relatively good, this shouldn't pose a major problem.

Voice quality was commendable, with the phone speakers proving exceptionally loud and reasonably clear. And though the handset only goes halfway down the cheek, the microphone had no problems registering our voices.

We also found the phone's battery life credible, with the 720mAh Lithium-ion battery providing four days of normal usage.

Conclusion
The GD55 is currently going for S$198 with a two-year contract. In terms of size, you don’t get much smaller than this phone. It isn’t a one-trick pony, either, and users will be pleasantly surprised by its fine implementation of polyphony.