The arrival of Siemens's S40 gives U.S. wireless customers a taste of what the German company has been offering Europeans and others for several years. Though it does have a few minor drawbacks, this elegant world phone is loaded with business-oriented features, including the ability to sync with Microsoft Outlook's address book and calendar out of the box.
Blue on the face
In appearance, the 3.4-ounce S40 holds its own against some of the more stylish phones on the market, though Nokia's 8890, another GSM world phone, is still the top head-turner. Siemens has adorned the S40 (4.4 by 1.7 by 0.9 inches) with a blue, backlit screen and buttons that look cool in the dark and are designed to match the translucent-blue trim on the side and back of the phone. Unlike the 8890's tiny, chrome dial-pad buttons, the S40's are rubberized and easily gripped, resulting in fewer misdials. Also, a small indicator light (which can be disabled) at the top of the phone flashes green and red and faster and slower, depending on various actions (incoming call, low battery, and so on).
In fact, the phone looks fairly basic, but just the opposite is true. It's loaded with features, and while its menus and interface aren't overly complicated, they're a bit quirky, so you'll need to read the manual. For instance, we couldn't hit the Talk button to call the last number dialed (standard on most phones). However, after consulting the manual, we found that you hold the 0 key to redial.
Most notably, the S40 (GSM 900/1800/1900) offers worldwide roaming and ships with software that allows you to sync with your Microsoft Outlook address book and calendar on your PC (but not the Mac). The phone also records up to 5 minutes of memos and calls; has a wireless Web browser, a calculator, 42 ring tones, and five personal compositions; and is data capable (it can be used as a modem with the included cable or via IR) and SMS enabled. It's missing only voice dialing.
The syncing experience
Impressively, you can store up to 1,000 entries in the phone. And if your notebook computer has an IR port, you can sync wirelessly via the phone's IR port; otherwise, there's always a serial cable, though there's no USB. After changing the COM port selection in the syncing application, we were able to transfer 421 contacts and 14 upcoming appointments into the phone. Using the S40's IR port, you can also send and receive digital business cards from IR-capable phones as well as Palm and Pocket PC devices.
Since having hundreds of contacts on a phone with a small screen is a bit unwieldy and forces you to do lots of scrolling, Siemens has equipped the phone with several phone books that are different from your address book, including one stored on the SIM card for your important contacts. If you switch GSM phones, you can swap out the SIM card and still have those numbers.
Antenna matters
In terms of performance, the S40 compares favorably to other GSM phones we've tested on VoiceStream's network in New York. Like Nokia's 8260 and 8890, this model has an integrated internal antenna. Call quality was generally good, and we were able to get a signal riding in an elevator. But in some apartments, we found we had to stand closer to a window to get a connection. To test the S40's international roaming capabilities, we took it with us on a recent trip to London. The phone seamlessly roamed to a network in the United Kingdom. We should note, however, that if you don't request overseas service from your current service provider, the phone will not work there.
Battery life is well above average, though you shouldn't expect to reach Siemens's ratings of 6 hours of talk time and 260 hours of standby time (we managed 4.5 hours of talk time and 4.5 days of standby), particularly if your local GSM network is spotty and the phone has to work hard to get a signal. Unfortunately, the phone doesn't go into sleep mode when it can't find a network after a set period of time.
That gripe and minor quirks aside, the S40 is one of the more stylish and functional GSM models available for the U.S. market. At $379 (or less, with service), it's a tad expensive, but it competes well against Ericsson's T28 and Nokia's pricey 8890, particularly when you consider Siemens also throws in the syncing software.
