Share
During the review of the Family Locator and Usage Controls offered by Verizon, we tested the Casio Exilim (C721) as the parent device. The phone itself was perfect for what we needed it for during the tests on Family Locator, while adding some glitz and glam with one of its unique features.
The Tech Herald tests Verizon’s Casio Exilim C721.
The Casio Exilim is slick looking phone. Rounded and smooth, with a high gloss black finish, the C721 is a typical looking flip phone that twists to transform into a 5.1-megapixel camera. When you twist the phone’s display to access the camera, the actual display screen becomes the viewfinder. Since the viewfinder is a 2.3-inch LCD, with 262,000 colors, the camera feature is by far the best thing about this phone.
Controlling the camera, thanks to an onscreen menu guide, is as simple as using the top row of keys, which if not being used for the camera, double as the controls for the Exilim when you use Rhapsody for the music services. The MicroSD slot offers 8GB of storage for the Exilim as well, which is good considering that you need a docking device to synch to a computer. This was a pain to use at times, but is included with the phone.
When it comes to images, as seen in the example below, there are various settings to take advantage of. In our example, we simply used point and shoot with no other menu features. However, the Exilim comes with 15 “BestShot” modes that do most of the work for you, so the various settings don’t have to be constantly adjusted. The down side to the camera is the image lag. It will take about 1-2 seconds for the image to take once you press the shutter key. This can be compensated for by using the multi-shot option, where four pictures are taken at the same time, but it is still a drawback to the camera.
The Exilim is waterproof, which is a random feature to be sure, but a good one if you happen to drop the phone while taking pictures of a fountain. However, other Casio devices, including the G’zONE have this too, so it wasn’t that much of a shock, but random all the same for a camera driven phone.
Call quality was fine. When tested, on both sides of the conversation things were crystal clear. Speakerphone was ok as well, posing no issues on a call, but then again the speakers left a lot to be desired when listening to music.
Since the other half of the Exilim, aside from the camera, is the ability to use VCast and Rhapsody, the multimedia support could have been better. The speakers just didn’t do the music or video justice when listening on them. However, using a stereo headset solved those problems.
Browsing the Web was typical for a flip phone, the controls on the keypad were easy enough to get used to, and we didn’t experience any issues with speed or content on the phones browser.
Battery life, while rated at about 4 hours of talk and more than 20-days of standby time, will strongly depend on how you use the camera. When just using the phone to play music or talk, the battery life came out at the rated levels. We got just over 4 hours of talk time, and about 20-days of standby. However, when using the camera constantly, we could completely kill the battery in about six hours, thanks to repeated use of the flash.
Overall, the Exilim is a decent phone, but the biggest feature is the camera. If there was one thing that would give anyone pause before upgrading to the Exilim or purchasing it, it’s cost. The Casio Exilim from Verizon is $279.99 USD after a $50.00 USD rebate. If you can look past the cost, the Exilim is worth a look.
Interested in a more interactive TTH? Join our Facebook Group Want regular updates from The Tech Herald? Follow us on Twitter
Advertising
Comment on this Story