Description
CASIO EXILIM C721 3G 5.1 MEGAPIXEL PRO CASIO CAMERA RUGGED MILITARY GRADE EXTREME SHOCK WATER & DUST RESISTANCE VERIZON CDMA WHOLESALE CELL PHONES - CARRIER RETURNS A-STOCK
Design
The Casio Exilim C721 does not look a thing like a ruggedized phone. Unlike its G'zOne brethren, the Exilim C721 has a sleek, smooth, and stylish exterior, which is more indicative of the Exilim brand. You would never think that the Exilim C721 is military-certified (under code MIL-STD 810F) to withstand immersion in water, blowing rain, shock, dust, vibration salt fog, humidity, solar radiation, and high altitudes. The chassis is a hard plastic shell, and the headset and microSD ports are protected with tight rubber seals. There's also a slide lock mechanism for the battery cover. Though we didn't submit the C721 to the same battery of tests as the military, we did dunk it in water and throw it on the floor a few times to test its durability. It kept on working without a problem. We even managed to take a couple of photos with the camera while it was still in a tank of water.
Measuring 4.06 inches long by 1.97 inches wide by 0.77 inch thick and weighing 4.76 ounces, the C721 is wide yet slim, and has a nice solid heft in the hand. The entire front surface of the C721 is clad in glossy black save for the Verizon logo at the bottom. However, if you activate the phone, you will see a monochrome OLED display that shows the signal strength, battery life, and a digital or analog clock (you can choose the clock format in the settings). It also displays caller ID, and if you have any new messages or missed calls. It even shows the currently playing track if you have the music player activated. Of course, it doesn't support photo caller ID, and you can't adjust things like backlight or font size.
On the left of the phone are a microSD card slot and a charging pad. On the right are a headset jack, a back button that doubles as a rewind or previous track key for the music player, volume controls that can be used to navigate the camera's menu and act as camera zoom controls when in camera mode, a side control key that can only be used in camera mode for selecting functions and settings, and the camera shutter button. On the back of the C721 are the camera lens, a very bright LED flash that can also act as a flashlight, and an external speaker.
Of course, the Exilim C721 is still a phone, so when you twist it open again, you'll find the typical navigation array and number keypad underneath the display. The navigation array consists of two soft keys, a round toggle with middle confirmation key, a dedicated camera/camcorder key, and a speakerphone key that doubles as the flashlight key (which just turns the LED flash on). The up, left, and down direction on the toggle can be mapped to user-defined shortcuts, while the right direction leads to a My Shortcuts pop-up menu, which you can customize with up to four more shortcuts. The Send, Clear/voice command, and End/Power keys are clustered together with the number keypad. The keypad is spacious, and the keys are separated by slight edges and indentations, so it's easy to dial by feel.
The Casio Exilim C721 comes with a handy charging/syncing dock. When you dock in the C721 with the display facing outward, it will automatically trigger the photo frame or slideshow mode. We liked the dock because it's convenient to simply drop the phone in to sync and charge. You can also charge the phone by plugging in the charging cable directly into the headset jack. However, you do need the dock to sync the phone with your computer, which can be rather annoying.
The Casio Exilim C721 comes with a generous 1,000-entry phone book, with room in each entry for five phone numbers and two e-mail addresses. You can then organize them into groups, pair them with a photo for caller ID, and one of 12 polyphonic ringtones. You can also choose not to have a ringtone at all if you want. Other basic features include a calculator, a calendar, an alarm clock, a stopwatch, a countdown timer, a world clock, a notepad, a speakerphone, a vibrate mode, text and multimedia messaging, and voice commands.
More advanced users will like the GPS support with VZ Navigator, stereo Bluetooth, mobile instant messenger (AIM, Yahoo, and Windows Live Messenger), links to mobile Web e-mail (this launches the browser), and visual voice mail (which costs $3 a month). You can also get a mobile e-mail app so your e-mail arrives directly to your in-box, but the app costs $5 to download.
Our items are accurately described and Genuine.