Sanyo Incognito SCP-6760 Review

Introduction:

Once upon a time Sanyo was synonymous with innovation.  They offered the first mobile phone in the US with a color display, brought us the first camera phone and at one point won 3 consecutive JD Power awards for customer satisfaction.  Things have been relatively silent from the manufacturer, however, and they’ve released a string of low-end handsets since.  The Sanyo Incognito SCP-6760 looks to break that string, offering a solid mid-range feature set with a slick hidden front keypad.  Other features include a 2 megapixel camera, microSDHC expansion and 3G data.  Included with the device is a lithium ion battery, microUSB AC adapter and a 1GB microSD card.


Design:

Sanyo no doubt found some inspiration from LG in the Incognito’s flip-open QWERTY, but they put their own twist as well.  We’ve seen hidden front displays on the Katana LX and 3810, but the Incognito takes it a step further by adding a touch-sensitive keypad.

The monochrome OLED display is only 1.1” and offers basic information such as time and caller ID.  The keypad offers haptic feedback so there is no doubt a key is pressed, but we often found ourselves misdialing.  The keypad locks with a sliding switch on the left side of the phone.  The keypad is a cool trick, but the novelty wears off quickly.




You can compare the Sanyo Incognito SCP-6760 with many other phones using our Size Visualization Tool.

Flipping the phone open reveals a 2.6” QVGA display.  It has 262K colors and we didn’t have any issues using it in any lighting conditions.  The Incognito features a four row QWERTY keyboard, with a directional pad to the right.  Again, the layout is very similar to LG EnV series.  The keys are well spaced and offer good feedback, but especially when using the d-pad we had issues with accuracy.


Along the right side of the phone is the microSD slot, microUSB charging/data port, volume rocker and speakerphone key.  The top features a 2.5mm headset jack; we’re disappointed to not see a 3.5 here.  On the left is the aforementioned keyboard lock key.  The 2.0 megapixel camera sits atop the back, but when the phone is opened it’s very easy to cover it with your right index finger.



The build quality of the Incognito is quite good.  The hinge opens and closes with that familiar Sanyo snap, and there isn’t the slightest bit of play in the hinge.  It is rather slippery in the hands however, and we found ourselves dropping it on more than one occasion.  It could definitely use a coat of soft-touch paint on the back for better feel.