Anthony Newman flips open Sendo's follow-up to the popular M550, the M570, and finds improvements all around - but are they enough to impress?
British manufacturer Sendo continues to develop its product range with the successor to the PAYG favourite M550: the M570. Major changes include the addition of Java, MMS, and a new screen - but have they done enough to stay competitive?
 | The Sendo M570 boasts an attractive clamshell design
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Exterior
The M570 retains much of the styling of its ancestor. It's quite a good-looking beast: it has no external aerial, which in a low-end clamshell is something to shout about, and a smart chrome and silver shell, offset by a thick coloured stripe down the middle of the flip.
A combination charging and headphone jack resides on the top face, and aside from a small speaker, the only other feature anywhere on the exterior of the phone is the secondary screen. This is a 96 x 64 inverted LCD, white on black, which carries all the usual information: battery and signal, operator, time and date. The only way to activate the backlight is to open the phone, so this screen is less useful than it could be.
Opening the phone reveals the larger internal screen, which has been upgraded from the 128 x 128 12-bit of the previous model to a 128 x 128, 16-bit unit here. It's still a CSTN, and so not as vibrant as some we've seen, but the colours and resolution are more than adequate. Sunlight performance isn't excellent, though.
Ergonomics
The M570 is light and small, at just 77 g and 68 cc. With no external aerial, it's pocketable, too. Unfortunately, it feels plasticky and build quality is only so-so - there is noticeable creaking.
The buttons on this phone are one of its weak points. Although well-spaced and visible, they have very little travel and are quite spongy. This makes it difficult to tell when they've actually been pressed. Also, one of the first things we noticed when opening the flip was that, rather than a four-way pad, Sendo have chosen to give the M570 just an up-down rocker. This has some impact in games, and also makes navigation through the phone very linear.
The lack of exterior buttons makes it harder to control the external screen, volume settings or call rejection, but active flip and generally comfortable feel in the hand make up for these shortcomings.
Features
Thankfully, Sendo have added a considerable number of features since the M550. As well as the larger screen, there's now MMS support, with one-touch access to message composition. The lack of a camera is compensated for by some great sample pictures, perfectly suited to inclusion in messages.
Java gaming makes an appearance, with several neat games already included and a fairly spacious 3.7 MB in which to save more. A WAP 2.0 browser makes it easy to locate and download games and tones. Ringtones are catered for by 16-tone polyphonics, with a selection of diverse and decent tones included. Individual contacts can have their own ringers.
Aside from dual band GSM 900 / 1800 MHz and GPRS, Sendo have decided that connectivity is low on the M570's list of priorities. There's no Bluetooth, which is fine for this class of handset, but no IR either - and no serial port, which is highly unusual. There's also no camera, and no loudspeaker mode. In fact, the single 2.5mm port on the unit has to cater for both charging and handsfree - and only the charger is provided.
Included software is sparse: there's no organiser whatsoever, and only a simple calculator and converter beyond the games. The capacious phone book has little intelligence. However, the message application has the ability to sort by a variety of criteria, which is appreciated.
Performance
Because of the clunky way in which their icons work, both battery life and signal strength are difficult to read on either screen. However, we found in our tests that the M570's Lithium-Ion battery lasted for a reasonable 3-4 days on a charge, and the phone managed to hold a decent signal throughout, despite the lack of an external aerial.
Voice quality proved surprisingly clear and loud, too, which for a budget phone is very pleasing. Ringtones were audible, and the vibrating alert was strong enough to be noticed.
The operating system is simple and easy to navigate, and pretty good looking, thanks to the inclusion of themes and animations. We had no complaints about the speed of operation, although loading the list of messages caught the phone by surprise on occasion.
One unique feature that never ceased to raise a smile - until we turned it off - is the 'lightsaber-esque- noise that greets every open or close of the flip. Classy.
Availability
The Sendo M570 is available now in selected European markets. Pricing information is not yet available, but is expected to follow entry-level pay-as-you-go standards.
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