Apr 15, 2009 08:04 PM
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(Updated Jul 17, 2009 01:41 AM)
Dual-Sim phones are a new entrant in the mobile world and are designed to meet the rising demand for the the same. It caters well to the need of frequent travelers, businessmen and people who can't rely on a single service provider.
Why did I go for this phone?
A:Well, I had an Idea sim here in Pune and whose service was then not available in Mumbai and I had to pay roaming charges there. So, I thought of buying an Airtel sim which doesn't have any roaming charges there. Also, it helps at times when network of a particular service isn't available, you always have an option of using the other one.And also since talking to airtel friends on airtel is cheaper and the same is true for Idea. But changing sims was not viable and therefore I needed a phone like this. When I searched for such phones, I found out that I don't have many options available. Samsung is the leader in this category and was the first to introduce such phones in India. It has two gsm-gsm models and one gsm-cdma model. The other options were from Fly, Sagem & Spice. There were cheaper chinese phones too but they were a strict no.They have been banned now(I always knew this was going to happen).After doing a lot of comparisons, I zeroed in on this piece due to its appropriate price and features.
Dual Simplicity:
The best aspect of this phone is that both the sims are active simultaneously unlike previous generation phones where you had to restart phone to change to the other sim. Suppose, you are on a call on one sim and you receive call on the other sim, the caller will be told to wait and you can easily put your active call on hold and take up the new call. Also, You can deactivate any sim with just one touch.
Design and Build:
It is a straight-forward Bar-shaped phone and will not leave your tongue hanging at first glance. But
it gives an easy handling experience .The two design features which stand out are its wide keypad(which is great for typing)and dual-sim key(which is its best feature)on the left side.The dual-sim key is used to toggle between the two sims while making calls or sending sms.It also has camera and volume keys, headphone, battery and micro-sd slot on the sides.
It is a little lengthier than regular bar phones(115 x 49.6 x 15.7 mm) and weighs 108.5 g.
Battery:
It has a powerful 1200 mAh Li-Ion battery(normally batteries are 850-950 mAh) and is an above average performer considering that it has to power two separate transceiver units. If 1 sim is used it lasts longer.I recharge it every third day normally.But the battery meter has only 3 bars which I feel is not sufficient.
Display and interface:
Samsung are well-known for colour displays and this one won't disappoint you either. It has a 2.1" TFT screen of QVGA resolution capable of displaying up to 256K colors. It's great in dark but in sunlight it is just OK(but so is any other colour display). You can adjust display settings for better visibility under sunlight.
It has a Good interface and menu transition.
What's Bad:
New themes other than default can't be installed
Applications can't be installed in a separate folder.
What's worse: *Apllications above 1 Mb can't be installed.
Area info.(as in nokia) not shown
Can't set auto-key pad lock time as you wish
Basic use:
It is good at the basic function of making calls. Phonebook is well-made and has smart-search feature. Signal quality is good and and there are two modes available while making calls- voice clarity and whisper mode.Only grouse here is that the ringtone uses the same speaker in the front(there is no separate speaker on the sides) . So it is sometimes difficult to hear calls if it's kept in pocket of your Jeans(keep vibrator on always when outside).
Other applications:
a)Music player:
Sound quality is excellent in headphones. But the speaker is not loud enough. But everything else about the player is not good e.g. managing playlist. But remember it's not a music-edition phone.
b)Video player: quite good
c) Camera:
The best 2 megapixel camera available with lots of features even better than sony ericsson cybershot.
d) FM:
Excellent quality but the only bad point here is that you can't switch stations through the key(on your FM receiver)on the headset. That key is only meant for receiving calls.:(
e) Web browser:
Not good. You can install another 3rd party browser like opera mini. No 3G support.
It supports bluetooth with A2DP and has a memory of 32Mb which is expandable upto 2GB.
All other pre-loaded applications, games etc. are quite good.
It supports Java.
Conclusion:
If you need a dual-sim phone, look no further. It performs its basic function excellently, has average multimedia features, good camera and is a value for money phone.
