Nice Phone!. Review on Nokia N-Gage QD

So there I was last year without a phone. I had taken my previous phone Sony Ericsson Z200 to my favorite Bengali place made a call, and that's the last I remember seeing it. I was without a handset, moving around not a care in the world, till my dad told me to get myself a handset. As usual it was about keeping tabs on his son; though he will never admit it!

He gave me a budget of around Rs. 5, 000 which I got extended to around Rs. 6, 000. So I was fishing for a handset in the market, wanted something with Bluetooth, which also played music. All the phones with Bluetooth however where way out of my reach :( They were in the price range of 8, 000 and upwards, reason? They were coupled with cameras which were not of such great quality but still.

I remembered my friends telling me about NGage and Ngage QD. I was very sure Ngage QD did not have a camera, so I enquired about the price and at the Nokia showroom I got a quote of Rs. 6, 000. But I was apprehensive my friends had repeatedly told me that Ngage as well as Ngage QD crash a lot. So I asked the guy at Nokia, as well as some other vendors, and they all echoed the same message: It depends on what kind of a user you are.

I also remember one comment which kind of helped me in making that choice; the guy at Nokia said, "This phone is not for everyone and people generally don't take to this phone, but those who do, get addicted and do not want to part with their phone even for an upgrade!!"

I was quite impressed and eventually bought the handset for Rs. 5, 850; not bad I thought. At that time I did not have a memory card, and since I had heard that Nokia phones crashed a lot due to memory cards, had not thought of putting one. But that was then.....

I was very happy to have a Bluetooth phone, and I was fiddling with it quite a lot! The number one thing I like about this phone is that it is a NOKIA, so it is compatible with all kinds of software. Also it is very sturdy, does not break very easily. And I can get a charger for the phone wherever I go! :)

I finally found a reason for getting a memory card and I bought a 512 MB card to start with. Even the guy selling me the card at Heera Panna was apprehensive about putting a card of such capacity in an Ngage QD. But I did, and it did not crash! Later I put all kinds of softwares on the card through my card reader and filled it to the brim with songs, videos, and text files, and it still has not crashed! Been six months since then! I have played music and videos on this phone and still!

A few things you need to know about this phone.

1. When using this phone you need to make sure that you are using minimum possible programs at one time.

2. It takes some time getting used to the keypad which is unlike the keypad of other phones. If you think you are going to have some trouble with it, forget it!

3. This phone does have Bluetooth, but there is a limit on how much data you can send and receive, if there is absolutely no data on your phone memory then you can send around 4 MB but no more than that. Most other phones let you send data straight from your memory card this phone does not. So incase you were thinking of transferring MP3s through Bluetooth, just forget it.

4. If you are looking for an MP3 phone, this is not it. This phone does not support MP3s. You can get software like Ultra Mp3 as I have. But then again sound quality on the speakers and the headphones provided will not be anything close to MP3 phones. But it is descent nonetheless. Remember you are paying that much less for this phone.

5. Since this phone does not support MP3s you can not have an MP3 ringtone. You will have to convert MP3 ringtones in either the wav or amr format. The problem is, wav is too heavy, and the sound quality of amr is not worth a dime.

6. You can not change themes on this phone. You can however change the wallpaper. There are software that let you install themes on this phone, you’ll have to hunt for it on the net.

7. The rubber along the phone does come out, you just have to be a bit careful while using it. It happens so often because the rubber covers the power button. So every time you press the power button you are stretching the rubber. But 9 months since I bought my piece the rubber is still to give me problems.

8. No infrared connectivity. No cable connectivity.

Good Points

1.This is the cheapest phone bundled with Bluetooth, and provides loads of functionality. It lets you make groups of contacts and assign ringtone to groups, or individual contacts.

2.If you are a gamer this phone is meant for you! The shape of this phone becomes a big advantage while playing games. And you can download all kinds of games from the net.

3.External memory card slot. This means that you do not have to take out the battery every time you want to extract your memory card. A feature I found very annoying in my mom’s 7610.

4.The headphone coupled along with it is quite useful while in conversation. The sound quality is quite crisp and clear. Will not help for music though.

5.Battery life is superb! It goes for a day and half minimum. Sometimes I have not charged it for 2-3 days. It depends on whether or not use the speakers for playing music.

6.This phone will never come anywhere close to a W800i in sound quality, but I have been playing MP3s using Utlra Mp3 and I must say it is satisfactory, and when you are alone, and fed up of listening to music on your earphones the phone provides surprising sound quality.

7.The quality of the screen is very, very good! One feature for which I love this phone. Now don’t go comparing with an N Series phone but any other phone in the same price band, it will beat hands down.

Overall a phone for anyone who wants a decent screen, decent sound quality, Bluetooth connectivity, memory card slot for a VERY DESCENT PRICE!