A long awaited review, I’ve been holding back this long just so that I could literally put this phone through everything and see how well it turns out. For all you impatient readers, the phone is an absolute marvel to sum it all up; go ahead and buy one (even though it’s a late verdict, I still have friends coming up to me and asking for an opinion).
Let me get the basics sorted out first. This review is primarily intended for the average Indian “geek”. Irrespective of whether you keep changing phones often, or intend to buy that long-awaited new model, I’m hoping you’d find this review useful and end up happy when you get one.
The first thing that sets this phone apart from its other contenders is the complete QWERTY keypad. Most phones with the whole keypad are pretty expensive when compared to this one. The keys are rock solid and have a neat tactile feel for small and long fingers (I learnt that it’s pretty good with fat fingers too!). If you feel that you’ve been using the normal keypad for over a gazillion years and fear the change, worry not as you should get used to it in a jiffy.
The body of the phone is robust with a metallic finish and a great paint job. The black one looks like it’s right out of KITT (that’s Knight Rider’s car for those of you who are wondering). I personally feel the phone’s a bit heavy, but considering it packs a lot of punch it’s absolutely worth the weight.
On the usage scene, it comes with Symbian OS Series-60 (3rd edition) software which is a mobile operating system. Unlike the earlier Symbian versions, this one is stable and doesn’t hang much (which means you’d get far less frustrated in waiting for your task to start as compared to, say, a Nokia 6600). I still cannot be too sure about the specific sub-version or model available as they vary in different locations around the world. Nevertheless, a software update should fix things if it still happens to act up.
The battery life is impressive and on an average lasts for about one and a half days (couple of hours of calls, a bunch of texts, half an hour of bluetooth transfers, an hour of music and few camera pictures using the flash).
The most important feature of the phone according to me is the Wi-Fi connectivity. Surfing the net is really fast using Opera Mini (a mobile web browser, can be downloaded for free). The inbuilt browser is good too, but you may find couple of websites messed up through that. GPS is an absolute jaw dropper, and Google Maps totally deserves a platinum. The app is fabulous, and a real life saver. If you often find yourself looking for places, streets or even directions, this one is a must have. Google Maps through Wi-Fi is a stunner, although you’d have to get used to using it through GPRS when you’re on the move (contact your service provider for the GPRS/Data facility). I found the app really helpful and it saved me a lot of money which I would’ve lost through long & conned auto rides in Bangalore!
Applications for the phone are available in abundance too. The basic functions such as Alarm, Notes, Organizer, Calendar and Radio ship with the phone, and more can be downloaded off the web. Gravity is an awesome Twitter application if you’re into micro-blogging, Fring and eBuddy for chatting through various services such as GTalk, Yahoo! and MSN and Google Apps with Gmail, Google Calendar, Picasa, Maps and YouTube for all your Google needs. Push email works great too, but doesn’t work with certain encrypted wireless networks. This could go on and on, but the most important apps for your basic social/travel needs are taken care of by Google!
The camera quality could do better, but a small trick could get you through that. Whenever you’re ready to click a picture, press the ‘T’ key to focus on the subject/object. This makes sure your pictures are always clear. Tweaking few photo settings such as white balance and exposure could even unearth that budding photographer in you!
Overall, it’s an amazing phone. Go ahead and get one! It’s worth the extra money. For more details, you can check out the GSM Arena website for specifications and user submitted reviews. If you have any other questions, drop a mail and I’ll be glad to help.
