MobileWatch: Android Phablet

Tuesday, 15 October 2013

Spice Pinnacle Stylus Mi-550 Review

The ever-expanding screen sizes of smartphones have baffled some people, who want excellent viewing experience as well as comfort of holding. Pinnacle StylusMi-550 from Indian brand Spice finds the right balance of screen size and holding comfort. The USP is obvious in the name itself. The product comes with round headed stylus that makes taking notes a very easy task. In my view, it's just elegant and sophisticated like Note 2. Let me reveal more on the product.

Aesthetics

The phone looks great with a massive display that utilizes the front real estate smartly. It looks much similar to Samsung Galaxy Note 2. There is no physical button on the front panel; 3 capacitive buttons are given at the bottom side. Volume control on the left hand side; 3.5mm audio jack on the top; a microUSB port at the bottom; and power button on the right hand side. There is a thin silver colored bezel along the sides that adds to the visual appeal. The stylus can be inserted and pulled out as and when required from slot given at the bottom of the device. The back panel has a glossy white finish. An 8MP camera, dual-LED flash and speaker complete the back panel. The free flip cover that comes in the pack is extremely attractive. It fits very well to the device, giving access to all controls. Removing the back panel welcomes a 2500 mAh battery, 2 SIM card slots, and a microSD card slot.

Unboxing and Hands-on video

Camera, music and video

The 8MP camera records 1080p HD videos @30fps. In addition, it offers you various features like Self portrait, Geotagging, Face detection, Self timer, Zero shutter delay etc to customize and get desired pictures. There is a 2MP camera on the front panel for video chat. The pictures clicked using the front camera also looked great. No need to ask anyone to click your self portrait, you can get a good one using the Pinnacle Stylus front camera. I clicked a few indoor and outdoor pics using this camera. Really satisfied with the picture quality. The earbud type headset quality is good, not excellent though. The speakers delivered loud enough sound; even the quality of music is really good. It plays HD video.

Call and Data

Pinnacle Stylus showed consistent 3G data performance. Call quality seemed good with no call drop and voice cracking. The device does not have native 3G video call option, but you always can enjoy video calling via 3^rd party applications like Skype and Gtalk.

Display

Trust me, the 5.5 inch display with HD (1280 x 720px) resolution is just amazing. The display shows vibrant colors. Images are crisp and sharp. The spaciousness of the screen also makes it really great for viewing Web pages and multimedia. The touchscreen is very responsive.

User interface

The onscreen QWERTY keyboard is good for typing. I have given it to a couple of friends who accurately typed a sentence with ease. I did not judge the keyboard myself because; I’m not really good in typing on mobile screens, no matter how good the keyboard is. The dialer is plain with no adornment. I personally like a bit colourful or button like look in place of simple digits on the dialer. You can easily access call logs and contacts from the dialer itself. Quick access to connectivity settings, display auto-rotation settings and brightness settings can be opened from the notification bar. The camera interface is neat and clean.

Processor and memory

The device comes with 1.2 GHz quad core processor that does seamless multi tasking. Memory specs encompass 8GB internal memory, 1GB RAM, and 32GB expansion via microSD card.

Software and apps

The handset ships with Android v4.2 (Jelly Bean) and comes with a number of Google's services, like Chrome, Gmail, Google Maps, Gtalk, and YouTube. Above all the Google Play store gives you an option to download a number of games and useful apps. Preloaded apps include NQ Mobile security, Ever Note, Opera Mini, News & Weather, and Hungama. Spice Note, an app from Spice, helps you take notes on your phone.

Connectivity

It offers all the standard connectivity options including dual-SIM, 2G/3G, Wi-Fi, USB, and GPS. The only option not given is NFC, which any way doesn’t affect much, as it is not used commonly in India now. It would be icing on the cake if Spice has given USB OTG feature as well; the first Pinnacle device Mi-530 featured it.

Battery

It comes with a 2500 mAh battery. The phone was alive for more than a day of average use – Did gaming, surfing, music playing and calling moderately.

Conclusion

The big yet gorgeous artefact, with its looks and performance, is expected to grab the market. A worth buy at a price of Rs 15499. I hope the price to satisfaction ratio will push its penetration in the market. Good job Spice!!!

Tuesday, 25 September 2012

Spice Stellar Horizon Mi-500 : Phablet in Review

Are you guys thinking that the Samsung Galaxy Note is too expensive to grasp in your hand and flaunt in front of your buddies? No need to worry. Spice is coming up with a gigantic handset to please you all – Spice Stellar Horizon Mi-500- which will hit the market by 1^st week of October. This post, dear readers, would not just give you a full view of the phablet but also tell you that it is not necessary to spend a 30K for a 5 inch phone. So, why wait, let’s divulge into a review.

First and the most eye catching thing about the handset is its intimidating size, the sheer 5inch size of the device takes it in a league where there are only couple of other handsets to give company(read competition). The big 5 inch screen is full of vivacious colors and the touch is superb, for crisp images an 800x480p resolution has been incorporated to the screen . And the sensors like proximity sensor and accelerometer sensor 3(D) add glitter to glory.

Moving on, the phone has a 5MP camera on the rear side of the body and a VGA one on the front side for video chat and self portrait. The main camera is supported by a dual LED flash. And there is no need to say that the camera has no dearth of additional features, such as auto focus, portrait, landscape & other modes, and various effects. I am, here affixing some of the pics taken from the phone camera itself.

For the speed lovers the handset offers a Dual processor, which has a clock speed of 1GHz. The superfast processor is backed by a 512MB RAM, the combination is lethal, pretty lethal.

In the connectivity segment there is Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi hotspot, USB connectivity, GPRS, and HSPA. With the 3G(HSPA) capability the phone is at the same pedestal with handsets like the Samsung Galaxy Note. In addition the handset has a dual SIM support as well.

If one wants to peep into the battery capabilities of the handset, it has a Li-Ion 2400 mAh battery, which without doubt is one of the high points of the handset.

Moving towards the Operating System of the handset, it has got the best in the business – Android IceCream Sandwich 4.0 (ICS). As far as apps are concerned, we are all familiar with the fact that how big the Play Store range is in this regard. You can just download and use apps or games of your choice. In addition, there are GPS and Google maps to help you in unfamiliar territories.

No, we are not finished yet; I know that most of you like your handsets to be stylish in looks, so I am not expected to end the review without describing how the handset looks. Its rectangular accent makes it much similar to Note or Samsung Galaxy SII, or with an iPhone, if you can imagine a stretched version of it. That itself suffices the looks. This look and feel video would tighten the remaining loose screws, if there are any.

Plus, you get the preloaded NetQin app to make your Android experience safe form unwanted malware, absolutely free. Plus you get pre-loaded apps like WhatsApp, Dhingana, and Facebook to make your experience even sweeter.

So, what do you think of the handset, is it worth your while or not, kindly let me know through your comments, no need to say how much we treasure your remarks here at india-mobilewatch.blogspot.in.
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