I was really thrilled to read about the launch of this product on Saturday (06-Oct-2012), and decided to buy it immediately. I went to Akai - India.net and immediately placed the order. The package was delivered today at 7:30 PM.
Firstly, the packaging and shipping is very unprofessional. They just pasted my address on the factory packing and shipped it. People like Flipkart or ebay do a decent job of bubble wrapping the product and putting them in an additional carton boxes meant for shipping safety.
I opened the pack and found an HDMI cable, an AV cable, a cheap looking mouse (costs something like Rs. 50 in SP Road, Bangalore), and an user manual that doesn’t add any value even for average users. Totally useless for people who are used to even a basic mobile phone. In fact, a cheap Chinese mobile phone comes with better user manual.
Then came the actual bummer. I opened the box, connected the HDMI cable, connected the power adapter, put the TV in HDMI mode, and switched on the SmartBox. The blue power LED showed up, and I stood there waiting for something to show up on the screen. Even fater many minutes, nothing showed up. I then powered it off, and repeated the whole steps. Nothing again. This time I connected the AV cable, put the TV in AV mode, and powered it on again. No luck once again.
Given that I have been around Linux devices for over a decade, and even worked in Samsung in developing the early versions Android devices, it din’t take much effort to figure out that the device was not even booting.
I immediately called up the customer support number of their distributor, Global Brands Enterprise Solutions Pvt. Ltd. The only positive thing so far was, customer support guy picked up the call at 11:00 PM in the night, but he did not have a clue on what to do, so he simply asked me to call back at 10:00 AM in the morning.
Since there is no hard factory reset option/button on the box or not debug port options, I don’t see how this can be fixed except for sending the box back and expecting a replacement. Now I am even thinking if I have to ask for a replacement or a refund. Now I am really apprehensive of the quality of this box even if I get a replacement.
If anybody is planning to buy this box, I’d say go invest that money in something else worthwhile. This Box would be Smart only if it boots, but alas, it doesn’t even boot. So there’s nothing Smart about this or AKAI.
UPDATE, 11-Oct:
After a lot of yelling and crying on phone with customer support and local service center guys, they finally agreed to take it back and arrange for a replacement (they were trying to push me to get it repaired, what a shame). But now they say they will take a week to send the new one. Waiting for the new box with fingers crossed. Hope these guys learn from other online stores and have a money-back option.
So whoever is wanting to buy even after this review, remember that there is no way you can get your money back even if you are utterly dissatisfied with the product.