With so many mouthwatering offers from different mobile service providers, the only way to conveniently straddle the best of both worlds - constant incoming number and cheapest outgoing calls - is to get a dual sim phone. That was why I was in the market for a cheapo dual sim phone.
No camera, video, MP3, FM player for me, I just need a phone that can do the core functions satisfactorily. Sometimes I do feel that a scheme similar to CAS needs to be implemented in the mobile world, where a buyer can pay only for the features he needs and not for the rest!
The dual sim phone that most people recommended was the Samsung D 780, it was too bloated and expensive for me. I tracked down the Fly DS 410 to a local dealer. The best price he could offer was Rs. 4000. It seemed a reasonable offer. But then the procastrinator that I am, the actual purchase was delayed by a few days. During this time, I walked into a mobile store and was shown the Karbonn K330.
At Rs. 2500 it was too good an offer. I went online and did a thorough scan of the karbonnmobiles.com website. The fact that it was an Indian product (and not grey market Chinese stuff) made it an instant favourite. It also jelled well with my needs, by being free of many unwanted features. I had the mobile two days after checking the website, and have been using it for close to a week.
Before we tackle the hard part, let’s get the easy task out of the way - listing the benefits!
Battery - at 1200mAH it is a huge plus for the K330, I have charged it just once so far. Backup claimed is 8 days.
Touch and Feel - the all plastic, burgundy coloured body feels just right. The shapes and curves and size make it easy to handle, and it is not too heavy or too light. A right balance. The switches are also well sized, placed and give a good feedback.
Other features that I have no complaints about - sound quality, phone book (1000 entries), call history (20 calls), number blacklisting, in the box bundle includes headphone+mic .
Voice changer : allows the caller to masquerade as someone else.
Features that are included but I rarely will use : GPRS without modem, WAP browser, Support for 4 GB microSD card, FM, Audio player, Voice recorder.Now the hard part : the long list of niggles
1.An extra key press is ALWAYS needed. (Karbon"n" is a good clue of this feature!)
This is a great annoyance because it is something integral to the call taking/making process. You will need to press the desired button twice every time the phone goes into power saving mode (display switches off) - including when on a call! So if the keypad locks up, unlike other phones, the first keypress just brings the screen to life, a second key press is needed to bring up the message to press * to unlock.
If a call is completed, pressing the disconnect button once will only lighten the screen - if the phone went into power saving mode - a second keypress of the disconnect button is needed to cut the call. The phone also cannot handle key presses that are made in quick succession. Say you press the twokeys to unlock the phone and dial the number you intend to call in succession, the phone will drop the first two digits of the number.
2.The UI is badly designed : If is usual to scroll through the contact list and make a call and once the call is disconnected, the phone returns to the start screen. NOT in the K330. The user is still returned to the contact list. So another keypress is needed to get back to the start screen. This is particularly irritating because, without getting back to the start screen the keypad does not get auto locked and this opens the possibility of accidental calls. So absentmindedly putting the phone in the pocket after disconnecting a call would be disastrous.
3.Autokeypad lock interval : The intervals are inanely set. So if 5 secs interval seems too short, the next interval is 30 sec! There are no intervening options.
The Wallpaper cannot be switched off : I would prefer a blank screen but K330 does not.
The UI colour/theme cannot be changed : I am stuck with a garishly orange coloured, pineapple-surface alike background when navigating through the menus.
The Startup and shutdown tunes : too long, it’s an opera that cannot be turned off!
SIM1 and SIM2 cannot be renamed: While on the start screen the sims are shown according to the networks they are connected to, when a call is to be made or call comes, the network names are not shown - just SIM1 or SIM2 which is confusing.The solution is to stick a lable on the screen showing the association between sim and network.
Speakerphone cannot be activated till the call connects. So I need to be eagle eyed looking at the screen to see if the call has connected (and if the ring goes on for too long the phone enters power saving mode, blanking the screen). I have lost many calls because by the time I respond, the other party has cut the line after a couple of unrequited "Hello"s - enough to get one’s number blacklisted!
Access to frequently used functions is not easy : While access to contacts take a click, getting to SMSs requires atleast 7! The phone allows functions to be assigned to shortcut keys, but displaying SMSs is not one of them (MMS is). If you do happen to get two SMSs, reading the first one takes a click, reading the other one takes 7 since it required going to the inbox.
The phone comes with a manual in the box, which while informative leaves certain areas unexplained. I still haven’t figured out what IP call means.
The screen though small at 128 X 128 can squeeze in 7 lines which is commendable. But, interstingly, only 4 lines of an SMS is displayed, leading to a lot of scrolling. Reason : Karbonn assumes the user has problems in keeping to a straight line as has a ruled display which takes up the rest of the space!
There as many similar minor annoyances that make the tota experience a bad one. Here is another: the Audio player will work without the headphone plugged in, but not the FM player.
Nonetheless, overall, I must say I got what I paid for - a simple dual SIM phone. I’ll just need to get used to double clicking everytime. While it can’t handle simultaneous calls from both networks, I don’t need that feature. The UI probably can be sorted out with a firmware upgrade, which hopefully the builders will start working on after reading this.
Update : Never did wander too deep into the menu of any phone. But, guess what I found deep within whacky K330 - a menstrual cycle calculator! And more whackiness - this feature can be accessed (by those who need it!) with 2 clicks, unlike the 7 needed for getting to one’s SMS.
More seriously, I have found the design of the calculator truely praiseworthy. It is hard to believe that the same team designed the entire UI.
Update 2 :
Another bug : Manually switching off the phone before the scheduled switch off crashes the phone. It will not power up at the scheduled time or activate any alarm in the crashed state.The battery once discharged cannot power up the mobile even if it is disconnected from the device. Other mobiles that I have owned allowed a few precious minutes of activity if the discharged battery is taken out for a few hours and put back in. The long startup tune may be to blame.