This is my first review on Mouthshut. I decided to write it since I wanted to warn people against buying this phone!! I bought my phone on Aug 3rd 2003 for Rs. 6450 at Brigade road, Bangalore (the MRP was 6995 at that time). I was initially thrilled by the colour display and looks and the polyphonic ringtones/GPRS etc. I enabled the GPRS on my Hutch prepaid card and was busy downloading ringtones/wallpapers. I was really happy with the phone and recommended it to all my friends. After using it for more than 4 months I am now aware of many of the problems/shortcomings of the phone. Here is a list of the advantages/disadvantages of this phone.
PROS:
1) Great looks, small form factor
2) 4096 colors colour display
3) Good sound clarity, good network reception
4) GPRS
5) USB connectivity to the PC
6) Good games
7) Exchangeable covers -> has the same form factor as the C330 and hence covers
of C330 fit this phone!!
8) Supports EMS -> Enhanced Messaging allows you to send predefined colour images, animations and sounds via a SMS to compatible phones (Sadly not to Nokia phones)
9) Allows you to copy phonebook entries from phone to sim and vice-versa.
CONS:
1) Poor battery life, Lasts only for a day and a half! -> Need to charge it daily, charging time is large ( more than 3 hours)
2) Low volume of ringtones and a very light vibrator -> leads to many missed calls in noisy places.
3) Major Functional bugs present in the phone:
i) The phone does not allow you to make a call immediately after you end a call. It just makes the volume to zero for the second call.
WORKAROUND?? ->
A) Wait for some time before calling the second number.
B) shut the phone and start it again
ii) The phone freezes/resets on its own at seemingly random times. WORKAROUND?? ->
If it freezes, reset the phone.
If it resets, nothing needs to be done :-)
4) Display is too small, only 3 lines while reading a SMS and 2 lines while writing a SMS.
5) The ringtones are not compatible with Nokia/Samsung etc.
6) Slow menus, sluggish response
Conclusion:
It is a feature packed phone, but lacks in reliability and critical features like good battery life and audible ring tones, also the display is very small and only 4096 colours.
Avoid buying this phone, phones with better battery life/ ringtones and bigger and better displays are now available like the Samsung C100, Sony Ericsson T230.