Bugged with large tracts of non-connectivity for my official BSNL SIM in these parts of MP, I was on the lookout for a Dual Sim phone with everything else a smartphone is offering these days, i.e. touch interphase, 3G, WIFI, GPS, GPRS, 3MP+ Camera, Music, Memory Card slot, large internal memory and everything else.
Many Dual Sim are available in the market in the 5000 range - Samsung, Nokia, Spice, Micromax etc. The one which came close was Samsung B5722 with full touch but without 3G & Wifi for aout Rs 8700. Then came the reports of its sibling B7722 selling for Euro 300 in European Markets. However, it was not launched in India. This had everything except GPS or AGPS and suited my requirements, as I did not want to carry 2 phones for all the spectrum of my needs.
Nearabout Diwali of 2010, I could wait no longer(as I was badly crippled during my tours) and went to the Samsung shop with full resolve to buy B5722. I was delighted to see the B7722 displayed there. The MRP printed on the box was Rs 12500/= which was really attractive. The Best Buy price was Rs 11400/= incl the Credit Card commission. I would have happily paid 15000 bucks for this phone.
Features: ==The phone has everything I required except GPS(this too was basically for entertainment rather than any serious requirement). However, the Google Maps works well with Airtel GPRS and helps me in detemining my location while in train or on road, thanks to the well laid Airtel network. Since the phone is Samsung OS Java driven, the functionality wrt multitasking is absent which a Symbian or an android phone would provide. However, the other requirements are met.
Camera is 5 MP with flash, with excellent results in the daylight. Options with different light setting as well as shooting modes are avaiable. Video films too are shot thru the rear camera. Front vga camera is activated fro video calls only.
Search: Yet the one thing which bugs me is the cumbersome search of contacts, for which you can only give the exact first few characters. With such huge 1000+ directory how can one remember the exact first few letters! Samsung must do something symbian like for this. Even the sms search should be improved.
Internet: Besides being used for the convenient browsing thru the phone’s large display, its extensively used to connect to my laptop with bluetooth for internet. The connectivity is smooth and browsing experience too is good esp with GPRS/Edge connectivity. Best part is with dual standby functionality, internet is not cut-off when there is a phone call.
Battery life is phenomenal. I use it for 2 full days without recharging incl heavy calls as well as internet usage.
Widgets:== There are many widgets which are available. One can download java applications from Samsung wap site as well as getjar site. All the social networking, weather & news site widgets are available.
==Application: ==Video, Audio & Image editors are available. World clock is available, coupled with a widget which displays time of 2 regions on the desktop. 18 Favourite contacts with photos are displayed in a semicurcular swiper application on the desktop. There are 3 destops available which can be changed with a finger-swipe.
Overall a very goodlooking phone with large display and rich feature set with few issues of search & multitasking. But if DUAL SIM is a necessity due to connectivity & other issues, this phone has an extremely high VFM proposition.