After much contemplation, I finally agreed to convince myself to trade my Sony CMD-C1 for the Siemens C25 and I certainly do not regret my decision, all for good reason. The C25 is am amazingly small phone with great value for money. It also has the trademarks of a well designed phone with a beautifully contoured body and a cute, yet functional keypad. When I first saw the C25 a couple of months back, it was difficult to believe that a Company credited with making bulky, mundane and officious phones like the S4 and S6 could come up with such an exciting entry level phone.
The C25 nestles comfortably in the palm of your hand with nothing but the small fixed antennae sticking out. Slide it inside your shirt pocket and it will lie there dormant and unconspicious. The keypad is tiny and so that might pose a problem for hypermetropic folks who forget to carry their reading glasses. The C25 has a backlit, low-resolution 3 line display with an addl. line for function icons. The display is rather large and is proportional to the set. All said and done this is a smart looking phone which means business.
It has a 700maH NiMh battery pack with a rather impressive 180 hr standby time (Network dependant) The C25 has a good reception and is quite effective even in the ground floor of a building. One might think that since the phone ends abruptly midway across one’s face, the user’s voice may not be clear on the other end. On the contrary however, the voice clarity leave no stones unturned; on either end.
The functions in the C25 are rather generic and are standard to most GSM cellular phones. It has a dual band GSM capability, 20 tones, a melody composer, call forwarding and diverting, speed dial, CB and SMS messaging. Don’t ever place the phone near your ear when you’re expecting a call. The ringer is extremely effective and you just might end up harbouring a tympannic membrane damage. Navigation is rather simple with guides telling you what to do right above the selector buttons.
Unlike other entry level phones such as the Nokia 5110, the C25 is not feature-rich but it does make up for it’s shortcomings in terms of price, size and performance. A grey market version can set you back as little as Rs 5000. I am not too sure about Siemens’ support but the German company has a reputation of making robust, problem-free telephones (or any other product, for that matter). In case you do opt to patronise the grey market , you can download the complete PDF manual from the UK website of Siemens.
If you’re looking for a small, smart phone and are on a tight budget, look no further for the C25 gives you the best of both worlds. It is however advisable to check out entry level products of other manufacturers and make an unbaised comparision before you kiss your money goodbye. The Siemens C25 does compare favourably to the Ericsson T10, the Alcatel one touch easy, the Motorola cd628 and the rather obvious Nokia 5110.