Opinions needed :Spice MI-425 : 4"screen, 1GHz dual-sim, 5MP

ch@ts

ch@ts

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I've been waiting to buy a decent dual-sim android, this one Spice Mi-425 Price in India | Specifications, Features and Reviews seems to have everything I want.
The only thing I'm not sure about is the amount of RAM it has. (How do I find out how much RAM it has?)
It's got a paltry 140MB of built in storage, but it seems to have everything else the Karbonn A9 does.
1Ghz processor, dual sim, front VGA camera, 5MP autofocus cam on the back, +2000mAh, +4 inch screen and it's said to be upgradable to Android 4.0.

Is it a good buy? Are Spice phones reliable?
Can I take my phone to any repair shop to get it fixed if problems crop up? (Reports online say that Spice's service centres do nothing at all)
 
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Got the phone a few hours ago. Tried logging into TE from there, but realised I don't know my password!
Initial impressions in a jumbled up order.
1) The box it comes in looks cheap, but as long as the cost-cutting is passed on, I don't mind.
2) Build quality- the back covers thin, and doesn't inspire confidence. But, the phone feels really nice to hold, and the huge screen overshadows everything else.
3) Everything works! I haven't faced any proximity sensor or other issues so far. The camera app crashed once when I was changing from back camera to front, but it didn't crash/freeze the phone.
4) It's incredibly smooth! My girls got the Dell XCD35, and this one is miles faster and smoother. But the screen on the XCD is sharper, and a lot more vibrant.
5) The touch response is fantastic. I don't type too fast on phones, and I could type faster on this one than on my old Sony Ericsson G502. Also, you can just dictate your messages, and use voice actions, which work surprisingly well.
6) I'd transferred all my contacts using Sony's software to Google yesterday, edited them, and today, I just synced my phone, and a few seconds later I had all my contacts transferred, linked to their facebook and google plus profiles.
7) The drivers on the CD supplied by Spice don't work for Windows7 64-bit. But they have included an ADB and USB tether driver.
8) The camera seems to suck. I called for a memory card from Flipkart yesterday, and I'll have to wait for it before I can test it, but the front camera made me look cartoonish. There's too much noise reduction going on.
9) There's no compass.
10) GPS and Wi-Fi work great. I've installed Es File Explorer, and use it stream music and browse/transfer files from my LAN.
11) The LCD is only 262k colours, and colour banding can be made out especially on light backgrounds, and the colours aren't too vibrant. But that said, it's a lot (miles!) better than most of the LG's and Samsungs in the sub 15k bracket.
12) The dual-sim functionality works great. It's easy to choose which sim to use, and the sims are easy to manage.
13) It doesn't lag at all.
14) The back doesn't attract fingerprints, and the screen itself isn't too much of a finger print magnet.
15) It's a bit heavy, and big. If you've got smallish hands, don't buy this. It's one of those phones which screams for a blue-tooth headset.
16) The bundled ear-phones are very comfortable, and good enough for the phone. The speaker on the phone is loud!
17) The charger supplied by Spice is a travel charger with an output of 600mili-amps. The cables too short as well. I'm using the charger that came with the Dell XCD35 to charge it (it's 700ma), and it seems to be working fine.
18) The battery needs to be calibrated, the phone showed 65% when I got it, then after 2-3 hours of Wi-fi use it was at 45%. After charging it through USB for 10 minutes, it showed 41%. I've connected it to the Dell's charger now, and lets see how long it takes to juice up.
19) The phone looks nice, but it doesn't have a premium look or feel. Which is fine. I'm going to buy/make a nice cover and stick it in there. The huge glass front looks great, and that's what matters. Don't get me wrong, the phone doesn't look bad at all. Even the Spice logo on the back is nicely done. It just doesn't look like a HTC. It looks better than most Samsungs though!
20) The available internal memory's really low, about 150MB. That, and the camera are the only downsides to the phone I've come across so far. And I haven't tested the camera yet.
21) I haven't test 3G ( haven't activated it yet) or games (no memory card) yet, but according to reviews the phone doesn't have a problem with either.
22) I tried transferring the SMS's from my Sony G502 to this one using "MyPhoneExplorer" and "SMS Backup and Restore", but it didn't work over the LAN. I need a memory card for that. If that works, then I'm going to be really happy.

And I got the phone delivered to me in Pune in less than 2 working days. I wasn't even charged octroi! So, the price I paid for the phone was an incredible Rs. 8451!
Ebay rocks!!! And so does the ebay seller - "bestmobiledeals2010"!!
 
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Congrats and many thanks for a detailed write up of your impressions on receipt and initial trial of the Phone.

While I await rest of your experience upon arrival of Memory card, I would particularly like to know whether apps were able to run smoothly from the memory card and whether you felt the limited memory was a hindrance in any way. Of course, your experiences with Camera, video recording and games would be expected in detail as before.
Thanks again, and your efforts are very much appreciated.
 
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The after sales service? I hope I never have to experience it! Getting decent service from Samsung or Nokia is hard enough, from Spice it'll probably be a nightmare.
But since the phone (mi-425) is less than half the price of a similar HTC, you can use one, and keep the second for spares/backup!

---------- Post added at 09:02 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:50 PM ----------

I've been trying to transfer files to my phone, and since Windows7 64 bit doesn't recognise it, I tried transferring files through wi-fi, but that was painfully slow.

I had a linux VM, so I booted into CentOS, and voila! The phone was recognised instantly, and I transferred a ton of files via USB almost instantly.

One thing I noticed about the phone is that the antennas are located in the lower half. If I cover the bottom-left quarter with my hand while dialling, the call won't connect until I move my hand.

Also, the camera isn't terrible as long as there's enough light, and you're willing to fiddle with the settings.

I haven't played any HD movies on it, because it doesn't make sense, but you need to download a media player to get avi files to work. And they look really good, not washed out at as I feared.
 
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IMG_20120704_172847.jpg IMG_20120628_084210.jpg IMG_20120627_231602.jpg IMG_20120704_172926.jpg

Some pics from the camera. As you can see there's a lot of noise reduction, which reduces the sharpness and detail, but if you're viewing the pics at 50-75% zoom, they look fine. Pic's taken indoors, are pretty okay too.
Battery lifes pretty good. With wi-fi on, and with browsing the net/whatsapp/emailing for about 4-5 hours + 1 hour of calls+ a few sms's+ 20-30 mins of music + 20 mins of angry birds, it lasts for about a day and a half.
Right now, I'm at 65% battery after 22 hours. I used the phone to surf for about an hour through wi-fi, and about an hour and half of calls. Calls don't seem to drain the battery much, and I think I could get 6 hours of talk-time if I didn't use the phone for connecting to the net.
Moving apps to the sdcard helps, and with link2sd the memory paucity is largely alleviated.
The phones stable, and as long as you've got 25-35mb of free space on the internal storage it doesn't give any problems.
I haven't come across any issues so far. Network reception and call quality's pretty good.
If you're thinking of buying this phone, so far I haven't come across any reason why you shouldn't.
 
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ch@ts said:
If you're thinking of buying this phone, so far I haven't come across any reason why you shouldn't.
Click to expand...

Spice Mi 500 with 5" screen for 11999/- to be launched shortly - that is one big reason.

But thank you once again for your first hand experience narrated here with unmatched clarity and focus. I may seek more clarification if needed, but do write your further experiences and trials (by the way, how is book reading experience ?) and did you try gaming?
 
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Nice review. Thank you.
Does it come in black back side cover ? Dont want white one.

Does it have Dual active ? what happens when you are talking on SIM 1 & you get incoming on SIM 2 ? Will SIM2 caller gets switched off message ?
 
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@paarkhi
Thats the reason I have removed Spice MI425 & A9 from my list, No Dual active.

I am going with Samsung Galaxy Ace Duos, New model, Was waiting for black, they just launched but 2000 Rs costly. Will wait for few days to come down.
 
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