HD Voice Calls on Android via Nimbuzz

Nimbuzz is one of the more popular multi-IM services available for mobile phones, smart or otherwise. Now, the latest version of Nimbuzz for Android lets you make HD voice calls to other Nimbuzz users. For free! This makes Google’s OS the first to receive this feature, which will soon make it to PC, Symbian
and iOS devices.

The new version, Nimbuzz 2.0.2, features a peer-to-peer calling system which skips call routing to the servers and instead makes a direct connection between two mobile devices. This drastically reduces connection delay and dropped calls, and improves voice quality. Oh, and the app also has a real-time HD status indicator which auto-detects when you’re on a 3G or Wi-Fi connection.

We decided to gave it a whirl and tested it on three Android devices using Wi-Fi. The Motorola MILESTONE (Android 2.1) was the first and although it seemed to work quite well initially, after a while it began to spaz out and showed us an error to Force Close.

The next handset we tried it out on was the Asus-Garmin A10 , running Android 2.1 as well. It worked like a charm. We tested the new voice calling option with an Xperia X8 (on Android 1.6). While the A10 was able to pick up voice quite clearly even when speaking into the handset from quite a distance with a 1-2 second delay, using the X8 was a bust. We couldn’t hear a thing. So it’s possible the UI and latest update is a bit buggy depending on the handset you’re using.

Apart from all this, Nimbuzz 2.0.2 has a few other improvements like the ability to install the app on an SD card, updated contact list layout, a new profile page and provision for free avatars.

Nimbuzz 2.0.2 for Android is available for download now, so what’re you waiting for? Just head on over to the Android Market and search for Nimbuzz or go to the official website and use a Bar Code scanner to get it. Or if you still need convincing, check out the video below.