Intex IN 8810 V.Show Dual SIM Projector Phone

We’re witness to some seriously new-age technology trends that have made their way into the Indian mobile segment. From 3D mobile handsets to handsets with built-in projectors, we’ve got them all, but what bothers me is the quality of these devices. Innovation is never an issue as it seems like most of these devices make it out from some Chinese OEM with Indian branding and although they’re quite functional, they don’t often perform as well as one hopes. Here’s a closer look at Intex’s latest, the V.Show or IN 8810 Projector phone.
 
Design
The IN 8810 is, straight out of the box, not the slickest looking device on the shelf. It’s big, bulky and will definitely leave a bugle in your pocket. At 145g it’s not exactly a lightweight either but judging on the size I did expect it to be much heavier. Compared to the G’FIVE Projector Phone, this one doesn’t fare well in the looks department.

A bit on the broad side

The device is equipped with a 3.2-inch resistive touchscreen that’s bright and clear enough to view in most natural or artificial lighting conditions. The Stylus, not that you’ll need it much, is neatly tucked away into a slot at the bottom rear portion of the device. It’s fastened tightly and there’s no danger of it slipping out unexpectedly. On one side is a camera shutter release and on the other are the volume/zoom keys, a universal mini USB slot for charging and the handsfree followed by a button to switch the projector on. A front facing VGA camera is placed just above the display. If you’re thinking ‘video calling’, think again. The IN 8810 also has a 3.2MP fixed focus shooter at the rear. The projector’s lens is quite large and placed at the top of course with a focus dial just under.

Dual microSD and SIM slots slots under the panel

Underneath the rear panel this Dual SIM (GSM + GSM) handset is accompanied by dual microSD card slots that support up to 8GB in each port. Obviously neither are of the hot swap variety - that’s one issue I take with the handset, the second is the lack of a 3.5mm handsfree socket preventing you from hooking this handset up to a better set of speakers. Like the G’FIVE there’s no way to thoroughly enjoy the video other than from the built in speakers. However, the IN 8810 is equipped some pretty heavy duty speakers so the audio is quite a bit better than the G’FIVE’s.

Features and Performance
Interface
Surprise, Surprise! It’s a Java handset which means a UI that’s simple but employs jazzy colors and gimmicky features like shaking the handset to change wallpapers, music, videos etc. and one that requires too many unnecessary key presses to do simple tasks. However, so far, this platform has been quite stable for pricing of devices and manages to simplify, to quite an extent, the inclusion of plenty of features as well as simplistic Dual and sometimes triple SIM management options.  The IN 8810’s is no different. It’s quirky but stable. The animations are smooth but with a hint of a lag in between. The stylus becomes necessary only for typing, which is when you’re faced with a rather small but evenly spaced QWERTY keypad. Handwriting recognition is also supported, but it’s not quick or accurate enough to use.

Business mode, finger friendly home page

The desktop has a very Series 60 like feel but not as functional though. A few handy functions are assigned to this screen – Email access, Messaging, To Do List and music playback.  From the settings you can switch to a slightly more interesting ‘Business’ setting. It doesn’t do much for the rest of the UI but the desktop does become a little more ‘finger-friendly’ with larger icons in Business mode.

Dual SIM functionality also proved to be a bit of an issue. I was unable to receive calls from SIM 2 if I was on a call from SIM 1 already. The error that I heard was that the number I was trying to reach was unavailable. This is a big issue obviously.

Projection
The IN 8810’s projector could have been one of the better Pico Projector mobile handsets if it weren’t for one major flaw in the device’s USP. In projection mode about 10-15% of the display is simply cut off. I had to ask the company to send me a total of three devices before I could be sure that this was a general problem. Seems like no one really noticed which is quite strange considering we should all be very used to widescreen formats. Videos (MPEG 4, MP4 and 3GP supported) even downsized to run on an iPhone (3 or 3GS resolution) will play without a hitch on the handset’s display, which is easy to watch on, but a portion of the right hand section is always going to be cut off. In fact, even in standard projection mode, the options that would regularly be at the bottom of the screen or on the right hand side in landscape are not visible. It’s quite silly actually. Videos in 4:3 formats are not a problem obviously.

Great distance, less 20% of the picture though

What’s unfortunate is that you can quite comfortably watch a video from a distance of over 8 feet up to a screen size of over 80 cm. It’s just a little dull with no way of adjusting the brightness, but it’s nevertheless quite clear. But you’ll never be able to enjoy a widescreen (DVD rip or otherwise) print on this device. What a colossal waste.