Mixx
Facebook
Twitter
Digg
delicious
reddit
MySpace
StumbleUpon
LinkedIn
|
The Zen Z77, one of the company's initial designs modeled on the Blackberry form. It proved to be very worthy consideration as a budget handset if you were in need of Dual SIM device with email, a little chatting, internet and multimedia. The Z66 is the lower end version of the same handset and although it’s equipped with a QWERTY keypad this one looks more like INQ’s Chat 3G. Here’s a closer look. From Factor It’s a lightweight handset with a well laid out keypad. The problem is that the keypad is designed using all plastic raised keys, so prolonged usage can be a bit of an issue. The 2.2-inch display sports a 128 x 160 resolution and is clear enough to view even in direct sunlight. The navigation keys and Dual SIM buttons are well placed. The device is bundled with a 2GB card; unfortunately like many other handsets in this category a hot swap for the same is unavailable. You’ll have to go through the tedious process of shutting down the handset, removing the rear panel and then the battery in case you have to remove the card for whatever reason. A micro USB slot that doubles up for charging is located at the bottom. The Z66 also incorporates a 3.5mm handsfree socket that’s located on another side. The handsfree kit itself is quite comfy and the rubberized portion around the speakers gives it that added grip so they don’t slip out of your ear if jostled. Features and Performance Interface and Call Quality On the plus side, at least Zen has not tried to adopt a BlackBerry styled UI on top the otherwise mundane Java OS. The layout of the icons and functions is simple, large and colourful without being too gaudy making navigation a simple and easy task. There’s just the tiniest hint of lag when trying to access the heavier apps like the music player and videos. Another issue was that sometimes certain functions that required you to select a ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ option showed up as blank in the pop up boxes with nothing more than a ‘?’ symbol. For those who aren’t too well versed with mobile handset features and functions (I doubt there are many of you) this could be a problem. Audio quality on calls was a non issue. I was able to hear callers very clearly and when asked, they had no problems with hearing me. Media The media player is just adequate. It has no frills in terms of EQ presets. Audio quality is average with just a decent amount of tone quality provided without overly sharp toned higher frequencies. The bass is not enough to have you thumping your feet and swaying your head and the volume is just about loud enough to use in a noisy train. But on the whole it’s quite a step down from its bigger brother the Zen Z77. The FM radio was also a bit of a problem as it didn’t seem to pick up signals too well even in areas where I usually get really good reception. It took over 15 seconds to locate just four of the nine available stations. The video player is capable of reading only the lower resolution 3GP files. Oddly though it didn’t read my low-res MPEG4 files that play on most other devices like this, but the memory card came loaded with MP4 files that played without an issue. Of course they were horribly pixelated in full screen but at least they played. A couple of Java games are also thrown in. |
Would you buy it?
RELATED STORIES
Mobile Grudge Match – Galaxy Y vs A75 vs Mi-350n
Three value for money smartphones, but there can be only one winner. Today, we pit three of the latest and ...
Micromax A75 Superfone Lite Review
Micromax launches A75 dual-SIM, budget Android phone
BlackBerry Bold 9790 Review
Nokia launches Asha series handsets, music service in India
SICT Mobile launches iV171 budget phone with 3000mAh battery
Nokia announces Asha Touch & Type series devices at Nokia World
_011517074205_160x90.jpg "Epson Stylus Photo R3000")
