Maxx Mobile’s new Khamoshhh series phones come with an unusual combination — loud output and noise suppression technology. Thus, perfect for those who love loud music but would like to talk without worrying about the background noise. Maxx has added the SAM Noise Suppression Technology in the MX401 that suppressed the unwanted background noise during a voice call.
At times we face difficulty talking over the phone in case of continuous and loud noise around us. The only thing one can do is end the call and talk when there is less noise. Maxx seems to have considered that seriously and integrated the SAM technology that suppresses the background noise. We got the opportunity to test out the new Maxx MX401 mobile phone and following is our opinion of the same.
Design and Feel
Maxx MX401 box package includes the handset along with 1500mAh battery, charging adapter, 2 GB microSD Memory card and earphones. Semi-glossy chassis of the MX401 gives a good feel to hold in hand. Though it’s not that glossy to slip out but you have to be careful while using it if your hands are wet. The 2.4-inch screen appears big due to the compact multi-tap keypad. The screen could have been made bigger by using smaller menu button, call button and directional pad buttons.
Maxx has provided a dedicated noise suppression SAM button on the right of the call end key. At the back lies the 2 Megapixel camera to click photos but it is not fair to expect excellent quality from it. Down below the camera sensor rests a speaker grill that protects a loud speaker. In terms of looks, the blue and black colour combination looks any day bit better than the yellow with black combination.
It does appear bit heavy for an entry level device where several handsets in polycarbonate body slim body are available in market.
User Interface
Maxx has designed a simple and easy to adapt user interface. The Java based interface offers grid style menu lay out and easily legible icons. The background image and ringtones can be customised but there are no theme packs available to customise the overall look and feel of the handset.
The native mobile web Browser is not that great while browsing multimedia rich websites. Apart from that, a number of Java based apps/widgets come pre-installed to use the social networks like Twitter and Facebook. If you need any specific application for chat then you can just visit Getjar.com and download it. The MX401 doesn’t offer EDGE or even 3G network support so don’t waste your money going for 3G connection on this device. So just your basic WAP browsing is all you can enjoy on this phone.
Despite of being a Dual-SIM phone, the phone lacked dual-SIM standby feature which made the secondary SIM module practically unavailable while the master one is in use.
Multimedia
Noise suppression is the unique selling proposition of this handset and we tested it exhaustively. The SAM button can be used before calling to choose the noise compression level in terms of percentage for the best possible voice quality. Honestly, the noise suppression feature certainly surprised us to cancel out the noise. But do note that it doesn’t work when you are very close to loud speakers like in a concert or at an event. The technology is not miraculous enough to cancel out loud sound completely.
For audio play back, the music player looks certainly tacky and the button control is not easy to adapt with. The playback on the back speaker gives a really loud output so be careful while playing music in public places — you may end up annoying the people around you. The music player supports MP3, AAC and WAV audio formats out of which the last two are hardly going to be used by many for music playback.
The FM Radio comes with a scheduled recorder function for those who wish to record their favourite radio shows. The stock headphones are to be used in order to use the FM Radio function. Listening to FM Radio is as normal as listening on any other mobile phone.
Some video entertainment can be enjoyed with the stock video player that supports videos in AVI, 3GPP and compressed MP4 formats. Majority of your AVI files would be playable on the phone’s 2.4-inch screen without any hiccups. One can also change the orientation of the video play back from portrait to landscape for better aspect ratio experience and wee bit bigger picture.
Loud audio playback and AVI support takes the cake in terms of multimedia performance which is decent enough for an entry level device.
Battery Life
One should not expect a day long battery life from a dual-SIM handset when both SIM modules are in use. The GSM+GSM configuration borne Maxx MX401 promises battery life of 5.5 hours which is as much as that of a RIM BlackBerry handset. The phone, if used very judiciously and consciously keeping the real purpose in the mind, can run for about two days and the 1500mAh gives it that extra mile.
The mobile phone obviously will provide reasonably good battery life if just one SIM module is being used. Watching videos or listening to music on the 2.4-inch LCD TFT display will only make the phone last for about 5 hours to 8-9 hours respectively.
Wrap up
Maxx Mobile’s new MX401 handset in the Khamoshhh series stands for what it is being promoted. Though it is a dual-SIM mobile phone, the lack of standby feature makes the other SIM card practically inactive. The phone’s distinct feature is the SAM Technology based noise suppression feature.
Currently being sold at MRP of Rs. 2933, you can get lucky enough to buy it for less than that price. The MX401 is ideally meant for people who travel a lot and engage into long voice calls. Of course, it does pack decent enough multimedia features to suffice enough in free time.
To conclude, MX401 is a worthy phone if at all bought for the noise suppression technology feature and loud music output.