Gone are the days when mobile phones used to be like big chunks of metal and plastic that used to break with the slightest mishandling. Today, mobile phones are getting slimmer and sturdier without the looks being compromised.
Xage had, just a couple of months ago, announced its entry into the Indian market with its first dual SIM music cellphone with a 200 Watt PMPO (Peak Music Power Output) sound output. Following that, Xage again made an appearance in the market with its latest dual SIM mobile phone, the M117.
The look and feel of the Xage M117 is brilliant and its build quality is nice as well. The dual tone black and silver colour finish of this phone too gives it a sophisticated look.
The back cover is one big piece of plastic, but fits really well and leaves no place for dust that could harm the phone in the long run.
The keys and ‘D’ pad take up most of the available space on the front from whatever is left after housing the big 2.2 inch screen with Resolution of 240 x 320 pixels.
The LCD display does a fabulous job by reproducing crisp yet vibrant colours, and it does justice to pictures and videos.
The phone also features dedicated media keys for music playback but the tiny buttons make it hard for people with large fingers. The numeric keys, on the other hand, have a slim profile, but a larger pitch, making them comfortable for extensive use.
One drawback of the M117 is the placement of the dual call keys. M117 features dedicated call keys for both the SIMs but the sad part is that they are placed on either side of the keypad, making it difficult to operate this phone. So, when you want to disconnect the call you end up making another call from the other SIM!
The Xage M117 has a custom built user interface with no resemblance to any other phone. The menu has a grid type layout, with bold icons, that is easily readable.
Call quality on this phone is good. The earpiece and the microphone do a good job but the microphone does not provide any protection from ambient noises and it catches ample sound so that the other person gets to hear almost everything on the our side.
The supplied hands free is good enough for making calls but in terms of music playback it fails to impress.
For multimedia, this phone features a multi format music player and a video player. Xage has also bundled a free 2GB Memory card with the M117, which comes preinstalled in the device. M117 has a 2 Megapixel fixed focus camera at the rear with built in flash. Both these things have multiple uses as the camera doubles up as a webcam, and the flash doubles as a torch.
One of the biggest drawbacks of this phone is the lack of a standard 3.5mm jack for audio connectivity. In place of that there is a USB data port for audio connectivity and it doubles, rather triples, up as the charging port as well. So you will have to be careful because it is the only port on this device.
To sum up, the M117 is a nice effort by a brand new mobile phone company. It packs in enough features and seems to be liked at first sight by many people. Except for a few flaws the phone is a good performer and gives ample options to the user for Rs 3,000. One can easily overlook the flaws, which are overshadowed by the many features.