Xage has recently launched its third dual SIM mobile phone — MT 711, in the market.
The earlier two dual SIM handsets of Xage were non touchscreen, alpha numeric keypad based, while the MT 711 features full touch display and minimalist set of buttons.
As per the company, the device performs better than the earlier two dual SIM phones of Xage but let’s look how this device performs in the real world.
First look and Design
The device comes in the slimmest of boxes we have ever seen, something similar to that of a Nokia N8, probably to save shipping costs but the box houses all the required accessories including the handset, handsfree kit, charger and an USB cable for data transfer.
The Xage MT 711 is sure to impress any user with its first looks. The phone comes in two colours – white and brown. The unit that we received was white in colour.
The white colour tone, mixed with a little silver, adds the much wanted bling to the MT 711 and it gets its share of eyeballs while out in the sun. The device is slightly on the heavier side and the weight is mostly because of its bigger battery pack which is required in order to power the big 3.2 inch LCD display.
Display and keypad
The display is a big 3.2 inch TFT- LCD touch sensitive display with a QVGA Resolution of 320 x 240 pixels. The display reproduces bright and quite colourful images and has a protective plastic shell which is integrated in the outer body of the MT 711 that will definitely protect the display from scratches and damaged during accidental falls.
Sadly in the era of capacitive multi-touch, the MT 711 features a resistive touch technology. However, the resistive touch works well thanks to the improvements in the technology but we still dearly miss the multi touch.
The user interface of the MT 711 is powered by a 3D engine, indicating towards the inclusion of a better Processor than other Xage devices. The UI also is inspired from various operating systems like the Flip Clock from HTC Sense and the Standby Lock of Android. All in all, the UI has been made creatively and give the user a nice feel.
This device features three buttons in the front to control the calls – connect, disconnect and menu keys. On the right side, there are volume rocker keys and a quick access key. A power key on the top allows you to control the display.
Build Quality
Although the device is completely made up of plastic, the build quality of the device is not bad. It will withstand a couple of drops and everyday usage jerks easily. The secret behind this is the reinforced outer shell that has a higher density than the rest of the body to protect the device against damage.
The big display of this device might be a little source of concern as even though the device is powerful enough to withstand jerks nothing can be said about the display – the bigger they are the more brittle they get.
Call Performance
Being a dual SIM phone means that this phone can be connected to two cellular networks or two different numbers at any given time, but it does not feature two SIM standby features that allows the other SIM to be active while the first receives a call.
The signal quality of this phone is normal and it works flawlessly in most places. The call sound quality both for the speaker and the receiver are good without any distortion or voice quality loss. The microphone has been positioned right towards the user to minimise ambience noise and maximise sound capturing.
Multimedia
The MT 711 comes with a free 2 GB micro SD card in the box that can be used to save content though it has up to 8 GB of expandable memory. The MT711 has an inbuilt audio video player that supports most popular audio and video formats like MP3, WMA, MP4 and 3GP as well. Plus the MT 711 comes with a standard 3.5 mm jack connectivity allowing it to connect to any audio device or Headphone without any issue.
The MT 711 also features Analog television that can be used by the user to see terrestrial mode channels like Doordarshan. There are not many terrestrial mode channels here in Delhi but this feature will prove useful for those who have access to more terrestrial mode channels.
In terms of music playback, the headset is a sheer disappointment. It is okay for calls and that too just for shorter durations only as ears start to pain with the odd shaped in ear drivers. Otherwise the phone is a decent performer and like other Xage phones, the MT 711 also has an exceptionally loud loudspeaker.
The MT 711 also features a nice 3.2 Megapixel camera with a flash. The quality of the camera is good in bright light to medium light conditions while in low light all you get to see in pixels and all over your snaps. The LED light has some issues with the protective lens over it too as the lens has some yellow lines that give the photographs a pattern whenever you try capturing a snap using flash.
Battery life
The battery life of the MT 711 is good considering the display size and the brightness and variance it offers. The phone obviously has gained a few grams due to the battery but you will not regret that in the long run when you will be done with your days’ work and you will still have juice left in you device for some more things to do.
The device offers 3-4 days of battery backup while normally using the device and it reduce to 2 days in the event of heavy usage but normally nothing to drain the battery.
Finally
The MT 711 comes as a unique offering from the house of Xage but ultimately all things boil down to just one thing and that is the price. The MT 711 comes with a price tag of Rs 5,799 but in the market this device will be available for much less.
There are feature rich and speedy dual SIM handsets available in the market right now and thus it seems a slightly over priced.