Review of Android communicator for $ 210, DualSIM, 5Mp, WiFi

If we talk about the market of Chinese phones, then immediately come up with a tacky Nokla with touch screens, two SIM-cards, TV and a ridiculous translation. But in China they make not only fakes and copies of famous phones. If you look at the sites of phone manufacturers, you can find a lot of interesting models in terms of design and features.
Further photos = traffic!

So, I want to tell you about the Sciphone N21 Android-communicator working with two SIM-cards, it’s also General Mobile DSTL1 and RoverPC Twin (it will be released soon in Russia). Why such a variety of names? It's simple, all these companies order this model from the manufacturer's ODM Yuhua Teltech , and then sell under their own name.
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• Android 1.5
• Network: GSM / EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, simultaneous operation of two SIM-cards
• 624 MHz processor on the Marvell PXA310 platform
• RAM: 128 MB
• Memory storage: 256 MB + memory card slot
• Interfaces: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR (A2DP), miniUSB (USB 1.1 Full-Speed) connector for charge / sync / headset
• Screen: TFT 3 "with a resolution of 240x400 pixels (WQVGA)
• Camera: 5 megapixel (2560? 1920) with autofocus, video is recorded in CIF-resolution
• FM radio, accelerometer
• Battery: 1200 mAh removable Li-Ion
• Dimensions: 111x54x16 mm
• Weight: 135 g

I ordered the communicator on the Scophone website , the price is $ 210 and $ 22.42 for delivery, the package went to Moscow for almost a month and the other day I received it safely. During the external examination of the parcel, it felt as if someone had sat on it, but when opening the parcel, I found a carefully wrapped packing film on all sides of the telephone box that was not affected.





The box contains the following components:

• network adapter;
• European plug adapter;
• headset;
• cable to synchronize with a PC;
• instruction;
• MicroSD memory card 1 Gb.

The manufacturer carefully put the adapter for European outlets. The headset is simple, with a call answer button and volume control. On the memory card were pictures of pretty Chinese girls, dozens of songs and 3gp videos.
The device itself looks unusual, such a mirror bar of plastic with beveled ribs. The front side is very easily soiled, and it gets dirty very quickly, but this does not affect the usability.




The back of the popular, black soft-touch plastic. It is pleasant to hold in your hands, nothing is loose or loose.



In the photos it seems that the buttons on the front panel are touch-sensitive, but when you take the device in hand, doubts immediately disappear. The buttons have a small stroke, and there is no inconvenience when pressed. 4-way joystick is well pressed, and the central key is so big that it will be difficult to miss it.



On the right side is a two-position camera button and a standard miniUSB. Looking closely at miniUSB, I noticed that it is slightly different from the standard. This does not cause problems, the normal miniUSB cable normally enters the connector, but the wire that came with the device does not fit other miniUSB devices. By the way, USB 1.1 Full-Speed ​​interface, data is transferred at a speed of 1Mb / s. On the left side of the volume buttons. The side buttons have a weak stroke, and when pressed, the click is hard to feel, although maybe I just got such an instance. Telescopic stylus hiding above. The forums have already found a couple of people who managed to break it, so be careful. Unfortunately, there is no 3.5 mm output for headphones, you will have to buy an adapter with miniUSB or use a headset. There is a small blue diode on the top right, which indicates that charging is in progress.




The TFT screen is 3 "in size, the resolution is 240x400, 260 thousand colors, the sensor type is resistive. The viewing angle is large, the brightness at maximum settings is high. Due to the screen" mirroriness ", it is hard to read something in the sun, but it is possible. Although the screen I would like to have a larger resolution, but let's not forget that this would raise the price of the device. Because of the narrow screen, some downloaded applications do not fit and sometimes some of the interface is not visible, but it doesn’t affect the functionality.



5 megapixel camera with autofocus and LED flash. Moreover, 5 megapixel real, although in Chinese phones they like to write 20 megapixel, and inside it costs 0.3 megapixel. The camera software is surprisingly well developed, many different shooting modes. There is a choice of focus mode and a lot of interesting things. The quality of photos is not bad, but the colors are not enough, the photo is not bright. Autofocus speed is average, depending on the lighting.



Inside there is a Marvell PXA 310, 624 MHz processor, 128 MB of RAM and 256 MB of ROM. Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR and Wi-Fi 802.11b / g are available from wireless interfaces. I connected my Bluetooth headset with my headphones, the rewind buttons worked, there were no problems.

By default, Android 1.5 was installed without the Android Market, but version 1.6 is now available, and Google services can be installed using a custom patch.

To insert SIM-cards and microSD, you need to remove the battery, which is not very convenient. The installation mechanism itself looks interesting, all the cards are inserted like a ladder. It is easy to insert a memory card, but with SIM-cards it is a bit more complicated. The SIM card should be inserted on the slide and put into the slot, it took me 40 seconds. Under the battery there is a sticker with two IMEIs, next to the marker, the name of the model DSTL1 and General Mobile are carefully smeared.






Working with 2 SIM-cards is quite convenient, for example, dial the number and to choose from which SIM-card to call, press the upper or lower button to the left of the joystick. And if you call by tapping the screen, you will be asked which SIM card to call from. When an incoming call will be written on which SIM-card is ringing. For both SIM-cards, you can register access points. The device has 2 radio modules, i.e. 2 of your numbers will be available for calls. If you get bored, you can call yourself. I will not talk about the convenience of using two SIM-cards, this is understandable.

Accelerometer behaves well, no false positives, the screen rotates quickly.

With active use, the communicator will live until the evening, the battery is 1200 mAh.

Now the market offers budget devices on Android, for example, HTC Tattoo (about 15 thousand rubles), but if you compare prices, then I do not even know what a budget device is. What did the Chinese do that is a super budget machine?

Finally, I will say that for this money (7,000 rubles) this is a very, very, very interesting device, exactly the same only with the inscription Rover will be sold to us for 16-20 thousand! For 7000 now you can buy a touchscreen device, but it will not be a communicator (we don’t look at WM) and it will not even have half of this functionality. As they say in the advertisement “So why pay more ?!” If you want to try Android for the first time, this device is for you.

I will make a reservation, the article is not mine, my friend asked me to publish it, for some reason they did not take it into the sandbox.
At the moment, he received a well-deserved invite, for +50 to the topic, therefore I want to thank all those who voted.

upd1. Transferred to Android.
upd2. The author received an invite. Love and favor - timsoid