New MTS Alive (aka) Micromax E390

Overall, the phone has good quality components but its only failings were its audio quality and ergonomics. A slight improvement on those and we would be able to justify its Rs, 6,999 price tag, which seems to be pretty steep for a phone with such a small display. Other companies like Samsung and even Nokia offer much better quality phones for lesser price.

Pros

• Good quality display
• User friendly interface
• Long battery life

Cons

• Bad ergonomics, digs into the ear
• Poor reception indoors
• Cheap quality earphones

 

 

 

The OS is built around a Java based proprietary design which has one home screen with no customization options and has 3 menu screens with different applications. Thanks to a better quality resistive touch display and a better designed UI it was pretty easy to navigate through the various options and menus. So actions like changing the volume in the music payer or scrolling down a lot of contacts or messages was easy even without the use of a stylus. It comes with a basic 1.3MP camera which provides a more or less average quality of photographs, even the video recorder is just ok and it records at a resolution of 320 x 240 pixels. What’s to be noticed is that there is no judder or lag while recording so that’s a good thing. The camera interface is pretty informative and it offers a lot of custom settings for the still camera with options like continuous shooting, different scene settings, delay time etc. The phone also comes bundles with a lot of useful applications like a world clock, memo pad, voice mail service, and for networking and chatting it comes with Nimbuzz and Snaptu also pre installed.
It has about 40 mb of internal memory and the option of expanding it using a micro SD card. What’s good is that you can transfer any mp3 file to the phone and use that as a ringtone, so you are no longer stuck with the old polyphonic ringtones. That adds a bit of personalization to the phone.
Conclusion
Overall the phone has good quality components but its failings were its audio quality and ergonomics. A slight improvement on those and we would be able to justify its Rs, 6,999 price tag which seems to be pretty steep for a phone with such a small display. Other companies like Samsung and even Nokia offer much better quality phones for lesser price.
Specifications : 2.8 inch resistive display, 1000mAh lithium ion battery, 1.3MP camera with video recording, CDMA handset.

Brand	MTS/micromax
Model	Alive/ E390
Features
Physical Specs
Form Factor	Bar
2G Network Bands	CDMA 800 MHz
3G Network Bands
Screen Resolution	240 x 400
Screen Size (in inches)	2.8 inches
Maximum Screen colours	65K
Touchscreen / Dual Screen (Y/N)	Y/N
Battery Rating	Lithium Ion 1000 mAh
Dimensions (L x W x H) (in mm)	98.1 x 50.5 x 15.3
Weight (in grams)	84 Grams
Expandable Memory Type	Micro SD
Hot Swappable (Y/N)	N
Available Colours	Black
Other Features
Operating System	Proprietary
Charging via USB (Y/N)	Yes
Hardware Keypad (Regular/QWERTY)	No
Accelerometer (For auto rotate)	No
Address Book Capacity	2000
No of calls in register	20
Talk Time / Standby Time * (hrs, min)	220 Hours / 330 hours
No of Profiles / Customisable (Y/N)	5 and 1
Offline Opearability (Y/N)	Y
Inbuilt GPS / A-GPS support (Y / N)	N
Connectivity
Browsing (GPRS/EDGE/3G)	GPRS/N/N
EDGE max speed	N/A
3G max speed	N/A
Connectivity (WiFi/Bluetooth/IR/USB)	N/N/N/N
Bluetooth Version/A2DP support	2.1/N
Accessories
Bundled Accessories	Handset, Battery, Charger, Earphone, USB Cable, User Manual, Warranty Card
Size of memory card provided	N/A
Overall Build Quality (So 10)	7
Overall Ergonomics (So 10)	6
Keypad Design, ergonomics, usability (So 10)	5
Camera Specs
Camera Resolution (Mega Pixels)	1.3 Mp
Video Capture Resolution	320 x 240
Dual Cameras / Auto Focus / Flash (Y/N)	N/N/N
Mirror for self portrait (Y / N)	N
Camera Settings (So 10)	4
Zoom (Optical/Digital)	N/N
Multimedia
Music Formats supported	MP3, Polyphonic, MIDI
Video formats supported	3gp
FM Radio / RDS (Y/N)	No
Performance
Signal Reception and Voice Clarity (So 10)
Zone 1	4
Zone 2	5
Device Earpiece Volume (on call)	5
Device Loudspeaker clarity (on call)	4
Handsfree Clarity (on call)	4
Loudspeaker Volume (on call)	5
Bluetooth Transfer Speed (in kbps)	116
WiFi signal strength (Zone 2) (%)	N/A
Captured Photo Quality (So 10)	5
Captured Photo Colour	5
Captured Photo Crispness	6
Captured Video Quality	5
Effectiveness of integrated flash	N/a
Loudspeaker Audio Quality	6
Bundled Earphones Quality	4
Display
Quality of display	6
Viewing angle of display	7
Legibility in bright sunlight	7
Video Playback Quality (So 10)	6
Price (MRP, Rs)	Rs. 6999
* Manufacturer Rated

Rating
Features: 6
Performance: 5
Build: 6
Value: 5
Overall: 5
Contact: Micromax informatics Ltd.,
Phone No.: 011-45082591/92
E-mail: Info@micromaxinfo.com
Website: www.micromaxinfo.com
Price: 6,999