After wooing cellphone users with two dual sim phones, the Spice 080 and 088, in the last two rollouts, Spice has now launched a multimedia rich phone for the mid-level segment. The black S7 candy bar does not have a path breaking design but packs enough in the looks department to merit a second glance. Its glass finish adds a glossy feel to it while the alphanumeric keyboard with a backlight gives it a classy touch. The lens of the camera and the speaker are on the back panel and a bold silver line runs along the display panel. Fortunately, there is more to the S7 than just a pretty face - its performance more than matches its looks. The S7 comes equipped with a 1 .3-mega pixel camera with a flash that can double up as a web cam for your PC.

Photographs can be clicked in 13 different modes, a rarity in this segment. Some of the modes include copper carving, blue carving, sepia, contrast and sketch. And incidentally, the flash can also be used as a torch. Other features include an ebook reader, MP3 player and sound recorder. And you can also check e-mail all you have to do is enter the relevant settings. There is a flight mode that allows users to access music and other features of the phone even after taking out the SIM card a feature that is sometimes missing even in high-end phones. There is support for video and image caller id, and yes, you can also use the phone as a modem to surf the Net on a computer.

Even though the phone has been launched as a music phone, its voice quality is far fromimpressive. There are a number of preset options, but while they do manage to tweak the sound, the final result remains disappointing, especially after one has been spoilt by the entry-level phones of Sony's Walkman range. And we were frankly surprised to see no FM radio a must have in most phones in this segment. Spice S7 comes with two connectivity options- one can use the mini USB port (which is now becoming a stan¬dard for most devices) to transfer files and data, or through Bluetooth. The USB cable comes bundled with the pack.

Also bundled is a CD that installs the media transferring software and other synchronising software on your PC. And if you find that too fussy, the phone also has a handset manager option which makes it easy to connect it to your PC without a separate soft¬ware installation. There is no infrared connectivity (who needs it these days) but Bluetooth more than compensates for it. And it is fast too we could transfer a 4MB song in about 10 seconds. While on the subject of Bluetooth, the phone supports A2DP, so you can use a wireless Bluetooth headset for your music. And if you do not have one, well, Spice is presently offering a Bluetooth headset worth Rs 1 ,799 with the handset (for a limited period, though).

Of course, all these features would be useless if the phone did not have a good battery life. Thankfully, Spice has delivered on this front. The phone serves up a good battery Iife we could use it for two days with a single charge, while using it for calls, listening to music, transferring data and also using other multimedia features. We would have liked a memory card to supplement the phone's onboard memory 64 MB is barely enough for those who prefer to store their music, images and videos in one place. Priced at Rs 6,999, the Spice S7 is likely to face stiff competition from the Bleu 651z(priced at Rs 5,999) that provides FM radio as well as a 2.0megapixel camera.

Name: 6787.jpg Views: 5800 Size: 32.3 KB


TECH SPECS:-
Size: 111 x48x11.6 mm Weight: 90 grams
Memory: Internal: 64MB, microSD Battery: Li-Ion 700mAh
Screen: 262,144 colours
Talktimel Standby: up to 3hours lup to 200hours Bluetooth/lnfrared: Yesl No
Phonebook capacity: 500
Speakerphone: Yes
Camera: 1.3 megapixel
Frequency: GSM 900/1800
Others: Media player, MP3, MP4, 3GP. free BT Headset, e-book reader