Micromax X550 (QUBE) – Explore the Cube Review

Micromax X550 (QUBE) – Explore the Cube Review
VERDICT:

The Micromax X550 (QUBE) is a feature-rich device. The absence of a hardware keypad, Wi-Fi and 3G are major drawbacks, as is the quirky interface. At Rs. 5,999, you can forgive its shortcomings on account of it being a fairly good deal.

Micromax X550 (QUBE)

The battery cover clings on firmly to the back of the cellphone and can be pulled off in the direction of the marked arrow by using the marked nail grip. By removing the flexible battery cover and the battery we can access the two GSM SIM-card slots and a microSD slot. The X550 provides the user the option of activating both the SIMs together or use only one SIM at a time through the software on the phone. The X550 bundles with a retractable stylus. The resistive touch-screen interface is quite sluggish and inaccurate, particularly while typing lengthy messages. We often found ourselves repeating the input more than once to register it successfully. The lack of a hardware keypad is a huge drawback, considering the inaccurate, sluggish and sometimes inaccurate interface.

The 3D Cube user interface looks very neat and organised. This 3D interface is ubiquitous i.e. present everywhere. Little gimmicks like touch sensitive wallpapers, application widgets and Snaptu (a social networking platform) add value for money. The three sides of the cube incorporate three different sections of applications and services, while one side is left blank. The user can flip through from one side to another by selecting the page & dragging the page horizontally, as if he is reading a book and turning the pages. Overall, the 3D Cube UI is a welcome change that adds a new dimension to the look of what is, essentially, an ageing touchscreen interface.

Performance:

The Micromax X550 (QUBE) had a satisfactory outing in the signal reception and call clarity test. There were no dropped calls or noticeable loss of voice clarity during the calls, across both zone one and zone two. It got decent scores across device earpiece volume, loudspeaker clarity, handsfree clarity and speaker volume tests. Although, it delivered average performance with loudspeaker audio and photo colour tests, it had good performance in the camera and music tests. It performed reasonably well in the video playback test. The X550 was unimpressive in the Bluetooth test and finished transferring a 5MB file in about 66.87 seconds.

Verdict:

The Micromax X550 (QUBE) is a feature-rich social-networking and touchscreen phone, which provides good value for money. The 3D Cube UI adds a new dimension to the aging touchscreen interface. Although, the absence of a hardware keypad, Wi-Fi and 3G is a major drawback, it still makes a decent buy at Rs. 5,999. Perhaps, we could forgive the absence of some of these features in such a cheap device. However, the biggest shortcoming comes from one of the features it already has – the touch-screen – the interface of which, is anything but ergonomic and intuitive. We’ve come across countless affordable touch-screens that have problems with usability and this is just another. Spending a little more, (Rs. 3,000 or so), will get you something like a Samsung Corby Pro, that has a better interface and also bundles a hardware QWERTY keypad.

Specifications: Dual-SIM (GSM GSM); 3.2-inch TFT resistive touchscreen (240×400); 3D Cube UI; microSD slot expandable up to 16GB; 2MP integrated camera (1600×1200); Battery – up to 8 hrs talk-time and up to 144 hrs standby-time;

Accessories: AC adapter/battery charger, battery, handsfree headset, USB cable, PC Sync driver CD, user manual, leather pouch and stylus.

Ratings:

Features – 6.5
Performance – 6
Build Quality – 7
Value for money – 7
Overall – 6.5

Brand Micromax
Model X550 (QUBE)

Features

 

Physical Specs

 
Form Factor Candy Bar
2G Network Bands GSM 900/1800
3G Network Bands NA
Screen Resolution 240×400
Screen Size (inches) 3.2
Maximum Screen colours 256K
Touchscreen / Dual Screen (Y/N) Y (Resistive)
Battery Rating 1200mAh
Dimensions (L x W x H) in mm 112.5 x 55.9 x 14.1
Weight 85g
Expandable Memory Type microSD
Hot Swappable (Y/N) N
Available Colours Black

Other Features

 
Operating System Native/Proprietary
Charging via USB (Y/N) Y
Hardware Keypad (Regular/QWERTY) NA
Accelerometer (For auto rotate) NA
Address Book Capacity 1000 entries
No of calls in register
Talk Time / Standby Time * Up to 8hrs/Up to 144hrs
No of Profiles # / Customisable 8/No
Offline Opearability (Y/N) Y
Inbuilt GPS / A-GPS support (Y / N) N

Connectivity

 
Browsing (GPRS/HSCSD/EDGE/3G) Y/N/N/N
EDGE max speed NA
3G max speed NA
Connectivity (WiFi/Bluetooth/IR/USB) N/Y/N/Y
Bluetooth Version/A2DP support v2.0/Y

Accessories

 
Bundled Accessories AC Adapter,Battery,Handsfree headset,USB cable, PC Sync Drivers CD, user manual, leather pouch and stylus.
Size of memory card provided None
Overall Build Quality (So 10) 7
Overall Ergonomics (So 10) 7.5
Keypad Design (So 10) NA

Camera Specs

 
Camera Resolution (Mega Pixels) 2MP
Video Capture Resolution 704×576
Dual Cameras / Auto Focus / Flash (Y/N) N/N/N
Mirror for self portrait (Y / N) N
Camera Settings (So 10) 7.5
Zoom (Optical/Digital) NA

Multimedia

 
Music Formats supported MP3/AAC
Video formats supported MP4/H.263
FM Radio (Y/N) Y

Performance

 

Signal Reception and Voice Clarity (So 10)

 
Zone 1 7
Zone 2 7
Zone 3 NA
Device Earpiece Volume 6
Device Loudspeaker clarity 7
Handsfree Clarity 7.5
Speaker Volume (on call) 7
Bluetooth Transfer Speed (MB/s) 0.075 MB/s
WiFi signal strength (Zone 2) NA

Captured Photo Quality (So 10)

 
Captured Photo Colour 6
Captured Photo Crispness 8
Captured Video Quality 7
Loudspeaker Audio Quality 6.5
Bundled Earphones Quality 7.5
Video Playback Quality (So 10) 8
Price (MRP, Rs) Rs. 5,999

 

 

* Manufacturer Rated

 

Contact and Price details:

Micromax informatics Ltd.,
Phone No.: 011-45082591/92
E-mail: Info@micromaxinfo.com
Website: www.micromaxinfo.com
Price: Rs. 5,999

 

Check out features and specifications of Micromax QUBE X550 and dont forget to check the other latest Micromax Handsets.

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