Stylish dual SIM TV phone

Most TV tuner phones with dual SIM capabilities are usually pretty clunky and big. This is due to the amount of hardware the manufacturers have shove into a phone in order to have this much features. However i-Mobile have managed to pull a feat with their TV 523 giving not only TV tuner functions but dual SIM features in one stylish and slim package.

Design

At a glance the i-Mobile TV 523 is a thin and minimalist designed mobile, reminiscent of Sony Ericsson’s T-series. The phone feels rather solid and has a nice grasp to it and at 98g with a battery it is lightweight and easy to carry around. The best part is, the front of the phone is covered in non-porous material that doesn’t attract fingerprints.

The device sports a 2.2 inch TFT screen with 256K colour at 240 x 320 pixels. Clarityt of the screen is pretty good and I liked that it also came with some pretty icons. However under sunlight the screen underperforms and is almost impossible to look at. The left spine has the volume rocker while right spine contains the universal micro-USB and a photo capture button.

Camera

 

The TV 523 comes with VGA camera that captures images at 640x480 pixels. This was rather disappointing considering the amount of features the phone came with. That being said, images taken were clear though colour reproduction could have been much better. Although the camera is pretty basic, if you’re going to use it for basic photography, it should suit you just fine.

Sound & TV

 

Soundwise, the TV 523 comes with a Yamaha Audio Amplifier which consistently intensifies your music experience with clear 3D sound. The audiophile in you will be able to enjoy crystal clear sound whether you’re listening to music on the phone or watching TV. Personally, although audio quality was great, I found that the speaker gave a bit too much treble.

Of course the main feature that the TV 523 comes with is the ability to watch TV with it. TV reception on the phone was pretty good and the application was easy to use as well. Of course you can expect tuning to be much better outdoors than indoors but in my experience using the phone, indoor tuning wasn’t that bad at all.

Dual SIM goodness

 

Another good feature of the TV 523 is that it is a dual SIM enabled mobile phone. Considering the size of the TV 523, I was pretty surprised at how i-Mobile managed to cram in dual SIM functionalities into such a small frame without skimping on the media features. Usage of the dual SIM function was pretty simple and like most dual SIM made it easy for me to have two lines at the same time.


Battery

 

Battery life of the TV 523 was pretty good as I managed to get 2 to 3 days of usage out of the phone with normal calls and SMS. However, when you turn on the TV application on the phone, that is another matter as using this feature tends to drain the phones battery even faster.

Overall

Even though I-mobile 523 lack of a decent camera and does not support EDGE, the features that it comes with coupled with its price makes it a good phone. Performance wise it does pretty well and with its myriad of features including a motion sensor it gave the phone a lot of value. At RM499, the TV 523 isn’t very expensive and you’re getting heck of a lot of stuff from it. The fact that it is also one of the better looking i-Mobile phones that have come out of its stable does help things as well.