Movil MT1 Dual SIM (GSM + GSM) Mobile Phone

Movil is a name that most of you may not recognize, but that’s not your fault, there are so many of these companies starting up it’s hard even for me to keep track. Their handset the MT1 is one of two that they recently launched in India and I’m here to tell you if it’s worth your hard earned cash. Read on…

Form Factor
It’s a pretty generic looking touchscreen handset but at least it doesn’t look like others, too much. The lightweight simplistic design makes it convenient to carry around, except you should get a case as the 3-inch resistive touchscreen tends to get scratched a little too quickly. I recommend using a screen protector. Volume/zoom keys are located on one side above the camera’s shutter release button. A standard USB port is located at the bottom. The problem is that it’s a universal, all purpose socket for charging, USB and the handsfree. The button system below the display is simple and only makes navigation a little easier. It supports external memory via microSD cards but there’s no hot swap.

Overall it’s not a bad looking device. It’s well balanced and easy to handle.

Features and Performance
Interface
The OS is one of those JAVA-based systems you’d find in those ‘Chinese’ mobiles, but the processing power of the handset makes it quite smooth and fluid enough to operate without a hitch. There’s no lag or unnecessary delay while accessing functions. However, what is annoying is the fact that most features won’t simply open with a single touch. For almost every action a submenu with a whole set of additional features opens up. That’s a universal issue with this particular UI, nevertheless the MT1 is colorful and very responsive.

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For most functions you won’t even require the stylus. The icons and overall menu system is very finger friendly with large symbols and icons. For typing or entering data though you will need the stylus as the virtual keypads are a bit too small, unless you have very slim fingers. Instead of a QWERTY or AZERTY keypad, Movil has chosen to go with an ABCDE option. Bad idea! It will take a bit of getting
used to. It also supports handwriting recognition which is a bit slow.

This device also incorporates the use of motion sensor games, switching wallpapers and changing tracks on the music player. A ‘Turn to Silence’ option is also available but with this setting on you’ll never be able to enjoy a single song in peace as the sensor is too sensitive. Like Samsung’s TouchWiz UI, the MT1 also comes with a widget system for the desktop. You can drag and drop files onto the desktop for quick access which makes things a bit simpler. Dual SIM functionality is seamless and works without a hitch.

Media
The music player comes with features that include Bass enhancement and 3D surround audio but sadly drastically underperforms. Even with the enhancement there’s not enough of a thump in the bass and the volume is nearly high enough to make for easy listening. Even in a closed room it’s just too low. The MT1 also has an FM radio with a Schedule Record function. Reception was not good even in areas where I usually have no issues. The voice recorder was ok though but for clear vocals you’ll have to keep the handset within 2 feet from your mouth.

What was pleasantly surprising is that I got no error when trying to play most of my video files including those in AVI or FLV formats as well as RMVB files. Of course only the MPEG4 and 3GP files played smoothly while other formats were read but were constantly framing. So if your files are converted appropriately you’ll have no issues watching them comfortably on the 3-inch display.
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Connectivity
With GPRS and basic WAP coverage, you’ll have no issues using the native browser. It’s simple, basic and the large display does make it easier to view. Disappointingly the MT1 doesn’t come with an Opera Mini browser like other handsets in this range with the same OS. You’ll have to download that yourself. The same goes for social networking applications. There aren’t any. Bluetooth with A2DP and USB 2.0 are also available. The handset can be used as a webcam in USB mode. There didn’t seem to be any option for downloading emails though which is also a little strange considering handsets that cost a lot less allow for POP and IMAP email accounts to be set.

Misc. Features
Basic features like a Calendar, Calculator, Alarm and World Clock are all present but instead of a universal converter the MT1 has only a Currency converter. It does have an Ebook reader for .TXT files and once again the large display comes into play as it makes the text easy to read. A melody composer to create Midi ringtones is also at hand.

Camera
The handset comes with a 3 megapixel fixed focus camera. Its features are quite basic and include, White Balance, a few effects, Night Mode and brightness level adjustment. Picture quality isn’t too bad but it tends to produce more reds in all pictures. For some strange reason the camera is not designed to capture images in landscape mode. There was no setting available to change that.

Battery Life
Battery life is not too bad. With nominal use you’ll get about two days of use. The company promises about 6 hours of talk time from the device.