Spice X-1 Gaming Phone

Take it from a daily commuter. Quite literally it seems every second person on the train is playing some game or other, both high-end and entry-level handsets taken into account. Now Spice has launched its X1 gaming mobile in the Indian market, and this could stir things up for the avid mobile gamer. Don’t expect the games to be too high-end or flashy, but the old 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System game ROMs will give users a very nostalgic feeling, or a blast from the past if you will. But here’s the whole story…

Form Factor
Spice’s X-1 is a very stylish looking handset, at least from the front. The rather odd speaker mesh on the rear under the 2 MP camera lens is not very attractive. A 2.4 inch display makes it quite convenient for the purpose it was designed for. It has a 240 x 320 pixel resolution. The five way Nav-Pd is useful, but the keypad could have been better. The ‘2’ key, located just below the Nav-Pad, is a bit difficult to use while messaging, so words with an ‘a, b or c’ can be an issue. The shortcut keys to the browser and game section come in handy.

The handset has volume keys, dedicated camera key, and the proprietary slot for the USB, charger and gaming console connector located on one side. Three dedicated music keys are on the opposite side, above the hot-swap microSD card slot. To make certain games more accessible without the gaming console, Spice has added a couple of action keys near the front speaker. (A similar design exists in the N81 as well.)

The gaming console has a holder for the handset that can be adjusted from the rear to fit the phone. But try not to make it sit in too tight, or the buttons on the handset won’t work. The gaming console is designed to look and feel like just like any other console gaming console. Not as sophisticated as Sony’s or the XBox, but rather like in the old 16-bit game consoles. It hooks up the handset via a cable that fits into a 2.5mm socket at the bottom of the pad, and the other end goes into the propriety slot of the handset.

Features and Performance
Interface and Misc. Features
The Spice X-1 runs on a similar interface as that of those Chinese mobiles. It’s a colorful OS that’s easy to navigate, but more importantly the handset comes loaded with plenty of features. One odd quirk is that it has options to hide the operator name. Of course,  nothing changes irrespective of the selection. You can add particular ringtones and images to specific contacts, and add numbers, bookmarks etc to text messages. The phone also has the usual basic features such as a calendar, to-do list, calculator, converter, stopwatch, world clock and a ‘Health’ option that calculates BMI and can keep track of menstrual cycles. Everything you’d need for daily use is readily available in the X-1.

Gaming
The primary function of the handset is to be a mobile phone for calls and messages, but gaming plays a pretty big role too. Don’t expect too much, unless you’re a nostalgic gamer. The handset supports .NES ROM files with no issues. The thing is that it’s also supposed to play Gameboy and Gameboy Color ROMs with .GB, .GBC extensions and also the ambitious Super Nintendo .SMC ROMs. I followed the instructions to a T, but I got nothing. The files don’t even show up in the console gaming section. Four different people from Spice couldn’t figure it out either. Java games work just fine; simply copy-paste the files into the drive and you’re good to go.

The whole gaming experience is a lot of fun. You won’t really need the gaming console except for a more casual and relaxed setting. Don’t try using it in a train or bus; you won’t want that kind of attention. But you can use just the handset to play all the games quite easily, considering it has two action keys above the display. Most of the keys on the keypad can be used for various function (‘4’ can be used to rotate the display, ‘0’ to scroll), and the shortcut Media and Browser keys can also be used (not to forget the Nav-Pad). I quite enjoyed playing all those old games.

Media
The X-1’s audio player may look a bit gaudy for some, but there’s nothing wrong with its functionality. It’s loud and relatively clear. A few EQ presets are available to adjust the frequencies but there are just a couple that are relevant to music, and they have rather odd names like Sports, News, Live and Cinema which I do NOT recommend for music. The earphones are comfy but proprietary, so you can’t use your own.

The large display is great for videos. The funny thing is, no matter how I encoded the files, the audio always seemed non-existent, while the video looked really good. The Video Player option in the Media menu, for some strange reason, refuses to pick up any of the files. You’ll have to access the File Manager and play the videos from there. Only videos from the inbuilt camera show up in the Video Player section.

The integrated FM radio is another one of the X-1’s better features. Reception was quite decent even while commuting. It took about 15 seconds to find and store all the available channels. The FN recording feature works perfectly, so if you want to record your favorite song off the air you’re good to go. The keypad once again comes in handy for selecting the presets.  A voice recorder, e-book reader, and melody composer are some fun features the X-1 comes preloaded with. The e-book reader reads .TXT files but has a bit of a problem reading special characters like apostrophes, so don’t get confused if you see gibberish showing up in certain places. The script is nevertheless legible. 

Connectivity
When it comes to connectivity the X-1 may not be 3G ready but it does supports GPRS and WAP (but not EDGE). Other connectivity options include Bluetooth v.20 with A2DP support and USB v2.0. The browser is pretty basic and has a bit of trouble opening large HTML-enabled sites like Tech2, though WAP sites open with no issues.Setting up your email account is also a bit cumbersome. Even with all the right settings it just refused to work for me. Those of you who happen to own this handset and are using it for email could perhaps drop a comment with details on how you got it running!

Camera
The 2MP camera is quite adequate for this handset, but it isn’t just the megapixel count. The camera has plenty of features on offer, including use as a webcam. Yet again the keypad comes in very handy as it can be used to access various functions and settings, from white balance to image size, effects and timer (that goes up to 15 seconds). The X-1 also has an image editor for adding a few effects and icons etc. to (heh!) spice up your pictures.

The image quality is decent. The colors may not be as sharp as that of some other phone cams we’ve seen but it’s still pretty good. Make sure you adjust the brightness, as point-and-shoot mode in low light conditions tend to result in pictures that are a bit dark.

Battery
I can’t say that the X-1’s battery life is great, but it’s good enough. Users will get over a day and a half of usage with a little calling and messaging, audio, and gaming. If it’s just talktime, the X-1 can clock about 3 hours and 10 minutes or so. This is not bad at all.

The Bottomline
Priced at just Rs 7500 (and that includes the gaming console and a 512MB microSD card) this device is worth a look, especially if you’re into mobile gaming in a big way. The handset only comes with Java games preloaded, so download some games from the net and you’re good to go. The keypad is useful for accessing the handset’s many features, but the design could use some work. The speakerphone is extremely loud and the music player is just okay, but the browser is not quite as hot. If you like mobile gaming, this phone serves that purpose very well, and it has a lot of additional features too. So think about it.

Specs

**Spice X-1
**

Network

GSM 900/1800/1900, WAP, GPRS

Physical 112 x 50.5 x 15.3 mm, 109g Display 240 x 320, 256k colors, TFT, 2.4 inch
Memory 23MB internal, MicroSD for external Media MP3, 3GP, voice Recorder, FM radio, gaming console
Camera 2 megapixel Connectivity USB v2.0, Bluetooth with A2DP Battery 130 hrs standby, 3 hrs 40 mins talktime
Street Price
Rs 7500