The Spice mi301

Pros

• Responsive touch screen


• Good build quality

Cons

• Below averge camera


• Memory card not hot swapable

Spice Mi310 is arguably the best Android phone for budget conscious people. It offers the latest Android 2.2 version and comes with a capacitive touchscreen, which is fairly responsive.

The build quality of the phone is decent, given the fact that its price is on the lower side among the Android mobiles. The phone is not heavy as the body is partly plastic and part metal. The metal battery cover is slightly difficult to open but will not get loose with prolonged usage.

The worst part of the Mi310 is its camera which has in fact been degraded from 5 mega pixel in the out going model to a 2 mega pixel one in this model. There is no flash either.

Rest of the features have not been compromised though and the overall the phone comes out to be a feature rich phone with A-GPS, Wifi, Wifi hotspot (connect five handsets to share your data connection), Bluetooth, 3G (HSPA 7.2 Mbps speed), 3.2 inch touchscreen, and track pad.

The phone comes with a charger, a leather pouch and an USB cable. The only thing missing is a memory card, but still the phone is worth the money.

It has a 600 MHz processor and the phone works fine when you open three four applications together but when you open more than four applications some lag will be encountered.

The track pad also works fine but is not of much use in a touchscreen device, that too with a responsive unit like this.

Being an Android device, the features of the Android are obviously there; you can setup your Gmail account once and every function like Gtalk, Android Market, and Youtube gets logged in automatically, your contacts with Gmail are also synced by itself.

You can download, as many games and apps you wish to from the Android Market. You can save these downloaded apps on the memory card.

Internal memory is 85 MB, which can be expanded up to 16 GB using a memory card. The battery claims to offer 310 hours of standby, but regular use with push email account and other usages you will get a decent one day of backup.

When you compare the Spice Mi310 with its competition, the phone stands out in its own league. Only Micromax Andro is cheaper than this handset but has a smaller 2.8 inch resistive touch screen (which is not as good as a capacitive one). The other option is Huawei Ideos, which also has a 2.8 inch capacitive touchscreen. But the phone is pricier than Spice Mi310, and retails for around Rs 8,500.

Dell XCD28, which will offer you better quality but a smaller 2.8 inch screen and older Android 2.1 version is the real option at this price bracket, however you will have to compromise, so Spice still remains a good option.

Verdict and Price

The spice Mi310 has a perfect blend of price and feature. While it is not the best Android device for sure, but for Rs 7,400 it is certainly a value for money unit considering the build quality and features.

Handset Review: Spice Mi310 Specifications
Network	3G GSM
Operating System	Android
Dimensions	116x60x11.95mm, weight 120 gram
Display	3.2 inch
Input Method	Touchscreen
Processor	NA
Memory	16 GB expandable
Connectivity	Bluetooth, USB
Multimedia	Yes
Camera	2 MP
GPS	NA
Additional features	Applications can be stored in external memory
Battery	1200 mAh
Warranty	1 Yr
Price	Rs 7,400