iBUZZ SLiMBUZZ i4 – Sleek & lightweight dual SIM phone Review

VERDICT:

The SliMBUZZ i4 is a sleek and stylish cellphone with a basic feature set. However, it does not fully justify its price tag of Rs. 3,999, by delivering mediocre performance across the tests and is simultaneously crippled with a major technical flaw. We have reviewed better cellphones in terms of features as well as performance in this price category. Hence, we do not recommend the i4 and instead one could consider buying the Fly MV135 around the same price.

Look and feel

[RELATED_ARTICLE]The i4 comes with a glossy steel finish on the contours of the front panel and an anodised aluminium finish on the battery cover, which add a nice contrast with the thin black strip running across the body contours and sandwiched between the front and rear panels. The battery cover is light, flexible and with no sharp edges. Hence, it does not hurt the fingers during usage, which is a neat plus. The keypad includes a bevelled key-design with marked spacing between the keys. The keys are a bit jerky and lack consistent tactile feedback, which is partly owing to its inferior build quality. This results in typos and takes a major hit on the ergonomics. The menu interface hasn’t changed much across the iBUZZ cellphones and retains the simple sub-menu classifications.

Features

In addition to the regular social networking applications, it bundles with useful utilities like mobile tracker, privacy protection and panic button. The mobile tracker enables the user to track the location of the cellphone through GPRS satellite networks, while the privacy protection allows the user to secure his personal data with an encrypted password. The panic button is a new feature that automatically sends pre-defined text messages to the designated numbers at the click of the button, requesting for help in an emergency situation.

Read on to know the performance, our take, specifications, ratings and test results on the next page…

Performance

[RELATED_ARTICLE]While testing the i4, we came across some baffling technical flaw with the memory card slot, wherein none of the microSD cards were getting recognised. We tried using a 2 GB card as well as a 256 MB card, which worked fine on other cellphones. Due to this technical flaw, we could not test the Bluetooth transfer speed, loudspeaker and bundled earphones audio quality, captured video and video playback quality, as the internal memory was almost full. The signal reception and voice clarity test yielded ordinary results, as the loudspeaker clarity distorted at 50% volume levels and the handsfree clarity was good only up to 60% volume levels. Also, the handsfree audibility was very feeble even at maximum volume levels, which often made it difficult to understand the conversation. The captured photo lacked in image clarity and crispness. We could not take more than one shot owing to lack of internal memory and faulty memory slot. The quality of display is unsatisfactory with very limited viewing angles, as the icons and fonts on the screen are blurred out even if the display is tilted slightly. Also, it delivered poor legibility of fonts and icons under bright sunshine. Overall, the i4 is a mediocre performer by falling short on various test parameters and also crippled by a major technical flaw with the memory card slot.

Our Take

The SliMBUZZ i4 is a sleek and stylish cellphone with a basic feature set. However, it does not fully justify its price tag of Rs. 3,999, by delivering mediocre performance across the tests and simultaneously crippled with a major technical flaw. We have reviewed better cellphones in terms of features as well as performance in this price category. Hence, we do not recommend the i4 and instead one could consider buying the Fly MV135 around the same price.

Specifications: Dual SIM (GSM GSM); Display: 1.8-inches, Screen resolution: 240×320 pixels; Memory: microSD expandable up to 2 GB; Battery: 1000 mAh, Talk-time: up to 4.5 hours, Standby-time: up to 300 hours; Dimensions: 113 x 51 x 11; Weight: 73.5 grams

Ratings
Features: 5.5
Performance: 5
Build Quality: 5.5
Value for money: 5.5
Overall: 5.5

Contact: Vertex Management Solutions Pvt. Ltd.
Phone: 91-120-4243888
E-mail: N/A
Website: www.ibuzzmobile.com
Price: Rs. 3,999