Although, the Karbonn K1212 promises to be a feature-rich social networking smartphone, it fails to justify a price tag of Rs. 6,990. We were absolutely disappointed with the overall performance of the cellphone. Hence, we would not recommend it.
.jpg "Karbonn K1212 - Dual-SIM, touch-screen smartphone")
[RELATED_ARTICLE]There is a three megapixel camera located towards the top of the back-panel and a 3.5mm audio jack just above it. Removing the battery cover reveals two GSM SIM card slots and one microSD slot. However, it is not possible to access these slots without removing the battery. Hence, the memory card is not hot swappable. The Karbonn K1212 ships with a sleek and trendy stylus, which comes in handy while navigating the tiny touch-screen icons. However, the lack of hardware keypad is very much annoying while typing lengthy messages, as the touch-screen interface is quite sluggish and inaccurate. In spite of using the stylus, it often failed to register the input, which required us to enter the input multiple times to register successfully.
The touch-screen menu interface is neat and well-organised. The home screen or the desktop consists of shortcut icons for quick access to the commonly used applications like audio player, Bluetooth, FM Radio, key-lock function and Java applications. The home screen wallpaper can be changed by dragging the page horizontally from left to right or right to left. In addition, the user has the privilege to add different display transition effects called “magic screen effect” like shrink, scroll, turn, wave and swirl. Also, the Java-based application interface provides access to various social networking platforms like Facebook Mobile, Twim (Twitter mobile client), eBuddy, Opera Mini browser and MSN messenger.
Performance:
We observed considerable drop in voice clarity and audibility, when we moved from zone one to zone two and from zone two to zone three, in the signal reception and voice clarity test. In both zone two and zone three, we exposed the cellphone to environmental background noise and the shortcomings of noise isolation technology was very much evident. Although, the hands-free headset delivered a slightly better voice clarity, than the loudspeaker and device ear piece in the affected zones, the sound output was very feeble at times making it tough to understand the conversation on either sides. The loudspeaker yielded a mediocre performance with choppy and wavering voice clarity across both the zones – two and three. It had an ordinary outing in the Bluetooth test, with a speed of 466 kbps for a 5MB file transfer. The Karbonn K1212 delivered mediocre performance in both the video capture and loudspeaker audio quality test. Overall, the scores looked ordinary in both captured photo quality and display test.
Read on to know the conclusion, specifications, ratings and contact details in the next page…
Conclusion:
Although, the Karbonn K1212 promises to be a feature-rich social networking smartphone, it fails to justify a price tag of Rs. 6,990. The lack of a hardware keypad compounds its woes as a sluggish touch-screen phone, which has been a norm across most touch-screen phones we have seen so far. Also, the mediocre loudspeaker audio and camera performance adds to the list of shortcomings. We found evidence of grainy particles particularly with darker colours like Red and Black during the video playback test. At the same time, we observed pixelated artefacts and image distortion in the captured video quality test. We were absolutely disappointed with the overall performance of the cellphone. Hence, we would not recommend it either for best buy or budget category. You might want to check out the review on better performers: the Fly MC 170 and the Micromax QUBE in this price category.
Specifications: Dual-SIM (GSM GSM); Display: 3.2-inches; Colours: 262K; Screen resolution: 400 x 240; Memory: microSD expandable up to 8GB; Battery: 1000mAh; Talk-time: 6 hrs; Standby time:260 hrs;
| Brand | Karbonn |
| Model | K1212 |
| Features | |
| Physical Specs | |
| Form Factor | Candy Bar |
| 2G Network Bands | GSM 850/900/1800/1900 |
| 3G Network Bands | NA |
| Screen Resolution | 400 x 240 |
| Screen Size (inches) | 3.2-inches |
| Maximum Screen colours | 262K |
| Touchscreen / Dual Screen (Y/N) | Y |
| Battery Rating | 1000mAh |
| Dimensions (L x W x H) in mm | 110 x 56.5 x 12 |
| Weight | 178.9 grams |
| Expandable Memory Type | microSD |
| Hot Swappable (Y/N) | N |
| Available Colours | Black |
| Other Features | |
| Operating System | Native/Proprietary |
| Charging via USB (Y/N) | Y |
| Hardware Keypad (Regular/QWERTY) | NA |
| Accelerometer (For auto rotate) | Y |
| Address Book Capacity | 2000 entries |
| No of calls in register | 20 |
| Talk Time / Standby Time * | 6 hrs / 260 hrs |
| No of Profiles # / Customisable (Y/N) | 8/N |
| Offline Operability (Y/N) | Y |
| Inbuilt GPS / A-GPS support (Y / N) | N |
| Connectivity | |
| Browsing (GPRS/HSCSD/EDGE/3G) | Y/N/N/N |
| EDGE max speed | NA |
| 3G max speed | NA |
| Connectivity (WiFi/Bluetooth/IR/USB) | N/Y/N/Y |
| Bluetooth Version/A2DP support | – / Y |
| Accessories | |
| Bundled Accessories | Charger, hands-free headset, USB cable, Stylus |
| Size of memory card provided | 2GB |
| Overall Build Quality (So 10) | 6 |
| Overall Ergonomics (So 10) | 5 |
| Keypad Design (So 10) | NA |
| Camera Specs | |
| Camera Resolution (Mega Pixels) | 3 Mega-Pixels |
| Video Capture Resolution | – |
| Dual Cameras / Auto Focus / Flash (Y/N) | N/Y/N |
| Mirror for self portrait (Y / N) | N |
| Camera Settings (So 10) | 5 |
| Zoom (Optical/Digital) | NA |
| Multimedia | |
| Music Formats supported | Mp3, Midi, WAV, AMR |
| Video formats supported | 3GP & MP4 |
| FM Radio (Y/N) | Y |
| Performance | |
| Signal Reception and Voice Clarity (So 10) | |
| Zone 1 | 7 |
| Zone 2 | 6 |
| Zone 3 | 5 |
| Device Earpiece Volume | 7 |
| Device Loudspeaker clarity | 6.5 |
| Handsfree Clarity | 5 |
| Speaker Volume (on call) | 7 |
| Bluetooth Transfer Speed (Kbps) | 466Kbps |
| WiFi signal strength (Zone 2) | NA |
| Captured Photo Quality (So 10) | |
| Captured Photo Colour | 5.5 |
| Captured Photo Crispness | 5 |
| Captured Video Quality | 4 |
| Loudspeaker Audio Quality | 4.5 |
| Bundled Earphones Quality | 6.5 |
| Display | |
| Quality of display | 7 |
| Viewing angle of display | 5 |
| Legibility in bright sunlight | 5.5 |
| Video Playback Quality (So 10) | 6 |
| Price (MRP, Rs) | Rs. 6,990 |
Ratings:
Features: 6
Performance: 5.5
Build Quality: 6
Value for money: 5
Overall: 5.5
Contact: Jaina Marketing Appliances Pvt. Ltd.
Phone: 1800116666
E-mail: service@jainaindia.com
Website: http://www.karbonnmobiles.com/
Price: Rs. 6,990