Spice S-1200

Overview

High-end Camera Phone

Overview of Spice S1200

The Spice S1200 is a camera bar phone primarily designed with a lot of emphasis on the camera. This mobile phone packs a 12MP camera with a 3x Optical zoom. This in itself beats plenty of digital cameras within the phone’s price range.

Spice S1200 Design & Build Quality

The Spice S1200 looks like a typical small digital camera if viewed from the back. It is a standard Multi-tap Alphabet bar phone on the front. It weighs 130 grams while its size dimensions are 114 x 62 x 16mm. The phone has a 2.4 TFT (256K colors) inch display with a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels. The pixel density is 167 ppi (pixels per inch). It is also vibrator enabled for call and message alerts besides having 64 polyphonic ringtones (MP3/WAV/). It operates using a standard Li-Ion 1000 mAh battery with a maximum talk time of 3 hours and a stand by time of 150 hours. It is a 2G enabled phone (GSM 900/1800/1900 MHz) and has an internal antenna.

User Interface and Comfort to Use Spice S1200

The phone’s Operating System (OS) is Java while its user interface (Menu) is the standard Icon Grid for bar phones, so most users are not likely to have a problem working the phone’s menu.

Telephony and Phonebook

The Spice S1200 has a phonebook that allows for 1500 entries. Its call log for the dialled, received, and missed calls displays the last 20 calls for each. It also has the hands-free loudspeaker.

Messaging and Emails

This phone supports SMS and MMS. No EMS feature. It can store up to 1500 SMS. There is a predictive option for text editing. Other features in the Messaging Menu include:

• SMS Templates
• EMS
• MMS
• Concatenated Messages
• Send to Many
• Sent to Group
• SMS Counter

Gallery, Photo Viewer and Video Player

It is pretty much standard. The phone has an inbuilt memory of 70MB but supports external microSD memory of up to 32GB. Lots of pictures and video can be stored there.

Spice S1200 Music Player and FM Radio

The phone has an inbuilt Music Player and FM radio. It allows for scheduled FM recording.

Spice S1200 Camera and Image Quality

This is probably the standout feature of the phone. It has a 12MP camera with 3x optical zoom. Other camera features include auto focus, xenon flash, Smile shutter, Multi-face detection. 12MP gives you fantastic image quality.

Video Camera and Video Quality

The video camera records at 24 frames per second. It supports video files in avi, MP4 and 3gp formats. The video quality is excellent.

Spice S1200 Connectivity Options

The connectivity options for this phone include:

• WAP version 2.0
• GPRS Class 10 (4 + 1/3 + 2 Slots) 32-48 Kbps
• Bluetooth version 2.1 with EDR
• TV out

The phone does NOT have infrared and Wi-Fi connectivity options.

Organizer and Other Utility Tools

The phone has the standard organizer features like:

• Calendar
• To-Do list; and
• Voice Memo

The other utility features are:

• Games (Java Supported)
• Alarm
• Calculator
• Currency Convertor
• World Clock (Both 24hr and 12 hr formats)
• Incoming Call guard.

Web Browser and Applications

The phone has an internal java supported GPRS/WAP internet browser. The phone’s OS can support the popular Opera Mini browser.

Google Maps and GPS

This phone does not have either of these features.

Distinctive Features of Spice S1200

The Spice S1200 is essentially a camera phone. As such, it does not really have many other outstanding features.

Value for Money

Retailing for Rs. 15,000 (approx., may vary), it offers great value for money especially given that at its price range, not even smart phones could compete with its image capturing quality. If you are into photos and pictures, it is a highly recommendable phone.

Verdict

If you are looking for a camera phone at this price range, this is a great buy. However, besides the camera and video, nothing else about the phone is worth talking about