B.Mobile Mystique

Need a new phone recently as my old flip phone (or some of you called it "clam-shell" phone) is finally dead but being a poor farmer like me, I can't afford those high end phone like Samsung S3 or maybe those high end HTC phone and thus at the end I have to go for this cheap Android phone offered by one of the local mobile telcos for SGD 199.00 (about USD 159 / 12,540 Yen)


So this is it now, our cheap Android phone;

Out of the box, you will get all this stuff - the phone, the quick guide booklet, charger, USB cable, headphone and that rubber case to protect your phone from scratch and dirt....

Specification wise, no big deal, it runs on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 1 GHz but according to the apps "Android System Info" it is only at 800 MHz, 512 MB RAM and 512 MB ROM, it comes with 5MP camera with Autfo Focus and single LED Flash. Video recording mode is available at maximum resolution of 640p x 480p. The front camera is typical with slightly lower resolution from the rear one.

Connectivity wise, it comes with the usual WiFi, Bluetooth and of course those EDGE, GPRS, UMTS and HSDPA. Memory card storage can support up to 32GB (2GB memory card included), 4.3 inch screen size with 800p x 480p resolution, accelerometer, proximity, compass, GPS and bla bla bla - all the specs that make the Android 2.3.6 runs accordingly at decent level.

The rear of this Mystique - the battery cover is made from aluminum;





On this side you can see the standard 3.5mm audio jack and the mini-USB port for charger and also USB cable;

On the other side, you can see the typical power button, and they also include a tiny button that they refer to as "Reset Button" and lastly the usual volume button. I did try the "Reset Button" thingy, basically when you pressed that button the phone will quickly reboot - just like that... so I guess this is useful if your phone suddenly "hang" just like that Windows BSOD scenario...

And here you can see a few more buttons, namely the Menu button, Home, Return and Search.

The battery is removable type.... this can be good if you plan to use this phone for a very loooooong time and maybe in the future you can buy a new battery and still using this phone but with the current technology gadgets going down by weekly basis, I doubt it that one will use this phone for a very loooooong time..... OK, apart from that, maybe the other scenario is if in the case the battery screwed up, you can replace it with a new one.... I guess so...

They give 2GB memory card for you to store your apps and media files and if that is not enough you can buy another one with bigger capacity;





The rubber protecting case which is a nice free gift in fact;

Nothing for me to comment on the Android Gingerbread 2.3.6, it works fine on this phone and particular specs, I'm sure most of you already knew about Android and probably have been using it as well. I've been using Android for 2 years now, my favorite is the Honeycomb 3.X.X which is designed to runs on tablet. It's not perfect but it works fine for me and I love it, simple as that.

Overall, this is quite a decent mid-range Android phone at a budget price. In fact, even though I paid SGD 199.00 for it, I also get a new sim card (worth SGD 30.00) that also comes with SGD 50.00 free credit (only can be used for numbers from the same mobile operators though) which means in a way, I just paid SGD 119.00 for this phone (about USD 93.00 / 7,500 Yen) - great bargain and great value for money.

This phone is made by Huawei of China. Huawei is the largest China-based networking and telecommunications equipment supplier and the second-largest supplier of mobile telecommunications infrastructure equipment in the world after Ericsson. The build quality is very good (again considering the price) and the accessories that comes in the package is quite decent. In fact it doesn't really feel cheap. I've bee using a few products from Huawei in the past several years and I think their product is well made and competitively priced.

This phone doesn't promise the excellence of those high end Android phones like Samsung S3 and maybe many other models from HTC, Sony or what ever but if you are sensible enough to remember that this is a budget smartphone, then I guess you will be happy.

If you expect a high end performance from such price, then I can guaranteed that you will be extremely disappointed but then again its your own fault. Eventually, gadgets become cheaper nowadays as most of them are made in China but then again, you can't really expect to get everything to be super cheap. On every price level, there are certain amount of limit for expectation level.

Side by side with Huawei MediaPad S7 - a 7 inch tablet running Android Honeycomb with sim card support (GSM/3G);

If I want to watch HD movie files that I downloaded from YouTube with a file size of around 100MB to 200MB or if I want to do some heavy duty stuff or heavy games then I will go back to my big 7 inch Huawei MediaPad S7 tablet. This tablet is another Huawei product that I used since early this year and so far it perform excellently. Watching porn movie in HD is enjoyable with this tablet. However, if need something light and simple, then, this Mystique is the one I choose.

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