Drawing a line between professional and personal lives, Dual SIM phone market expanded by leaps and bounds. The ambiguity of carrying two mobile phones has been washed off, putting an end to the task of switching between two handsets. As Dual SIM phones further gained momentum, AKAI felt the need for more, probably for the handful of people who switch between not two but three SIMs. In January, the company emerged with Trio, a triple SIM handset in the Indian market. We didn’t notice the device stir into an impelling magnetic force. Assumedly, three SIMs didn’t appeal to masses to a great extent. However, for those professionals still jostling between three mobile numbers, it seems fair enough. Here’s our take on the AKAI Trio through this review to know about its performance, functionality and more.
The AKAI Trio falls into the low-end category with the highlight of triple SIM functionality (needless to say). Keeping its 3K price tag in mind, we move on with our analysis. The Trio packages itself in a subtle white box with colorful pictures, markings and more. Looking at the device, it isn’t anything close the trendy handset brigade that has been marching into the tech realm lately. This simple and basic looking handset is accompanied by USB cable, charger, battery, earphones and user manual. A glossy plasticky appearance dipped in black with silver rim is all the device has to talk about. On pulling out the battery, one will notice a ‘trio’ of SIM slots and a microSD card slot. Now, we understand that the handset accommodates three SIMs so one wouldn’t need to replace them and frequently taking out the battery is out of question.
The Trio does not pose a distinctly attractive look but the bar shaped phone is quite likeable. It is ‘pocketable’ at 109mm x 44.5mm x 14.3mm and even otherwise. The built quality appears good and robust. On holding the device, it feels quite sturdy. It could easily slip into pockets and purses. The front side features a mediocre 2-inch TFT display that occupies a little less than half of the front face of the device while the keypad lies well below it. The company has its name imprinted on the backflap while its name and the product name find space on the front side as well. The top portion of its backside shows a 1.3 megapixel camera and a speaker section. The memory card slot comes with support for only up to 8GB of storage space which could disappoint many.
This clutchable handset has its upper edge embedded with a lanyard slot and flash light while the lower one features mini USB port and power port. The keypad has been fashioned in a steps-like style with a distinguishable centre column of keys decked in a grey hue and the other two maintained in black. This grey column includes the main navigation button along with the alpha-numeric keys. A chrome lining encircles the main five-way square button which is flanked by two call answer buttons (one for SIM1 and the other for SIM2 and SIM3), call end and shortcuts to Messages and Contacts.
The 2-inch screen of the AKAI Trio has too much to handle given its diminished size, making everything it displays look cramped. On inserting three SIMs, this miniscule screen displays all three network provider names and a row of icons that run along the top portion of the screen. The topmost portion carries a row of icons – Menu, Messaging, Browser, Calendar, Alarm and Bluetooth. The Menu includes Call Logs, Contacts, Internet, Multimedia, Messages, Tools, Applications, File List and Settings. The main button serves to navigate across the screen. However, these icons look really small and the display isn’t easy to read.
Under Messaging, a tabular form takes you past all essentials like Inbox, Outbox, Draft and so on which have been intricately sectioned for three SIMs. So, you would see the message reach the right Inbox. However, as aforesaid, everything looks very crammed. The camera, video recorder, audio player, video player, FM Radio and Torch are placed under the Multimedia icon. One shouldn’t really expect much from the Trio’s 1.3 megapixel camera which is below average. The lack of flash renders it even more disappointing in low light conditions. Its video recording and video player functions are satisfactory.
The network reception ability of the Trio is fairly good. The call quality is decent but not better than what we’ve seen in most of the low-end phones. The screen’s low resolution is a hindrance to effective web browsing. The AKAI Trio is bundled with attributes like eBook reader, Audio player, and under applications the company has placed the Boxman game and Image browser. Boxman was quite addictive but a casual mobile gamer may not find it eye-appealing. The FM and audio player emit a decent experience. The device handles three SIMs effectively, replacing the weight and price of three phones by a single affordable handset.
In a nutshell, as its name reflects the AKAI Trio is a triple SIM ability which is obviously the highlight of the handset. Although it has been loaded with features, the low screen resolution and mediocre camera capabilities do not exhibit its functionalities effectively. For a price it has been carved at, AKAI has compromised on several aspects. It could be an option to those switching between three SIMs but do not expect much otherwise. For carving a handset that supports three SIMs under an affordable price bracket of Rs. 3295, it has managed to gain a rating of 5 out of 10.
