We earlier shared pictures of Infibeam’s Phi and here is first part of the review [after playing with the device for 3 days].
I will stick to a very basic barebone review of the product (check out Phi specification) and will share a much more detailed review later.
What’s Great About Infibeam Phi?
The fact that Infibeam Phi is seven inches in width makes it a great device to read/browse and in general, consume media for on-the-go people. The device comes with Android 1.5 (sadly, but will upgrade sooner) and has resistive touch screen.
As far as media supported formats are concerned, the device pretty much supports the known formats like PDF, Text, CHM (for reading), MP3/WAV and WMA for audio and supports MP4, 3GP, AVI, MPEG, MOV, FLV, RMVB, MKV format for videos.
Reading books (ebooks/pdf etc) on the device is a great experience and here are a couple of interesting features that makes Phi really awesome:
- Light weight : The toy weighs only 180 gms and that makes it a great companion during travel and replaces my Pi e-book reader.
-Support for Android Marketplace – You can install application/games from Android marketplace and to me, that’s the most important factor in purchasing a tablet PC. Android marketplace hosts a lot of free apps (including Angry Birds beta version) and some of the apps I have already installed are SpeedView, Antigen (puzzle game), Book (Google Book Search) and NewsRob.
-Awesome quality : The ‘media’ device has a very good audio/video quality and the in-built Memory of 8 GB provides the necessary cushion to play with the product.
What’s Not so Great?
- Resistive Touch – Okay. After playing with Nokia phones (N97, N900) for the last 1.5 years, I am used to resistive touch screens (and eagerly looking forward to capacitive touch devices). As far as Infibeam’s touch screen is concerned, it takes not more than 5 minutes to get accustomed to Phi’s touch experience (but that’s where the iPad comparison ends).
Final Verdict
At a price tag of Rs. 14,999, Infibeam Phi is a super awesome product that offers the much needed features for anybody who needs a tablet. The device is highly recommended for those who consume a lot of media and need a much bigger screen than a smartphone.
Eat this – the device is a lot cheaper compared to most of the smartphones and offers much more features than smartphones (it’s a tablet!).
Good to go, if you are the typical dude(tte) who hogs on media and applications.
Share your questions regarding the device here [detailed review in a week].
Check out more pictures of the device (click on the images for higher resolution).
Couple of things Phi Doesn’t Supports
- LAN, i.e. you need a Wireless Internet access.
- External Keyboard – you have to use the internal keyboard.
- No webcam.
- Length 190.5 mm
- Width 118.5 mm
- Height 14.8 mm
- Weight 332 gm
- Capacity (GB) 8, Expandable Memory 32 GB (TF / Micro SD Card )
- RAM 256 MB
- Processor ARM9 600MHz
- Display Type TFT LCD Flash
- Size 7.0 Inch
- Resolution 800 x 480
- Battery Type : Inbuilt
- Standard Battery Type : Li-Ion
- Battery Life for Music Playback(Hours) : 5
- Battery Life for Video Playback : 4
- Recharging Time (Hours) : 3
- Type of Charging : USB, AC
Awesome.. I have always liked the products of infibeam. This is the best device for watching media for kids and adults when travelling. You can also get a nice cover and keep it in your car as Mini LCD. The best part is the bettery life.
“the best part is the bettery life.”
are you serious?
how is phi as an ebook reader?
Nice! It may not be way better than the iPad but when the cost comes into the picture, Phi wins hands down.
My biggest peeve: Phi Android doesn’t have HDMI output!
Can u post a video review of this device? I want to see this device in action.
I bought Phi window CE few days back. when I first scanned phi using Pc there were 21 virus in the Phi and It screen guard was not even attached properly to the screen , earphone and quick star guide was missing. Although I got the earphone same day, I reported to them. Also,I send them details about the virus found in Infibeam and the condition of phi but I think they have ignored my complaint.
Android 1.5, resistive touch-screen. No camera. Poor battery life. No clear availability. No demo pieces.
While I’m all for an Indian company making it to market with a hardware tablet, Phi misses the mark by a mile.
For Hell’s sake don’t please DON’T BUY PHI!!! To modify the Idiom prasanna had used, Phi misses the mark by a million light years…I bought it and it is lying in a dusty corner. The capacitive touch screen is so effing unresponsive. I am reminded of the earliest touchscreen phones I had….I am totally disappointed after having been reasonably happy with PI. I even have this cynical idea of sending it back to the infibeam people with happy diwali wishes!!!!
There is no such major problem as such. Ya the resistive touch screen is an old technology now a days, capacitive touch has made touch so easy that we feel bit sloopy with resistive touch. Even I didn’t like the resistive touch. It fits for the price they are selling. I did not face any problem other than this like virus or stuff. Small concern to me is regarding durability. How long it will run as it is running now.
i am planning to dispose off my PHI. People who are interested may mail me at solitary_dream@rediffmail.com
Buying a infibeam phi turned out to a horrible experience. i ordred infibeam phi (windows version). Firstly it took them 2 months to deliver the product and secondly it did not even run for 2 hours). I had a tough time sending back the product.Very bad experience for a first time buyer.Buying a android version would be useless as the version is 1.5 and cannot be upgraded. Better wait for new product as many epads/tab pcs are slated to be released (samsung galaxy tab has been released but its too much overpriced, olivepad 10K costlier is probably a better option if you can afford it)
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