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Review: Mobicel Air: elegantly cost-effective

Michelle Avenant
By Michelle Avenant, portals journalist.
Johannesburg, 23 Apr 2015
The Mobicel Air's elegant appearance belies its low price-tag.
The Mobicel Air's elegant appearance belies its low price-tag.

The Mobicel Air comfortably fulfils Mobicel's core mission to provide customers with value for money.

At R3 500, the ultra-slim device's technical specifications compare favourably with prominent devices within its price bracket and slightly above, such as the Samsung Galaxy Note II, Nokia Lumia 735, HTC One V, and Sony Xperia S, all of which are valued at R4 000 - although the Xperia S boasts double the Air's internal memory and a better quality back camera.

Look and feel

Large-screened and ultra-slim (at 5.1mm thick, the device is thinner than the iPhone 6 Plus and the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge), the Mobicel Air is elegant and trendy. The white version even has gold edges, subtly embodying the gold electronics trend set off by Apple's new Macbook. In short, the smartphone's luxurious appearance belies its low price-tag.

Despite its flimsy appearance, the size of the phone makes it easy to hold, while its lightness is ideal for typing with one hand. Large and flat, the handset takes up little space, but can be found quickly in a handbag, although it's hardly pocket-sized.

A protective clear rubber case comes with the Air, for users who feel nervous handling such a delicate-looking device - although one could argue the device's lightness would minimise damage if it were dropped.

Performance

Using the Air feels similar to using a phone in the Samsung Galaxy range. The screen is bright and sharp and displays colours accurately, and its size makes browsing the internet or social networks a pleasure.

The camera easily snaps crystal-clear shots in daylight, and copes well with bright surroundings (like direct sunlight), although, much the same as most smartphone cameras, this clarity is compromised in dimmer environs.

Mobicel Air

Pros: Cost-effective, elegant design, comfortable to hold, good camera, great battery life
Cons: Complicated settings menu, confusing OS tweaks
Dimensions: 45.1 x 70.2 x 5.55mm
Screen: 4.8-inch
Camera: 8MP rear, 5MP front
Storage: 16GB
RAM: 1GB
Processor: Octacor 1.7GHz
Connectivity: GPRS, Edge, 3G, Bluetooth, WiFi, USB
Sensors: GPS, G sensor, proximity sensor
Price: R3 499
Rating: 8.5/10
Product Page: http://mobicell.co.za/products/desire-series/air/

The eight cores of its 1.7GHz CPU seem to equip it well for multitasking, as it does not noticeably slow down when running several applications at once.

Although I could not formally test the battery, it comfortably lasts more than 24 hours when put to moderate social and professional use.

Interface annoyances

While the touch screen is ideally responsive, Mobicel's adaptation of the Android operating system (the Air runs on Android 4.4, or Kit Kat) makes typing on this phone unnecessarily complicated. It took me ages to figure out that activating caps lock requires a sharp double-tap, and altering the keyboard settings is an arduous process.

In fact, the phone's settings menu in general, while adequately labelled, has far more screens than necessary. It takes five taps (starting at the settings menu) to switch on the portable WiFi hotspot, for example.

Additionally, the home screen is a hassle to unlock. Instead of sliding or swiping vaguely across the width of the screen, one has to pointedly drag up the length of the screen to unlock the phone, which takes more focus than necessary for such a simple action.

And answering phone calls - the cellphone's seminal purpose - is tricky. Counter-intuitively, one must swipe down to accept and up to reject. I missed a good few calls trying to figure this out, but even then the problem does not vanish: in a situation where a friend has to answer one's phone (for example, while one is driving), they will inevitably miss the call, as the chances of one's companion being a fellow Mobicel user are narrow.

Conclusion

Sleek, ergonomic and equipped with fantastic specs for its price range, the Mobicel Air is nonetheless a pleasure to look at and use, although the interface needs a few tweaks to make it more practical and user-friendly.

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