MyPhone Q21 Duo Review: Dual Sim Qwerty Phone

Review of Myphone Q21 Duo is based on my opinion, standard and experiences. Other people might have different preference and opinion

Why buy My Phone Q21 Duo?

You maybe wondering why I bought this phone instead of some known brands. I choose my gadgets based on my needs and considering what I can afford or how much I am willing to spend.  I believe that not all latest and known brands really can answer what I really need. I also take risks on some new brands, like my Neo Laptop, which is now over 2 1/2 years, alive and kicking .

Update: I bought this phone the week of August 14 more or less. Performance never changes as of today 01-06-2010

Myphone Q21 Duo What’s in the box

Package contains the following:

• Q21 Duo Unit
• Battery
• Charger
• Manuals
• Earphones
• PC Sync Software Mini CD
• Warranty Card

I will compile all your questions on my previous post, and will try to answer them here. Please direct your questions about My|Phone Q21 Duo in this post

Myphone Q21 Duo Question and Answer area:

Menus and screens: I have posted a video displaying Myphone Q21s Menus and screens. Please check if out

Where to buy Myphone Q21 Duo?    – I bought mine at Compex, SM San Lazaro Branch. I assume that most of the Compex Branches carries the said phone.
You can try to look at the ff. shops, I saw the Myphone Q21 or at least a Myphone brand on their display  (All at SM):

• ADI telecom
• Wellcom
• DGD Trading

I’ll update this list as soon as I noticed new shops carrying Myphone units

How Much? – Got mine for PHP4750.00. It was on sale then. Less 200 if I remember it right.

Does it have WI-FI? – No, it doesn’t have wi-fi features. You can connect to the internet using GPRS. MMS and GPRS settings for Globe,Smart and Sun Cellular are already configured in the phone. Just double check if they are correct . Settings can be found at Myphone Q21 page at the myphone site.

Firmware Upgrade – It is advisable to upgrade Myphone Q21 Duo’s firmware. If your firmware is dated earlier than [BUILD TIME] 2009/05/27 16:16, you should go to any MyPhone Service centers.  Just bring your receipt and warranty card, no other requirements. Firmware upgrade is free as long as it’s still under warranty. It only takes about 15-20 minutes.

What’s new on the latest firmware [BUILD TIME] 2009/05/27 16:16:

Update (01-06-2010): I have been reading about build time later than specified above but with prior version of the firmware. I guess this is not the basis. One thing  for sure is to check if you can change your text message alert tone. If not, you have the old version.

• You can now change the Message/SMS alert tone

• Magic Voice

• Improved Display (I barely notice though lol)

• Added save and send option when replying to a message

• MSN already installed in Java and Games

<will update later>

How to check firmware version – Press  *#8375# scroll down and you will see the [BUILD TIME] entry.

What type of  Software was installed? – This I don’t have an answer yet

How in install PC Suite - Copy all the files from the CD. Run application. that’s it. No installation needed. I have a new post on connecting your phone to a PC using the PC Suite. Please check.

Does it have lock function where only me can access the phone? – Nope. Just the usual key lock function.

Do you find it easy to type long texts in myphone q21? - Yes typing long text is just the same as typing short ones and of course, texting in a a qwerty keyboard is much much easier than multi tap. Others are concerned about the period key not directly available in the keypad. Its a matter of getting used to it actually. I use the [sym] key in inserting period. Period is the first entry in the list so its just easier to use that ( for me) than pressing [alt][M].

Is it easy to browse all messages you’ve stored in the phone (like drafts)? – hmm drafts or unsent messages are saved in the the outbox.  For drafts, all you can see when browsing messages is the word ‘No Number’. So I guess its hard to identify which is which.

Battery Life – Approximately 2 days (heavy texting, maximum  1hr call)

Charging Time – Approximately 2-3hrs?  I’ll try to set a timer later haha

Any problems with charging or convenient naman? USB charging is possible, right? Yes, USB charging is possible. The travel charger serves like a AC/USB Adaptor? where in the USB cable can be detached when you want to connect/charge the phone using your computer.

How to open the back cover? -  Simply push / slide the cover down. As in the picture  below

Phone Message Capacity (update 01-06-2010): I believe 500 messages for each SIM. For When 1 SIM reaches 500, that’s the time I was informed about the space problem.

Can the phone Record and Play Videos? Yes, it can record videos. The video format saved is .AVI. It can play videos of several formats, but I haven’t tried playing them all. I only tried playing the AVI file. Though, it is reported (from one of my readers ), that the phone is not capable of playing MP4 files. I still need to confirm this.

Update (01-06-2010):  One of the commenters also has problem playing AVI files. I’m not sure if this phone is just limited to certain version of the format.

Does my myphone Q21 captures high quality pictures? NO. (Wag na po umasa lol)

Memory Expandable? - Yes. Up tp 2 GB

Is there a way to change the theme or font color? – Nope. You can change only the wallpaper. Maybe on the next upgrade. who knows

Available colors (Update: 01-06-2010): Originally, black only, but other users reported other colors such as Yellow Ninoy Version, White, Red and Pink. Though I haven’t seen these new colors yet lol.

Does  myphone Q21 duo has a “Send to Group” or “Mark” function?- Yes on both. In using the send to group function, just make sure that your contacts are saved in the ‘Phone’ for it to work.

Update (01-06-2010): I had encountered some problems in the send to group functions, in cases where I changed the phonebook information and that particular entry is in a particular group.

Sounds and Music Capability: The phone produces a very loud sound that is smooth, not ‘basag’ hehe, when the built in speaker is used .   I can give this phone a 9.0 grade with 10 is the highest in this category.  But don’t expect much with the included headset. The headset produces low quality sound.

How to adjust volume of Audio Player?:  Just press the  ‘+’  (plus) key to make it louder, the ‘-’  (minus)  key otherwise.

Can this phone read microsoft word, notepad, powerpoint, ebook documents? : The only format that it’s capable of reading is the text  format (.txt files)

Does it have FM Radio?: Yes

Can you set different ringtones for different contacts? Yes

Where to find the Magic Voice? Main Menu -> Call Center -> General Call Settings -> Magic Voice

Do you know if there are already accessories available like car chargers? - Try to visit any Sony Service center, or those listed on their site

Are you still satisfied with the phone? (02-11-2010) YES.

INFORMATION FROM OTHER USERS:

• From VJ: This is not a comment but more of an info to everybody who has been using My Phone Q21 for awhile.  I just experienced a problem on its screen display recently. It displayed vertical bars accross the whole screen which made it hard to read text messages then after a while of being idle, the screen becomes blank (white). I got this phone last Aug. 7, ‘09. The symptom of the problem started in Jan. 2 ‘10. I already planned to visit the service center though. I really loved this phone as it has performed according to my expectations and needs so far before this problem showed up.
• From MyMaria:  Sometimes when I take a picture, it gives an error that the photo can’t be saved… or something like that. they said it’s a hardware thing so they’ll just replace it… the thing is, we have to wait 2 months or so to order the camera parts… toink!

Tags: dual sim, My Phone q21, myphone, myphone duo, myphone q21, myphone qwerty

This entry was posted on Monday, September 14th, 2009 at 3:18 pm and is filed under Mobile Phones. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.