When we hear of Malaysian made products, we usually think it is not that good in quality compared to products from overseas.
Nevertheless, I was eager to try out whether the statement holds true for Malaysian made mobile phones by CSL.
I bought a DS110 about a month ago and after using it for that period, there are some pros and cons to it.
Pros
The phone has quite a nice and simple design.
With buttons comfortable for people with big hands and a screen (2.2”) with large enough fonts, this phone seems good enough to cater for beginners and senior citizens.
The phone supports Chinese, English and Malay languages.
Battery life is not an issue here.
On normal usage, just taking calls and SMS, it took about a week to finish the battery.
However, it took me three days with intensive music usage using the supplied handsfree set.
The speakers were of decent quality and loud enough (or maybe too loud at times) and the sound recorder is quite clear too.
It also has an FM radio if you get bored with songs stored on your microSD card.
Not forgetting to mention that you can change songs by shaking your phone when playing MP3s and also Bluetooth connectivity.
There are also Islamic features which I don’t use at all.
Strangely enough, there is also a dice game where you shake the phone to shake the dice and also a lottery result subscription from the CSL fun club section.
The web browser on the phone uses GPRS and is quite simple to use although don’t expect heavy sites to load on this phone.
On another note, the phone supports dual SIM which is ideal during roaming so that you won’t have to carry 2 phones to travel in which you can disable the SIM that you are not using from the phone menu.
There is also a Facebook shortcut if you ever find the need to update your status.
Cons
If you expect heavy image and video usage, DO NOT consider this phone.
The camera resolution on the phone is very low (352X288=0.1megapixels) and the shutter sound CANNOT be disabled (and freaking loud) and you have to hold the camera for 3 seconds AFTER the shutter sound to get a good image.
The video payer is even worst, the video taken is much more blury and slow and the sound recorded is not as good as the one from the sound recorder feature.
The phone only has one port for charging and handfree in which the supplied charger connects to a USB port but CANNOT transfer any files which is very weird.
If you like to swap memory cards often, SKIP this phone too as you need to take out your battery to remove it.
Conclusion
This phone is good for those who are starting to use mobile phones like small kid and senior citizens due to its easy menu navigation and large screen and buttons.
However, for the experienced user, this phone fails miserably at the camera and video recording section and you can’t even transfer using USB. Thank god there is Bluetooth.
Consider this phone if you go overseas for dual SIM and also due to its simple design, most people would not think of stealing from you.
Overall verdict: 3 out of 5 for basic usage, MP3 functions and Dual SIM.
