Tech-Com T-21 Review

By Vinod Yalburgi

07-01-2011

Vinod Yalburgi

Digit Rating: Average

3/5

Features:

Performance:

Value:

Design:

PROS

Very affordable
Lightweight design
3.5mm audio jack

CONS

Mediocre loudspeaker
No Bluetooth and camera

MRP: 1500

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Summary

Bundled with features like personal data security, full length movie-playback, LED torch and 3.5mm audio jack, the T-21 makes a strong statement as one of the cheapest dual SIM, value for money cellphones in the market today. At Rs. 1500, it makes a great buy; if you can overlook its shoddy keypad & poor ergonomics.

Review

T-21 is a lightweight (weighing just 76 grams) dual SIM, basic multimedia phone which also happens to be Techcom's flagship mobile lurking in the Indian market. It is coated with a matte black finish on the front & rear panels, while a red strip decorates the body contours. The navigation control dial comprises a centre select button coated in matte black finish, which is enclosed by a red squared strip that represents the four-directional navigation key.

The T-21 incorporates a 3.5mm audio jack on the left, a USB power port on the right and the LED torch at the top. The colour coding of T-21 is identical to the Micromax's X250, which also incorporates black with red colour pattern. Also, the design aesthetics of the navigational control are quite similar to each other. That should not sound like just a coincidence, as both the cellphones are dual SIMs. The only features separating the two are: Bluetooth and the integrated camera which are missing on the T-21.

However, we could forgive the T-21, as it is one of the cheapest dual SIMs available in the market today at Rs. 1500; while the Micromax X250 is priced a little higher at Rs. 2500 (street prices might be much lower). The X250 misses out on the 3.5mm audio jack, while it is the strong point of the T-21 making it a better multimedia cellphone. T-21 is rated to play a full three hour length (200MB) movie without any hiccups, while being the flagship MP4/3GP video player champ in the low budget category (under Rs. 1500).

Techcom T-21

Incorporating hard touch keys, the T-21 looks and feels rugged. However, it results in poor tactile feedback forcing the user to press the keys harder for registering the input successfully. The slow response time to display the user input makes typing even more cumbersome & straining to the fingers. Overall, the shoddy keypad design aesthetics and poor ergonomics happen to be the biggest drawbacks for such a value for money cellphone. However, the menu interface is neat and well organized.

Read on to know the performance, our take, specifications, ratings and performance test results in the next page...