Micromax GC400

Overview

Decent Mid-range Bar Phone

Overview of Micromax GC400

Micromax GC400 is a twin-SIM bar phone manufactured by Micromax, one of India’s largest Telecom companies. This mid-range phone operates on both GSM and CDMA networks.

Micromax GC400 Design and Build Quality

Micromax GC400 looks rather plain and unexciting and it appears Micromax paid more attention to its form and function at the expense of the phone’s aesthetics. Its body has a dull all-black color. The phone weighs 103g, which is quite heavy for a phone. It measures 115.1 x 50.6 x 14.7 mm. It has a high-resolution 2.2-inch TFT screen capable of displaying 256K colors at a resolution of 240 x 320 Pixels (182 ppi pixel density).The phone’s alpha-numeric keys seem to be bundled up at the phone’s lower third body length. Micromax GC400 operates on a 1000mAh Li-ion battery that delivers 6 hours of talk time (GSM network) or 5.3 hours (CDMA network) and 180 hours standby time. The phone is one of the few that can operate on both GSM900 (1800 MHZ) and CDMA (800MHz) networks-the latter being the more prevalent network in North America.

User Interface and Comfort to Use Micromax GC400

Micromax GC400 has a plain no frills easy-to-use interface. It is noteworthy that its TFT display screen has a resolution more common in high-end Smartphones (182 ppi). One can extend its inbuilt memory using a 2GB microSD Memory Card

Telephone and Phonebook

Micromax GC400 can support 1000 phonebook entries and store up to 500 SMSs.

Messaging and Email

This phone supports both SMS and MMS messaging platforms. However, it does not support email.

Gallery and Photo Viewer and Video Player

Micromax GC400 comes with an average-quality video camera that bears a digital zoom that is able to record videos.

Micromax GC400 Music Player and FM Radio

This phone comes with an average-quality music player and stereo FM Radio. Audio output is in several formats such as MP3, WA, AMR, and MIDI.

Micromax GC400 Camera and Image Quality

Micromax GC400 has a 2 Megapixels 1600x1200 Pixels primary camera that gives average quality photos.

Micromax GC400 Connectivity Options

The connectivity options for Micromax Q1 include:

• GPRS
• EDGE
• Bluetooth
• USB

The phone supports Java.

Organizer and Other Utility Tools

Micromax GC400 comes with all standard organizer tools such as Calendar, Currency Converter, Calculator, 12 Hour and 24 Hour World Clock as well as other standard features.

Web Browser and Applications

Micromax GC400 operates on 2G internet speeds and uses a WAP 2.0/HTML browser. There are a number of pre-loaded games available.

Google Maps and GPS

Micromax GC400 has neither Google Maps nor GPS.

Distinctive Features of Micromax GC400

This phone comes with a3-D Light Messenger. It also offers support for Java, which is not very common in mid-range phones.

Value for Money

Micromax GC400 retails at an average price of Rs 3,380 (approx., may vary).

Verdict

Micromax GC400 is quite a decent mid-range bar phone that boasts a high-resolution display screen and offers support for Java, two features more common in higher end phones. As one of the few phones that can operate on both GSM and CDMA networks, it is useful when travelling to countries that rely almost entirely on CDMA, for example, North American. The lack of email support does not seem to make a lot of sense since the phone comes with a web browser. There are also concerns that video and audio quality is somewhat less than satisfactory. The phone’s 2G internet speeds means that internet access as well as downloads can be disconcertingly slow at times.