Best among cheapest non-android phone – Nokia 108

Here I was burdened with the responsibility of searching a basic phone for my parents.

The set of specifications were pretty bare minimum-Average to good looking camera with Dual SIM, Music/Video Player, FM, (Namesake) Camera, QWERTY keypad preferred, no internet required.

With requirements crystal clear, I started hunting for the mobile.

Service of repute was an obvious prerequisite while searching given that I didn’t want my parents to go through the ordeal of taking rounds of service center in case something goes wrong.

Based on network of service centers in Delhi NCR, I drilled down to Nokia, Micromax, Karbonn, Lava as the only options. Spice, Videocon, Gionee and Intex were some other options which lagged behind on this aspect.

Having done an extensive research and after crosschecking all resources with user reviews, it all boiled down to these models (further pros/cons have been taken from various e-commerce websites):

• Lava Arc 12i  priced @ 1.2K –Issue with small font size and very ordinary speakers, Camera of little use
• Micromax X088 @ 1.3K – Dedicated right key for company promotion, a strict no if kids could get a handle of this
• Micromax Bolt X287 @ 1.4K – Poor battery backup, gets heated if on ear piece, not a bad buy if you are comfortable with the battery problem
• Karbon K53 @ 1.4K – New, Less explored
• Micromax X258 @ 1.5K – New, Less explored, good reviews
• Lava KKT 27i @ 1.55K – Good looking phone but has low battery life
• Karbon K81 @ 1.65K – Poor sound quality and call quality.
• Micromax X328 @ 1.7K – Poor/Low sound
• Nokia 108 @ 1.9K – Better camera quality and sound. Needs a SD card for camera photos, would effectively cost you 2.1K hence.

Of all the above models, I chose Nokia 108. The phone comes in red, white, black, cyan and yellow color options and one can swap the cover with another when bored. So far, I am reasonably satisfied with my choice with the exception of me having to buy a SD card further.

Pros:

• Excellent Battery life
• Both Loudspeaker and Ear phones sound is satisfactory
• Durable – Affords any user abuses
• Better service offerings from Nokia

Cons:

• Biggest of all, do bear in mind that in order to actually save any of your photos, you have to buy your own microSD card

Ratings:

Flipkart-4/5

Snapdeal-4/5

GsmArena-3/5

Please feel free to share your views if you have used any of the above budget model.

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Last Updated on October 14, 2014 by Go4Reviews