Design and Looks
The DS 100 Active is one good-looking phone! When this phone debuted overseas, it was an all black boxy looking thing that failed to invoke 'ahhs' and 'ooohs'. But the version of the phone selling here is the same black boxy looking thing with a chrome accent at the borders which completely transforms the phone from a frumpy handset to a classic beauty. The outer surfaces make use of rough plastic and the phone's build is tough. It's nice to know that even the most basic model in the Fly portfolio is not without style. The phone's front incorporates a rainy low-res 1.44” CSTN display. It's poor in terms of sunlight legibility and brightness but it's alright for this segment. But what really hurts is that there is ample space available for a larger screen, say, up to 2-inches. Admirably, this little screen is able to display as many as five lines of text at a time.
The controls below the phone belong to a single-rubber unit that includes the D-pad, call/end soft keys and the alphanumeric keypad. In terms of ergonomics it's not as good as the controls on the DS 150 and that's sad. They are hard to press although they offer decent touch-orientation thanks to the grooves between the various keys. As a token the keys are large and well spaced out and the nav-pad has a confirming centre in the middle- something that is rare on basic phones. There is also a second call answer/dial button for the second SIM. Keypad lighting is in blue and is even and strong. Finally, at the bottom of the phone we see a strong flashlight. This placement is definitely odd but we feel it goes well with the 'Talk and see' function of the phone that lets you see ahead (as the flashlight will point that way) when you talk on the phone.
The phone's UI sports one-icon navigation and is one of the most creative and pleasant looking user interfaces that we have ever seen. One of the phone's features is 'Hello India' which changes the user interface and message editor language to Hindi. The phone, as suggested before is Dual SIM capable. At the homescreen we see two signal bars and two operator logos. At any given time, one SIM is active and the other is passive. But when the active SIM is in use that is during a call, the passive one gets switched off as there is only one radio module- it's only because of the unique chipset that the two SIMs can be operated simultaneously in partial stand-by modes. It must be noted that among the two SIM slots, there is neither a master nor a slave slot. There is only slot-1 and 2. Although for convenience you may stick your most frequently used SIM in slot 1 as both cards have separate call receive buttons.
While most basic dual-SIM phones do not really offer anything much more than dual-SIM facility, you'll be surprised to know that the Fly is pretty loaded with other odds and ends. And the first on the list is FM radio with broadcast recording. Radio reception is good but this is definitely no Sony-Ericsson R300. There is also an mp3 player (!) with memory expandability (!!). Don't rely on it solely because options are little and sound quality is once again nowhere close to even low-end Sony Ericssons. Not surprisingly, transferring music into the card cannot be done in mass-storage mode (there is none) but must be done via a card reader. Both music player and the FM radio can be played in the background. This phone has a good battery life even with two SIMs inserted- this maybe because the phone's display consumes low-power.
As you can clearly see, this is another reliable phone from an underrated manufacturer. We agree the screen could've been bigger and the media features could do with better audio output but then again this basic phone that offers more than its price would suggest.
Features
- Simple and attractive design
- Dual SIM standy
- GPRS connectivity with WAP 2.0 browser
- FM radio
- Mp3 player with memory expandability up to 2GB
- Creative and good looking user interface
- ‘Hello India’ Hindi language support
- Torch with ‘Talk and see’
- Great battery life
