Zen M26, India's first shortcut multimedia mobile phone review

The Indian mobile market has seen a slew of mobile phones over the past years. Aided by the booming economy and a rise in the disposable income, mobile phones have transcended from being a mere tool for communication to your personal man friday that sorts, searches and simples your daily chores. The growth in the sector has seen several new domestic brands as well as international brands flood the market with the latest gadgets.

While most of the companies tend to target all segments of the market - entry, mid and high end, one of the popular mobile brands in India Zen Mobile has continued to remain in the entry level segment. However while the company's focus is on users looking for the most basic handsets, their products contradict the price tags they come with.

The mobile company that derives its name from the  word “CITIZEN”, Zen Mobile's quality products combined with technologically advanced features are therefore no surprise a hit among entry level users. At know your mobile's office Zen's latest model M26, touted as India's first multimedia phone with shortcut keypad stopped by recently. To our delight we found the M26 quite stylish and sleek coupled with numerous quick options for the shortcut lovers. Before we give you a in-depth look at this shortcut specialist mobile phone lets take a quick look at some of its features.

 
Boasting of 8 shortcut keys, a qwerty look to its traditional alphanumeric keys, Zen M26 sports a 2" QVGA display, a 1.3 mega-pixel camera along with a digital zoom to capture distant objects with clarity. Zen M26 comes with a dual SIM and GSM capability and offers a 3.5mm audio jack, Bluetooth, USB connector, GPRS and WAP. For multimedia, it supports music player with MP3 music format, video player with MP4 and 3GP, wireless FM radio, speakers and telescopic antenna. In addition the device contains JAVA, Torch, Flight mode settings, alarm clock and Mp3, MIDI ringtones.

The  Zen M26 package consists of user manual, battery, standard charger, handsfree kit, service guide, and a user guide.

The Zen M26 sports a candybar form and is available in the market in two colors - black with grey undertones and white with creamish undertones. M26 comes in a  attractive boxed packaging that showcases the M26 and its 8 shortcut keys on the front along with their brand ambassador Amitabh Bachchan.

Zen M26 surprisingly gives a good impression, specially for a product priced under Rs 3000. At first glance, Zen M26 give the appearance of a qwerty look, which almost makes you jump. But then on the second look you find that it's a camouflage and behind the qwerty look are hidden the traditional alphanumeric keys. The white color of the phone contrasts well with the creamy pink color of the keypad and the shortcut key buttons. The numbers further have a grey background, which makes them pop out.

The device overall is quite strong and sturdy. Even though the material is plastic, the phone is anything but flimsy in look and feel. The use of metal on the main navigation menu in the centre and the neighboring buttons add a little frill of glamor to the phone. On the left and right side of the phone, users will find 8 dedicated shortcut keys. On the left hand side you will find shortcut keys to messaging, FM, video player and calendar while camera, music, bluetooth and torch light keys sit on the right.

The main navigation button in the middle, comes in handy for seamless navigation across various functions in the phone. Two side buttons sit next to the main navigation button - on the right hand you will find a 'back' button while the other one is the main menu button.

You can also access your message box and compose messages, send texts on the go by pressing the middle navigation button. Just below this you will find the usual call and disconnect buttons.

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