As an introduction, I’ll tell you a little workshop secret: not so long ago, if not bloody, but on some level we still had a discussion about whether there was still a demand for traditional phones. 

Well, I was of the opinion that yes, these devices will never go extinct, no matter how ridiculous an amount we can buy a smartphone these days - let’s say again, it could be a matter of debate what kind of user experience we get from an entry-level model. It is no longer difficult to guess from this, my colleague s3nki represented the counter-camp, according to him, there is no laurel here that does not run with the smart marker. As the days of a gun duel on the main street at noon and the characters and arguments are over, we have come to the point where it is time to step into the field of deeds instead of word-threshing! 

History

So, in order to dissect the question / question in question (“is there still a need for traditional telephones?”), It will be necessary to find a suitable telephone, without which, according to the current state of science, it is not possible to take a telephone test - or after Jenő Rejtő. Of course, the good price was a priority again this time, in addition, I wanted to get a “versatile” copy as much as possible, and later I will explain why. I caught my eye on a fairly fresh model, although a maneuver like this always carries some risk, as after 5-10 customer reviews, the thing has a very baggy character. There is no victory without risk - whatever that means in this situation - so the Ioutdoor T1 has been added to the cart.

Full specification

External

What can we expect from a traditional phone? Well, it depends a lot on exactly what number we see on the price tag; it was $ 29,99 for our current hero on Gearbest. With so much money, there are undoubtedly a few candidates at home as well, so it is definitely necessary to show some extras that will stand out from the crowd. At first glance, Ioutdoor T1 reveals the waistline of its capabilities; due to its IP68 protection, the device is fully protected against dust and can be used continuously under water due to its IP30 protection - in principle, it can withstand a depth of 1,5 meters for 2,0 minutes. Mechanical strength also looks promising, it can withstand falls from any angle up to a height of 1 meters - supposedly. Its design is at least quite convincing, the black-and-red color gives it a really sleek look, and the T150's grip is also quite good - let's say there's something to catch on. By implication, the fiberization did not go away without a trace in other areas either, the weight of the stuff is almost 13,20 grams, it cannot be called a trifle in any way: 6,27 × 1,88 × XNUMX cm.

The rugged, sharp-lined front features a 2,4-inch, 320 × 240 pixel (QVGA) display. It was a surprisingly quality piece, readable even in sunlight, even with a screen protector - a little attention, but I liked it. Being a silly phone, the T1 has a push button, the existence of the durable phone can be felt on it here as well, because the buttons have to be pressed on it with very decent force. As usual, the lights can be activated with the 0 key, and the power button can be used to reject the call, so everything is in place in this area.

The back cover was unexpectedly exciting, at least it definitely feels like they wanted to smuggle some life into it: a gigantic two-screw battery cover, a “2,0” megapixel camera, flash, speaker, and a flashy logo. We’re going to have to install the ax, and it’s sure to be a bit more difficult operation than we’re used to today; the cover has been rubber insulated due to IP68, in a word we will have to press the phone with pretty good action. One tip: throw the included screwdriver very quickly, very far, because it guarantees torment! The T1 can accept dual SIM microSD cards up to 32 GB in size, with the back side secured by exactly 10 screws.

Internal

The soul of the stuff is a MediaTek MTK6261A CPU, which is theoretically ticking at 533 MHz. The chip often appears in smartwatches, which evokes pleasant and frightening thoughts at the same time - consumption and performance. According to the manufacturer, the size of the RAM is 128 MB and the ROM is 32 MB, for us both values ​​are quite suspicious, but after all, this is not really a meat cutter for a device like this. What is certain is that it is worth inserting at least one smaller memory card, as the free “storage” size is 6-7 MB. By the way, whatever resides in the stuff, the T1 reacts to everything in a matter of seconds according to its order and manner, and turning it on and off is literally a matter of seconds.

Szoftver

One of the most shaky points (after the camera) is practically nothing worth the right iron if the system that processes it is not at the height of the situation. The situation in this field can be said to be quite good overall, obviously there were some minor bumps. The menu system has a 4 × 3 layout and consists of the following items:

• Phonebook
• Messaging
• Call center
• Camera
• Multimedia
• Player
• file Manager
• User profiles
• Organizer
• Fun and games
• Beállítások
• Services

The Hungarian translation is almost complete, there are only a few places where we can meet English texts. There is automatic call recording, the FM radio works without a earpiece (!), There is also an alarm clock (adjustable to 5 times), a calculator, music player, image viewer, world clock, calendar and an eye game (a more modern design of the Snake). Animations and unnecessary stuff nowhere - yet it would be a work machine - in my opinion, the menu system is guaranteed to be familiar / familiar after a maximum of 2-3 days. It seems quite clear that they wanted to fill the available screen space in any case, one or the other menu was not unreasonably classified - e.g. the logical location of the “Player” would be under “Multimedia” and not in the main menu. It’s a little weird at first, but it’s easy to get used to because rejecting a call also serves to activate the keypad lock.

Some little things where superficial testing feels like: e.g. the snooze function loses the time settings if the phone is switched off on a timed basis - the alarm still works - the volume control of the FM radio could be fine-tuned, the camera was factory-tuned to the lowest picture quality and the hotkeys (function assignment to the first five buttons ) and I could not work at all. Auto power on and off works, I just don't really understand why you play the ringtone before every time you turn it off? In this way, unfortunately, we cannot set the phone to switch off at night and back in the morning, as it also functions as an alarm, in which there will obviously be no thanks in the middle of the night.

Camera

Yes, but it wouldn't. Take it that there isn't! I hope you are not just after food, as these images are guaranteed to be stomach-turning - click at your own risk! It is indisputable that the 2,0 megapixel resolution can be achieved by interpolation, but there are no words for what is seen. I seriously thought I was making up some sort of setting, maybe pulling on the oil painting effect, because that’s how it’s a joke in this form. There’s nothing to beautify the thing, Ioutdoor is miserable at this point. 

After the above, I simply can’t find an explanation as to why the manufacturer still placed the flash on the back panel. Yes, you read that, this “HD camera” was backlit. Undoubtedly, so that so at night we can shoot good pictures… sarcasm mode out. No problem, it will definitely be good for a flashlight. Well, no, because we can only use the LED on the top of the T1 for this purpose.

Out of curiosity, I also shot a few pictures with the factory settings, which provided the lowest picture quality available… then I deleted them because humanity is not ready for that yet.

Use and summary

The gigantic battery is well-tested, depending on the standby time used, it can be somewhere around 3-4 weeks (!) - when running between 0 and 100%, maybe even a little more can be brought out. It is worth noting that e.g. on Gearbest you will also see devices that are fitted with a much larger axi on paper than our present hero. There is nothing surprising about this, as the manufacturers at this point are very prone to big talk, I show my personal favorite below! 

How much reality do you think this could be for a $ 22 phone? In any case, Ioutdoor didn’t go into this bullshit, the uptime still speaks for itself.

There are no problems with the sound quality, the speakers are strong enough - of course it tends to be distorted when pushed into a cob - the built-in antenna of the T1 is really excellent, I didn't find anything to complain about the quality of the calls, so it jumps hard. Bluetooth also worked well for data transfer (the DG530 and MacaW TX-80 presented earlier were also superbable with it), but its range is only around 5-6 meters. It is commendable that the display is quite easy to read even in the open air, for me personally the pressure point of the buttons is a bit too hard, but for a hand worker it is probably just perfect.

So what did we get with the Ioutdoor T1? A sympathetic strapamobile that "returns" to us with almost perfect Hungarianness. There are questionable solutions in the field of software (snooze, beep on auto-off, time zone update can disturb your “soul world”), and the camera reinforces the forgetful category to a great extent, but we really said all the bad things about it during the months of testing. . It is a great pity for the omitted power bank function, because in this way the versatility would have improved, but at the same time the overall picture can be taken abundantly. In our opinion, the T1 may be a good choice for those who for some reason only want to move on the traditional line, due to its reinforced structure and pleasantly sized battery, we believe that there will be no bumps in terms of its reliability. The fact that it was easy to use with a wireless headphone and also a cordless speaker made you think that here is the FM radio, which works unusually without plugging in the earpiece. So the thing is, you can use the stuff as a portable music player with a sufficiently large SD card, and in the absence of that, the radio is still there. Personally, I definitely like the device, but it’s a matter of individual judgment as to how close your software flaws and tiny immaturity can be. For me, these didn’t cause sleepless nights, so the T1 stayed with me. This is beneficial for you in the sense that I can easily answer the questions that arise, and it is good for me because I have had another puff.

Now let us return to the starting point; is there still a demand for traditional phones? I think with some extra features (Bluetooth, radio, music player, voice recorder, lamp, etc.) yes, but it will be best and most authentic if you answer this after studying the lines above! For my part, I wanted to share this with you:

The Ioutdoor T1 is currently available for purchase on Gearbest (click on the picture!) For only $ 32,28 (on sale!). If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask!