The EX109 is one of the four Dual SIM QWERTYs on the market by Motorola. At Rs 3500 it’s one of the cheapest Dual SIM phone out there. The phone features a standard QWERTY design with a 5 way D-pad, two menu buttons and a the usual call / end keys. No, dedicated volume buttons and a Micro USB port for connectivity. A 3.5 mm audio jack is on the top, complimenting a loud loudspeaker on the back. They QWERTY keys are round and large enough, but, not as crisp. The over plasticky feel of the keyboard would slow you down.
The display on the EX109 is just 2″ and that’s a little too small for a lot of things. Readability of text and viewability of images, both suffer due to this. 176 x 220 resolution is real low! When compared to the E119, the E109 is fat at 12.8mm, but at this price point, we can’t take that as a deal breaker. Weight remains the same as E119, impressive 87 gms.
The operating system is as ordinary as any other non smartphone at this price point, but we feel that the Nokia X2-01 makes a bigger impact with S40. Dual-SIM operation on the EX109 is same as most phones in this range, one SIM can make an active call at a time while both get reception when in standby.
The E109 is cheap, yet fully featured. It can manage video recording / playback, FM with recording as well as scheduling, Opera Mini, Java apps etc. The music output distorts a little at full volume and thats expected given the fact that the output is louder than an average mobile phone. Connecting a Micro USB cable enabled easy file transfers via mass storage mode.
The phone features a basic 2MP camera that gives a very average output (samples below). The video output isn’t impressive either, but at this price point, we let you judge the quality.
Camera Samples:
Video Sample:
Video Preview:
Dual SIM operations would be your main motivation to pick up an EX109 and that is backed up by a light weight / small design and a QWERTY form factor. Not the best of hardware and features, apart from the Dual SIM the E109 would get tough competition from Nokia X2-01 retailing at Rs 3390. If not for the Dual SIM factor, the EX109 is a very ordinary device.
