Phicomm Passion P660 – Review
There is no dearth of mid-range smartphones in the Indian market and this segment has accommodated a new player. It’s the Phicomm P660. Phicomm is a Chinese company based out of Shanghai, Beijing, Nanjing and Shenzhen. They also have their bases established in Munich and San Francisco. The company was established in 2009 and has shown intense signs of growth since then. The Phicomm Passion P660 launched in India, is their hero mobile to breach into this tight segment. This mobile is priced at Rs 10999 and is available exclusively through Amazon in India.
Design
The moment I opened the box and held the mobile, I felt that its very light in weight. I wasn’t sure if the battery was in it or not. But then the light weight of 110 grams includes the battery weight as well and I was pleasantly surprised. It is thin at 7.4mm and the display is a 5 inch display. The screen is a full HD display with 441 ppi density. The back of the mobile has 13 MP camera with a single LED flash. There is also a mic for recording audio. The back also has the mono speaker grill. The right side of the mobile has a power button and the dual sim slots. Sim 1 can hold micro SIM and the slot accepts a 4G sim while the Sim 2 is just a 2G slot. The Sim 2 can double as a nano SIM card slot of a microSD expansion slot. The left side has the volume rockers. Micro USB slot and telephony mic is at the bottom while the 3.5 mm audio jack is at the top. The front facing camera is a 5 MP camera. The android menu keys are not backlit. It is available in Black and White color and the one we got for review is the white color. I must say that I liked the design. The light weight of the mobile does not give it a sturdy feel, but it definitely is a solid construction. The bezels at the top and bottom are large and ugly while this may not look as bad in a black mobile. The material used is unibody plastic on six sides and the left and right gets a metal strip. The buttons have a metal finish. Overall, it’s a impressive design and robust construction. Display was not great under direct sunlight. But on indoors, the mobile had good brightness and contrast levels. Black levels were average and the color reproduction was natural.
Under the hood
Phicomm Passion 660 is powered by a 1.5 GHz octa core Snapdragon 615 processor (MSM8939) with 2 GB RAM and 16 GB internal storage. It also has Adreno 405 processor for graphics. We talked about the limited capabilities of the hybrid SIM slot which doubles as a microSD card slot earlier. Around 13.5 GB is available for the user out of the 16 GB. Sadly it does not support USB OTG. Phicomm Passion P660 runs on an outdated Android 4.4.4 kitkat with a custom UI skin on top called the Expect UI. There is no word from Phicomm about the dates for upgrading the P660 to Lollipop. Unlike the other Chinese mobile UI, the Expect UI has an app drawer. The Expect UI is close to native Android experience. It has a few apps installed and the visual design of the settings and notification areas are different from native Android. But it was missing the multi-tasking UI to switch between apps. The UI was fast and snappy and I have no complaints apart from the missing multi-tasking window. The mobile handles graphic intensive games with ease. It scored over 30695 on the Antutu benchmark test, which is pretty impressive. The 615 processor does a very good job of keeping the heat down and performance high in the Phicomm P660.
Camera
Phicomm P660 has a 13 MP rear camera and a 5 MP front facing camera. For a price of Rs 11k, the camera on the mobile is good enough. The camera UI is very basic. There are a few effects and 5 shooting modes. There is no pro mode, which is a standard in mobiles these days. Also the HDR mode is called the Sunset mode. Focusing is fast but a bit fidgety. The background bokeh is just ok and the colors appear faded. The camera does not impress me and it appears very rudimentary.
Battery
The devices is powered by a 2300 mAh battery which is very small for a mobile with HD display. During my days with the review unit, it lasted for a little over 10 hours of normal usage. When I leave home at 9, the charge is 100 percent and just like my energy level when I return home at around 7pm, the charge is completely down.
Final Verdict
I would not call the Phicomm P660 a completely disappointing mobile. It did surprise me in the performance department. It is also a good looking device. It has a very lack luster camera and a mediocre battery performance. But given its light weight, sturdy and stylish construction, the P660 cannot be completely dismissed. If you extend you budget a bit, you can own the Moto G 3rd generation or even the Xiaomi Mi4i with an awesome camera. If you have a very tight budget and need a 4G device with a full HD display that performs well and looks stylish, the Phicomm P660 is the one i would recommend for you.
Incase you were wondering about the service backup, Passion 660 has introduced around 107 service centers across more than 100 cities in India. There are no exclusive stores, but multi brand service centers across the nation have been employed to provide pick up and drop services in many cities. These centers would help you with minor issues, but incase you require a major repair done, Phicomm would replace the defective unit with an SLA of 7-10 working days, provided your mobile is under warranty.
Phicomm TOLL free customer care number: 180030000644
Email: Service.in@phicomm.com
Buy it here
