Verzio Skii: A dual-SIM phone with a lot of extras
NOBODY I’ve shown the Verzio Skii to can believe that this slim, dual-SIM touch-screen phone costs less than P5,000.
Visually, everything about the Skii from Verzio of Singapore—black piano finish, the brush metal back cover, chrome trim and one-centimeter profile—speaks of an expensive phone. That Verzio has managed to pack so many features into an attractive candy-bar phone that sells for only P4,990 is no mean feat.
The dual-band (GSM 900/1800) phone comes with a 2.2-inch LCD touch screen, a camera, a video recorder, a music player, two gigabytes of internal memory, Bluetooth support and a standard set of phone applications such as an organizer, a calculator and a currency converter, all accessible from an intuitive system of menus.
Despite all the bells and whistles, however, there is no doubt that the Skii’s ability to use two SIMs and have them both simultaneously active is what sets it apart from most other phones. This can be particularly attractive to people who normally carry two phones, each connected to a different network provider. But even those of us with less extensive contacts or hectic schedules can benefit from having two SIMs active, given how spotty network service can be. No Globe signal where you’re at? No problem. Send out a text message or make a call using your Smart SIM instead. With a dual-SIM phone like the Verzio Skii, it’s easy. Simply dial the number as you would on any other phone, then select from one of two “Send” buttons, to tell the Skii which SIM to use.
You can receive calls on either SIM. If a call comes in while you’re talking on one network, the second caller is put on hold, and you can switch back and forth between calls.
The Skii’s flashy interface gives the phone some extra pizazz without getting in the way of functionality. You can use the keypad to move around, or simply use the touch screen. A stylus that slides out from the right side of the phone gives you finer control if your fingers are too pudgy.
The on-screen “slide to unlock” feature is a cool way to unlock the keypad.
Like most phones, the Skii lets you do a fair amount of customizing: you can add or change wallpapers and ring tones by uploading them from a PC using the supplied USB cable. You’ll need the same cable to plug the phone into the charger. The phone also comes with an extra lithium ion battery and stereo earphones.
As cool as the Verzio Skii looks on first blush, be aware that at this price, there are real limitations.
Because the Skii is a dual-band phone, you won’t be able to roam if you bring it to the United States. You probably don’t want to use the phone as a Web browser, either, because it doesn’t support faster 3G networks. (Other Verzio models are tri-band and support 3G but don’t match the Skii’s slim profile.)
The interface, while friendly enough, could be improved. For example, there are no message options from the SMS inbox. To delete all your messages, you need to open one of them first, then choose Delete All from the Options menu. There’s also no way to mark messages for deletion from the inbox; you need to open then delete them one by one.
To change ring tones, you don’t go to Settings as you’d expect, but to a separate menu item, Profiles. While you can add and use your favorite songs as a ring tone, the Skii doesn’t seem to allow you to use the same files as message alert tones, which is a bit of a disappointment.
Finally, don’t expect to snap award-winning photos with the VGA camera. Picture quality is what you’d expect from entry-level camera phones.
Notwithstanding these limitations, the Verzio Skii offers great value for money, giving you much more in terms of functionality and visual appeal than similarly priced phones in the market. At this price, you can’t get much better than the Verzio Skii.
Pros:
• Dual-SIM capability
• Handsome, high-quality finish with slim design
• Great price
Cons:
• Only dual band
• Supports GPRS but not 3G
• VGA camera
Available at Verzio concept stores at Bonifacio High Street in Global City, Taguig and the Festival Supermall in Alabang, Muntinlupa.
