Xcute DV1

Design
One of our gripes about the DV1 is its bulky form factor. While the phone offers a comfortable fit when making calls, it is just a tad too thick for tight pockets and small handbags. We also can't help but notice that the 1-inch OLED external display is slightly slanted to the right. Whether this is intentional or a design requirement, the placement of the screen somehow gives the phone a lopsided look and feel.

That said, the phone design has its redeeming points. For a start, the DV's handling is similar to compact cameras such as the Samsung Miniket and Panasonic D-snap. A vertical grip, used together with the 270-degree swivel LCD, gives users a steady grasp of the handset when operating the camcorder and digital camera functions. A toggle button on the side of the phone also makes it easy to access the various functions without having to flip open the clamshell.

Unfortunately, the phone is ultimately let down by a less-than intuitive user interface. Take the toggle button. You can access the six functions only in sequence in a clockwise manner, meaning that if you accidentally pass the desired selection, you have to continue pressing the toggle button until it hits the correct function again.

Adjusting camera and camcorder shooting modes can be quite a challenge for first-timers as the controls are not intuitively labeled and the various options are somewhat split into too many different selections. The icons used aren't much help, either.

Coming to the keypad, here the keys are too flat, delivering insufficient tactile feedback. Navigating the phone's menu is also not as intuitive as we would have liked without the Enter key in the center of the four-way navigation button. The top row of two semi-oval buttons (the ones closest to the LCD) were also quite unresponsive at times.

Features
For all its design flaws, the DV1 makes up with a wide selection of multimedia functions. Touted as the world's first and smallest 3-megapixel GSM phone, the onboard camera can capture JPEG images up to 2,048 x 1,536 pixels. It's equipped with a 4x digital zoom, flash light and comes with shooting options including preset environment settings, white balance and self-timer. Those who want to add a touch of creativity to the image captures can choose among the preinstalled digital photo frames.

As a video camcorder, the DV1 captures VGA-quality footage at an impressive 30 frames per second. The recording time is limited only by the size of the memory capacity available. With support for MOV, AVI and ASF file formats, the Xcute clamshell can be used for watching videos and comes with a video-out option to connect to a TV.

Users listening to MP3 songs using the DV1's onboard music player will have a choice of six equalizer settings and using MP3 files as ringtones. The phone can also double as a voice recorder.

With so many different functions packed into the mobile, it's not surprising to see why an additional miniSD card slot is needed, on top of the 20MB built-in memory. Users can access both the miniSD card and onboard memory (as separate drives) when the phone is connected to the PC via the bundled USB cable.

Performance
We managed to clock almost two days worth of regular usage (inclusive of occasional MP3 playback and image captures) on the phone before the battery ran out of juice, which is quite impressive considering the various power-draining functions onboard. During the review period, we did not have any issues with voice calls and reception quality.

What impressed us most was the main LCD display. Capable of rendering up to 16.2 million colors, the 2-inch screen is probably one of the sharpest displays we've seen on a mobile phone so far. The onboard speakers did not disappoint, either, providing good volume range and clarity throughout, be it for MP3 and video playback or ringtone alerts.

While voice recordings tended to be slightly muffled, the video recordings were surprisingly smooth and clear. Despite a slight shutter lag as expected with most camera-phones, images captured were generally of above-average quality, except for indoor shots which appeared undersaturated at times.