November last year, Verzio launched two dual-SIM mobile phones in the Philippines. One is the 3G capable Duplii and the other is the stylus touting Twinn. This month, I got to extensibly check out the Verzio Duplii for several weeks and here’s what I think about it.
What’s inside the box? You have the phone, the charger, a USB cable, earphones, a CD installer and 2 batteries. Phones that come with an extra/spare battery gets plus points in my book. The Verzio PC Suite is a simple program you install to manage your phone via the computer or laptop.
Those of you who are used to most Nokia models will find the Duplii quite a familiar design and layout. The keypads are laid out normally in the usual grid layout except for the space key which is placed in the middle right corner — needs getting used to. The T9 Predictive Text feature is also very annoying and I couldn’t find a way to turn it off permanently.
The sockets for the SIM cards are found at the back, just beneath the slot for the battery. The first slot on the left is designated SIM1 and the second slot on the right is SIM2. You can just insert a single SIM module for it to work but if you placed 2, you will still have the option to activated either one or both (online or offline) during boot-up or by pressing the power button halfway. This is a crucial feature for dual-sim phones, IMO. The 2MP camera works just fine but I was wondering if that plastic cover needs to be removed or is really there for protecting the tiny lens.
The interface is nice and appealing with animated flash-based screen wallpaper to boot. So is the navigation menu — it’s well thought out with some nifty eye-candy but remains simple. You can choose between the standard grid menu or the slide menu style. In the Settings, you can also choose which SIM you want as the primary number and will serve the the number used when calling out. When sending SMS though, you will always be prompted to select which SIM to use every time you select “Send”.
Though this model is 3G capable, I had a hard time configuring it with either Smart or Globe. My guess is that the telcos don’t have the settings ready OTA and you may need to bring the unit to one of their wireless centers. Likewise, the Verzio Snap Dialer that comes with the PC Tools is confusing (or I’m just totally unfamiliar with it) so I didn’t bother hooking the laptop to the phone to dial up to the internet.
It’s hard to determine how much internal memory this has but a quick glance at the settings shows you can squeeze up to 1,000 contacts. An external SD card can extend storage space though. There’s Bluetooth and an active mini USB port (which means you can charge the phone thru it too). There’s no IR port anywhere, just a dedicated volume control and a camera switch.
Despite the shortcomings, the Verzio Duplii achieved its main purpose — an affordable and very functional dual-sim phone that most multiple-phone users will surely like.
Update: Suggested retail price (SRP) for the Duplii is P14,990 while the Twinn is P11,990.
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San to available Yugs? And how much..
Interesting gadget huh. Samsung has its own version of the Dual Sim phone too, its the D880, kaya lang its USD 700 daw.
How about other features like: infrared, bluetooth, mp3 uploading/downloading and the size of the memory card (mini/micro po ba)? and how much nga po pala yung price nya?
This is good for OFW. Sonce most of us use. Roaming and International Numbers
i like the 3d menus on it.
Sana hindi MTK ang OS……
What’s the price range of the Verzio Duplii?
^ last time i checked, it was around 14k.
uhm, does anyone know if we can create extra sms folders, like that in nokia phones?
Updated my post with the SRP.
@ akeli, nope you can’t add any more folders.
wow this is nice. i’d like to have one too. thanks for sharing ka yuga.
Good Review Abe… there’s some mis-spellings on the post though. “What’s inside the box? You can the phone, ” , will still have an option to activated either one or both”
that phone looks like n82!anyway, you can now withdraw funds from your paypal to your philippine bank account read the the article
@chrismo, thanks for pointing that out.
one thing to look for sa mga dual sim phones is kung kayang 2 sims active at the same time. how easy would it be to switch from one sim to another when texting or calling.
from what i heard, yung sa samsung daw you have to reset it para makapili what sim would you be using.
ganda ng phone kaso mdami na din nglalabasan na phone na dual sim made in china din pero mganda ang 3d menu ng phone.
this is cool, well for a non-techie person like me. thanks for the info. im actually looking for a new phone to replace my 2 cellphones which isn’t so expensive. the only worry i have is the camera.. does it take nice pictures? my N70 kasi is ok na eh, pag maganda ang ilaw i don’t have to edit my photos so much anymore.
It is using Qualcomm/Philips NXP OS.
Unlike the Samsung D880, this is truly a dual active, dual standby phone.
Its camera is true value non-interpolated 2MP, unlike all, I mean ALL Chinese dual SIM phones incl. Myphone which are 30K VGA interpolated to 1.3-2MP.
Thanks, nice review. When and where will it be available in Singapore? Thanks.
can i use the duplii in japan and korea?
i got one.. so far i like it.. the only thing i dont like is that if you are in a hurry to send a message sometime you send it thru the wrong sim! hehehe
How easy is it to switch between sims? do you have to reboot the phone like the one of samsung d880?
Also, does it have the same resolution and 3D menu as the twinn?
i have one Duplii and i found it interesting . Here’s my comment. The “ñ” is not one of the characters. In my phonebook which I place my old sim card to it. I found out that the surnames that requires ñ is blank. As well in texting, still it is not one of the characters.
As one of the newest cellphone and brand, I found difficulty in which i cant find the application and downlable items that is compatible to my phone.
laging error when i try to access wap >.<
pls help
other than that..wala ka mairereklamo sa duplii XD
Dunsh,
The Samsung D880 does not have to reboot to select sims, you can use a button on the side to select which sim is used for outgoing voice or sms. It is really cool.
The D880 is a great dual sim implementation, the only real limitation of the D880 is that only 1 sim slot is GSM1900 compliant for use in USA.
Dude, you owe it to yourself to learn T9 - it’s not hard at all, just switch T9 on and tap away. You have no idea how easy entering text becomes. I can’t imagine typing in this comment from my phone otherwise
Verzio duplii now is 12,990 and Twin Dual sim for only 9,990 at any VERZIO CONCEPT SHOP. High street bonifacio taguig and Alabang Festival Mall. also available at any dealer
THE PLASTIC WHICH HAS AN EXCESS ON THE SIDE (FOR EASY PEELING) IS OBVIOUSLY FOR PROTECTION WHILE THE PHONE IS STILL UNSOLD…BUT OF COURSE YOU SHOULD REMOVE IT IN ORDER TO GET BETTER PICTURES…NO WONDER WHY YOU SAID UMIMPRESSIVE CAMERA HEHEHHEHEHE
hi, can i check if its supports chinese sms capability (receiving and sending) and the 3g works with any country’s 3g sim card (i’m from singapore to be specific). appreciate your reply. many thanks!
Yep, it has Chinese pinyin and stroke texting capabilities.
It has 3G, although I noticed that only SIM-1 gets the 3G signal.
As for WAP surfing, the assigned primary SIM (whether SIM-1 or SIM-2) will be the one used for mobile browsing, so the browser profile needs to match that SIM (ex., if Globe SIM, then Globe browser profile should be used). The unit I bought had built-in browser profiles for Smart, Sun and Globe, so no need to configure MMS or WAP.
One thing I can’t find — the smiley character (ü), hirap tuloy mag-txt ng mga smileys ha!
Also, I need help — how can I install Java apps on the Duplii? The built-in wap browser needs improvement, wanted to install Opera Mini but I always get an error…
Also, anyone familiar with the Esmertec Java Box and how it works? It’s an app installed in the phone but I don’t know how it should work. Thanks!
@monay95, where did u buy ur unit? i’m planning to purchase this week but would like to have those built-in browser profiles for the 3 telcos too.
@monay95, bought mine yesterday at park square. i, too is clueless on how to install java apps or use esmertec. the manual isnt that helpful and i dont usually read manuals. after i’ve finished transferring all my contacts, i “explored” a bit– trying to find the key for phone lock (usually it’s one of the # or *)– pressed # for about 3sec and viola! all data on my phone’s memory disappeared like magic! grrrr r. then i found out it’s easier to manage everything (contacts, calendar, files, sms, etc) thru the pc suite. thank goodness!
anyways, so far i’m happy with the fone. takes time to getting used to the new keypad layout though. =)
btw, i got mine with preset wap/mms network profile for sun, globe and smart too.
Just bought mine today and this is a phone that totally needs adjusting too. Entering SMS is difficult. Can’t get it to work on my Mac that’s why i tried installing the software on my PC.
PC Tool 1.0 is the name and it didn’t work as well! Did i miss something? Upon connecting the phone to my PC, it prompted for the drivers and i just directed it to the CD folder for drivers. No problem there. But the PC Suite na bulok can’t recognize the phone.
I can’t get to transfer my contacts from my Ericsson to this phone. Can’t use as a dial-up modem thru Bluetooth.
I’m disappointed.
Just wondering if this will work sa US? currently nasa US ako and I have 2 phones 1 is ung smart ofw sim and the other one is ung At&t.
will this surely works? because if yes papabili ako right away!
Duplii will works at US, because of 1900MHZ frequency band.
how to remove verzio duplii phonelock?
may bago nabang dual sim ang verzio? (or upcomming model). anu na ang current price ng dupli at twinn ngaun? salamat po.
OT:
myphone
samsung
verzio
….bali itong 3 phone companies (w/c is branded and not common china phone) palang ba ang may dual sim units?
Does anyone know how to lock the keys of the duplii?
Above “third” wrote that he tried to find it out. But he didn’t wrote how it works.
Thanks!
maganda lahat feedback sa verzio duplii.meron din ako alam bilihan,12K lang brand new pa.complete package na.juz email me if your interested.
I checked in the mall the other day, saw the verzio duplii priced at 9,990.00, forgot the name of the cellphone store in SM Marilao.
san po ba ung service center ng versio kung saka-sakali??