Lexand Mini - a la Vertu phone in the "ringing keychain" form factor
Personally, I have long been somewhat skeptical about push-button phones. Their time, it would seem, has long passed, and if children and people of respectable age can still buy such an apparatus, then you yourself don’t want to walk with something like that. However, skepticism usually disappears in the summer, when carrying two large smartphones with you is simply extremely inconvenient. At other times of the year, this is easier, because there are jackets with immense pockets, but in the three hottest months, and with my “love” for all kinds of handbags ... In short, closer to summer, I usually rearranged one of my two SIM cards - voice - to the Samsung Keystone 2 phone. This is a “only for calls” class device. Over the two years of his life, he got well-worn, and something extremely unpleasant happened to his speech speaker - you hear your interlocutor through time.
In general, I thought about replacing. I didn’t want to take Samsung (not because of doubts about reliability, but because of a craving for something new), Nokia - all the more, since the latest ultra-budgetary for Finns with “American citizenship” are not very intriguing. He did just that: he went to the Svyaznoy’s website and set the price “from 0 to 1,500 rubles,” and then began to study the sample. In addition to inexpensive models attributed to Samsung, Nokia, Explay, and a couple of unknown brands, I found a Lexand Mini model at the price of 1,290 rubles. Honestly, I didn’t really look at the characteristics - I took it exclusively for the design, which fundamentally differs from what can be observed with other models for comparable money.
Developers say this is the smallest phone in Russia. Confirm or refute this statement, delving into millimeters, I will not. I only note that the device is really very small - at first glance it is perceived as a keychain.
Three options are offered - white, black and orange. It was the latter who took himself, since he is the most vivid and, let us say so, “summer”. The remaining two are bought as a gift to friends. By the way, the Lexand Mini is very good for the gift role - this device will not leave indifferent either the user of an iPhone or the owner of an inveterate Android device.
Lexand Mini's design is most reminiscent of Vertu push buttons, only three times smaller (model dimensions are 93 x 39 x 15 mm) and 200 times cheaper.
It would seem, from what material can a phone be made for 1,290 rubles? “Naturally, made of plastic,” the reader will say. And make a mistake. Since Lexand Mini is almost completely made of metal - with the exception of the keyboard. The metal here is not at all for show, it is quite thick and feels good with fingers. By the way, it is the use of such material that explains the reasonably large weight for such dimensions - 75 g.
Some parts of the Lexand Mini case are painted (metal body of the case + plastic keyboard), while others are decorated in chrome and shine. Are these shiny parts scratched? Yes, but in moderation. For example, I carry the device in a special pocket on jeans, where the Zippo lighter was previously stored. The phone goes in there perfectly, but friction with takanya still has a place to be. So, in contrast to the lighter, which is very quickly rubbed due to such contacts, Lexand Mini looks like new. That is, there are a couple of scratches, but nothing more.
The build quality is excellent - the device is actually monolithic. The back cover - also, by the way, metal - can be removed easily, but it sits very tight.
The keyboard and navigation button are very small, so writing messages with the Lexand Mini is quite difficult. Yes, you can get used to it, but you can’t count on comfort.
Among other elements on the case, I note the MiniUSB port, which is designed to connect to a computer, and for a complete headset, and for a charger. It is a pity that the developers did not put in the Lexand Mini the more common MicroUSB.
Lexand Mini supports dual SIM. At first, it seems that one SIM card can hardly fit in the device, not to mention two. But no, there are still two sockets, moreover, the "large" MiniSIM format. Each of the cards has its own “green tube”.
With the quality of communication, unfortunately, everything is not very stable. If you direct the speaker directly into the auricle, then you will hear the interlocutor well. If you make a mistake and position the device crookedly (and this is quite possible due to the small size), then certain problems will be observed. I also note that in windy weather Lexand Mini noticeably passes - strong gusts of air drown out both your voice and the voice of the interlocutor.
Each contact from the phone book can be assigned up to 5 numbers, which is not bad, since in budget models it is often allowed to enter only one phone. It was nice to find a blacklist in the Lexand Mini - there are a number of subscribers that I don’t want to hear.
You can put an MP3 file on the call, and the multimedia speaker is quite loud - of course, for such a baby. Within the room, the sound is clearly audible, from the next you will also most likely learn about the call. But from the other end of a three-room apartment - hardly.
I’ll add here that Lexand Mini is not friendly with the Internet in any form.
I will list the capabilities of the device with explanations.
The interface is made in the form of a carousel with "volumetric" icons. It works smartly, and indeed with the performance of the Lexand Mini, apparently, everything is fine. (Although why in this case this performance is needed - the question is open.) Spreadtrum processor is installed in the device; when I inserted a USB flash drive from a Sony RX100 camera with several 20-megapixel frames weighing 6-9 MB each, it opened without problems.
A standard set of functions is also present: calendar, calculator, file manager, e-book reader and the game "Snake". There is no Java support, so putting any other toys here will fail. However, one should not particularly grieve over this.
There is a recorder with a recording in WAV, the quality is surprisingly good.
Lexand Mini has a music player. Sound quality - you guessed it ... It will not work out with headphones, since there is no 3.5 mm jack on the case, a MiniUSB port is provided for the headset, as I said above. For audio books, a complete headset, in principle, is enough, but for music - alas. Any files will have to be stored on a USB flash drive (MicroSD up to 32 GB is supported), since the built-in device has only 60 Kb.
There is an FM radio, a headset must be connected for operation.
A 0.3 megapixel camera is also provided, which also records video.
I’ll give a couple of shots for order, and the reader will draw conclusions on his own.
The video model can also play. But on a screen with a diagonal of 1.44 inches and a resolution of 176 x 144 pixels, this is neither hot nor cold.
The battery capacity is 400 mAh. Days 5 the device works, but no more. Counting on a couple of weeks, as in the case of some ultra-simple models, is not necessary.
There is support for Bluetooth - you can connect a wireless headset (by the way, one of the ways to deal with the wind) and share files.
In my opinion, the very idea of the Lexand Mini is great. The device really looks cool and causes an attack of delight in almost everyone who sees it. All three options - orange, white and black - look nice and equivalent in their visual properties. Add metal here, the price of 1 290 rubles (cheaper than most “Nokia” of the first series) and get a potential hit - especially in the summer, when many would like to temporarily “get off” smartphones. What didn’t you like? Well, the camera is bad, there is no Internet, I would like to have a longer time ... On the other hand, all this could be expected - the main efforts of the developers were focused on body materials, design and miniaturization. And for the dialer, in my opinion, these parameters are much more important than anything else.
In general, I thought about replacing. I didn’t want to take Samsung (not because of doubts about reliability, but because of a craving for something new), Nokia - all the more, since the latest ultra-budgetary for Finns with “American citizenship” are not very intriguing. He did just that: he went to the Svyaznoy’s website and set the price “from 0 to 1,500 rubles,” and then began to study the sample. In addition to inexpensive models attributed to Samsung, Nokia, Explay, and a couple of unknown brands, I found a Lexand Mini model at the price of 1,290 rubles. Honestly, I didn’t really look at the characteristics - I took it exclusively for the design, which fundamentally differs from what can be observed with other models for comparable money.
So what is a Lexand Mini?
Developers say this is the smallest phone in Russia. Confirm or refute this statement, delving into millimeters, I will not. I only note that the device is really very small - at first glance it is perceived as a keychain.
Three options are offered - white, black and orange. It was the latter who took himself, since he is the most vivid and, let us say so, “summer”. The remaining two are bought as a gift to friends. By the way, the Lexand Mini is very good for the gift role - this device will not leave indifferent either the user of an iPhone or the owner of an inveterate Android device.
About the case and design
Lexand Mini's design is most reminiscent of Vertu push buttons, only three times smaller (model dimensions are 93 x 39 x 15 mm) and 200 times cheaper.
It would seem, from what material can a phone be made for 1,290 rubles? “Naturally, made of plastic,” the reader will say. And make a mistake. Since Lexand Mini is almost completely made of metal - with the exception of the keyboard. The metal here is not at all for show, it is quite thick and feels good with fingers. By the way, it is the use of such material that explains the reasonably large weight for such dimensions - 75 g.
Some parts of the Lexand Mini case are painted (metal body of the case + plastic keyboard), while others are decorated in chrome and shine. Are these shiny parts scratched? Yes, but in moderation. For example, I carry the device in a special pocket on jeans, where the Zippo lighter was previously stored. The phone goes in there perfectly, but friction with takanya still has a place to be. So, in contrast to the lighter, which is very quickly rubbed due to such contacts, Lexand Mini looks like new. That is, there are a couple of scratches, but nothing more.
The build quality is excellent - the device is actually monolithic. The back cover - also, by the way, metal - can be removed easily, but it sits very tight.
The keyboard and navigation button are very small, so writing messages with the Lexand Mini is quite difficult. Yes, you can get used to it, but you can’t count on comfort.
Among other elements on the case, I note the MiniUSB port, which is designed to connect to a computer, and for a complete headset, and for a charger. It is a pity that the developers did not put in the Lexand Mini the more common MicroUSB.
About telephone functionality
Lexand Mini supports dual SIM. At first, it seems that one SIM card can hardly fit in the device, not to mention two. But no, there are still two sockets, moreover, the "large" MiniSIM format. Each of the cards has its own “green tube”.
With the quality of communication, unfortunately, everything is not very stable. If you direct the speaker directly into the auricle, then you will hear the interlocutor well. If you make a mistake and position the device crookedly (and this is quite possible due to the small size), then certain problems will be observed. I also note that in windy weather Lexand Mini noticeably passes - strong gusts of air drown out both your voice and the voice of the interlocutor.
Each contact from the phone book can be assigned up to 5 numbers, which is not bad, since in budget models it is often allowed to enter only one phone. It was nice to find a blacklist in the Lexand Mini - there are a number of subscribers that I don’t want to hear.
You can put an MP3 file on the call, and the multimedia speaker is quite loud - of course, for such a baby. Within the room, the sound is clearly audible, from the next you will also most likely learn about the call. But from the other end of a three-room apartment - hardly.
I’ll add here that Lexand Mini is not friendly with the Internet in any form.
About the rest of the functionality
I will list the capabilities of the device with explanations.
The interface is made in the form of a carousel with "volumetric" icons. It works smartly, and indeed with the performance of the Lexand Mini, apparently, everything is fine. (Although why in this case this performance is needed - the question is open.) Spreadtrum processor is installed in the device; when I inserted a USB flash drive from a Sony RX100 camera with several 20-megapixel frames weighing 6-9 MB each, it opened without problems.
A standard set of functions is also present: calendar, calculator, file manager, e-book reader and the game "Snake". There is no Java support, so putting any other toys here will fail. However, one should not particularly grieve over this.
There is a recorder with a recording in WAV, the quality is surprisingly good.
Lexand Mini has a music player. Sound quality - you guessed it ... It will not work out with headphones, since there is no 3.5 mm jack on the case, a MiniUSB port is provided for the headset, as I said above. For audio books, a complete headset, in principle, is enough, but for music - alas. Any files will have to be stored on a USB flash drive (MicroSD up to 32 GB is supported), since the built-in device has only 60 Kb.
There is an FM radio, a headset must be connected for operation.
A 0.3 megapixel camera is also provided, which also records video.
I’ll give a couple of shots for order, and the reader will draw conclusions on his own.
The video model can also play. But on a screen with a diagonal of 1.44 inches and a resolution of 176 x 144 pixels, this is neither hot nor cold.
The battery capacity is 400 mAh. Days 5 the device works, but no more. Counting on a couple of weeks, as in the case of some ultra-simple models, is not necessary.
There is support for Bluetooth - you can connect a wireless headset (by the way, one of the ways to deal with the wind) and share files.
Total
In my opinion, the very idea of the Lexand Mini is great. The device really looks cool and causes an attack of delight in almost everyone who sees it. All three options - orange, white and black - look nice and equivalent in their visual properties. Add metal here, the price of 1 290 rubles (cheaper than most “Nokia” of the first series) and get a potential hit - especially in the summer, when many would like to temporarily “get off” smartphones. What didn’t you like? Well, the camera is bad, there is no Internet, I would like to have a longer time ... On the other hand, all this could be expected - the main efforts of the developers were focused on body materials, design and miniaturization. And for the dialer, in my opinion, these parameters are much more important than anything else.