Like their previous Duet D888 release, Beyond E-Tech’s Duet D8 cell phone features dual SIM card bays, allowing its users to have two simultaneously active numbers in one device. Being a cheap Chinese handset, though, it comes with largely nominal technology that, pretty much, offsets the wonderful convenience of two live accounts and its attractive good looks.
It sports a smaller-than-standard 2.8-inch touchscreen, with 320 x 240 resolution and 65,000 colors. The display offers enough brightness, but lacks sharpness and detail. Menu is easy to figure out, although it’s hardly the most intuitive, often taking too many steps to get to a particular function.
Touch implementation will take a lot of getting used to, with absolutely no feedback and sometimes lacking response. It does offer a navigation control at the bottom, in case you’d rather not deal with the clunky touch interface. Onscreen keyboard, which is available strictly in portrait mode, is a little too small for comfort. Suffice to say, this isn’t a handset for the messaging-addicted.
Voice calls are pretty good, although it could have used a little more volume. As such, conversation on noisy areas can prove very difficult to manage. Speakerphone produces good sound, although the mic seems underpowered. All the basic phone features are available, from a 500-name phone book to a few other standard talents. It comes with a few extra capabilities that include a rather average 2 megapixel camera (with video mode), a media player with a wide range of supported formats (just average quality, though), a radio tuner, an analog TV tuner and a WAP browser.
Overall, the only reason to get the Beyond E-Tech Duet D8 is if you need dual SIM card bays. Even then, the keypad-fitted Duet D888 is probably a better choice, offering better physical controls and a more streamlined presentation.