MyPhone Q21 Duo Ninoy-Cory Edition | Reviews | Techie.com.ph
7:55 AM | Saturday | 04 September 2010

It's no secret that Aquino Magic 2.0 is on the verge of taking Philippine politics into a new direction. But can its whimsy also take Filipino gadgets like the MyPhone Q21 Duo Ninoy-Cory Edition into a whole new level?

Local manufacturers have learned much from their foreign counterparts. From the box design alone, it's clear that a dedicated design team put some real thought and effort into creating the artwork.

Standard parts like a USB travel charger and headset (not in photo) are included as well as a special Yellow Ribbon trinket that attaches to the phone, thus giving it a more authentic look. Other than the special paint job and the installed Aquino prayers, speeches, and biographies, this special-edition phone is practically the same as its plain Jane counterpart.

Powering up the phone plays an awfully loud piano track followed by Ninoy saying "be a hero." Shutting down, on the other hand, plays a Cory Aquino track thanking us for, er, using her phone. In between are all the goodies and freebies that any Aquino loyalist will surely love. It's a real downer, though, that there are no video tracks included and most of the content are uttered by a narrator and not by Ninoy and Cory themselves.

The MyPhone Q21 Duo's plastic body is solidly built, and its quality is comparable to that of the big N's. Keys are stable and easy to press, and the heft is just right for a phone its size. The two SIM slots as well as the microSD slot (2GB included) are neatly arranged underneath the battery compartment.

The screen and the menus are the only two things that are below par with this phone. Screen resolution is lacking at 220x176 pixels especially considering its 2.2-inch size. Pixels are easily visible, thus making edges and contours look rough.

A bevy of pre-installed apps are at your disposal. At the center of it all is the Aquino menu which contains all the freebies that make this phone unique. If you're not in the mood for patriotic stuff, however, there are others like Pep.ph, ABS-CBN, Facebook, and Wikipedia for you to access. Be warned, though. There's neither Wi-Fi nor 3G, so you'll have to make do with slow GPRS. 

For a limited edition, special edition, collectors' edition... the P5,000 is definitely more than worth it. The MyPhone Q21 Duo will work great as a primary phone until the elections this May. After that, however, it could still be used as a backup phone... assuming the good Aquino name doesn't get dragged in the mud by its two biggest personalities. You know who we're talking about.

Click here to see the MyPhone Q21 Duo in the Buyer's Guide.