Orange Bic Phone ”“ Thoroughly

Put a mobile within the reach of anyone , at any time, without contracts or ties, cheap and ready to call as we take it out of the box. That is the concept behind the Bic Phone , a phone that at first glance seems “disposable” , but which, in reality, can be used as many times as we want. The fact is that the operator Orange has successfully marketed it in France and, as of July, it will also be sold here .

The Bic Phone is obviously not a technological prodigy. More like the opposite. It allows you to talk, send and receive SMS and little else . The terminal will cost only 30 euros with a 12 prepaid card and will be sold in tobacconists, supermarkets, kiosks, gas stations and, in general, in stores that are easy to locate but where it would never have occurred to us that we could find a mobile phone.

It would be unfair to analyze a phone like this following the quality standards that we would apply to a smartphone . If we start with its design , its authors say that it will remember BIC's colorful universe as it is “casual, modern and fun” . Indeed, the white and orange or white and green plastic design is reminiscent of BiC pens and lighters, perhaps too much, but the idea is for the phone to differ from conventional models .

Connections

Manufactured by TLC , the Bic Phone is actually a version of the Alcatel OT-S210 with which it shares most of the technical characteristics . The Bic Phone measures 98 x 44 x 12.3mm and weighs just 70 grams . The buttons on the phone are also unusually large and feature large characters , a detail that will be appreciated by older people who are always involved with new technologies.

From a connectivity point of view, the Bic Phone is a dual band terminal . In other words, it only allows you to make and receive calls on GSM networks, send and receive SMS and listen to FM Radio . Because it doesn't have, it doesn't even have GPRS connectivity, although it doesn't really need it.

Multimedia?

The phone also has no camera and its only extra functions are the alarm, clock, calculator and hands-free . The screen measures 1.5 inches and has a resolution of 128 × 128 pixels . There is no internal or external storage system and no functions typical of mid-range or high-end terminals.

Valid for one year

Although some call it "disposable", the Bic Phone is not , at least not in the sense of " throwaway ." The battery it carries is rechargeable and the prepaid SIM can also be refilled with more money. Of course, like other prepaid terminals, if we have not called anything for 12 months, the SIM expires and we lose the number . This step is logical, since if they began to sell en masse they would soon eat up all the available phone numbers. The battery is pre-charged so you can start talking right out of the blister in which it is sold. At full charge , the terminal supports 4 hours of conversation or 240 on standby. The charger and a hands-free kit are also included with the phone.

The best

The philosophy of the Bic Phone is to be able to buy a very cheap mobile and talk to it right out of the box . Although technically it is far below any other current device, it does very well what it is designed for: being a mobile phone .

It can improve

Technically, everything can be improved, of course, but being able to have an emergency mobile phone if we lose ours during the holidays is very useful , especially for 30 euros with 12 calls.

Data sheet