This is a review of the CECT I9 / I68+, a touchscreen GSM cell phone designed to look like an Apple iPhone. I purchased it so I could still have a high tech cell phone with a large screeen and to save money by cutting my Blackberry internet service. Another key reason that I bought this phone is because it is unlocked, and my service provider refused to unlock my Blackberry and allow me to use it with Vodafone during an extended stay in Germany. If I have the need to travel abroad again, I want to have a high tech phone that is unlocked and will work on local prepaid SIM cards. I have had the I9 for less than a week, so here is my initial take on the phone.

Appearance - stylish and sharp, just like the iPhone it mimicks. It has a large, bright, vibrant screen and single button "face." Unlike the iPhone, it has a stylus to allow for more precise taps of the screen. This is hidden in a slot on the battery cap and can be quickly pulled out to text. The battery cap is aluminum with a plastic insert to hold it on the phone. Overall score:  10 of 10

Ease of Use - easy to learn for the tech-savvy. I personally had a much more difficult time converting from a T9-equipped (standard predictive text software in most cell phones) Nokia to a Blackberry than learning the CECT. In the short time that I have had it, I have figured out most of the functions on the phone. It is still FAR MORE DIFFICULT than your basic Nokia flip phone and things are not as logically set up. There are lots of sub-menus which make texting and calling while driving difficult (not that I'm encouraging you to text and drive...) Overall score: 6 of 10

Media - of course it's not an iPhone, so the media player is obviously different. There are lots of sub-menus and winding your way down to the media card and finding that the phone doesn't like the directory that your music in WILL get you pretty PO'd. However, I personally think that my Blackberry Pearl is sort of goofy about "exploring" for music files, so once you learn how the CECT works it isn't so bad. One awesome feature about the media player is that you can create your own playlist on the phone and play it. One crappy lack-of-a-feature is that in order to play an album, it seems that you have to individually add each track to the playlist. The phone has an FM tuner which gets decent reception. I haven't tried anything video related because I don't care about video. Overall score: 7 of 10

Messaging - slow to say the least. I can text as fast on a Blackberry as I can type, which is pretty darn fast. There seems to be about a quarter- to half-second pause between each tap during which the screen won't register another character. This greatly limits your ability to text fast and would likely make you put a pistol in your mouth if you intended to write emails on this phone. Another thing that both surprised and frustrated me is that the letters appear so small on such a large and pretty screen! The keyboard appears right above the button and it does not appear that it can be rotated into a landscape position. That would make texting with your fingers much easier. You almost have to use the stylus to text at a semi-acceptable speed. The only redeeming value of this phone's messaging setup is that it can display longer text messages that other phones can't. Overall score: 3 of 10

Calling - easy to make calls. If the keypad is locked and someone calls you, you have to unlock the keypad to answer the phone. You hear yourself speak in the speaker, but I think there is a way to turn this off. It has speakerphone and other basic calling functions. It hasn't dropped a call yet and it usually displays a stronger signal than my other phones. Overall score: 7 of 10

Camera - I'm not a big cell phone camera guy because my Cannon is about the same size as a cell phone and takes infinately better pictures. It has lots of options that you can use to alter your photos, including built in picture frames. A lot of neat features but the picture quality is nothing special. It isn't great but it certainly isn't bad either - just your average cell phone quality. Overall score: 8 of 10

Screen - bright and pretty. It takes a while to get used to how much pressure you need to apply for it to comprehend the touch. Fingers work fine on everything except texting. With a stylus it is precise and user friendly. Pictures rotate when you rotate the phone from a portrait to a landscape position. Note that this screen REQUIRES pressure to register anything. It won't respond to fingers lightly brushing across it. Overall score: 9 of 10

Features - Dual Active SIM is awesome. Put in your personal SIM and your work SIM and essentially carry two cells phones in one. This feature really is useful if you have multiple cell phones. The standard wallpapers are colorful and welcoming. It requires a little effort to make your own wallpaper though - photos must be smaller than 256kb or the phone doesn't like it for some reason. The standard ring tones are irritating and loud, so I would suggest adding some music to the phone to use as ring tones. As I mentioned above, rotating the phone rotates photographs. If you shake the phone while it is playing music, it skips to the next track. I disabled this feature because every time I get up at work it switches tracks on me - I think it's too sensitive. It has your standard alarm clock, Blue Tooth, calculator, currency converter, etc. It also has some games (pretty lame but they are on the phone) and Java if you want to download anything requiring it. Overall score: 9 of 10 (for what I want on an internetless phone)

User Interface - not terribly logical but it is definately usable. The excessive sub-menus are irritating, especially when texting or doing repeatable things and having to tap through multiple menus that should be linked to "Options." Once you learn it, it isn't so bad, but there is definate room for improvement. Overall Score: 5 of 10

My Likes - The screen is beautiful and this phone has a rediculously long battery life (unless it is in an area with a low signal, then it boosts battery usage to find a signal and dies rather quickly). I listened to music all day at work and the battery bar still showed full that night after an hour on the phone. The phone ships with two batteries. Dual Active SIM is a great feature to have and the phone is unlocked so I can use it everywhere. The phone looks high tech and has some nice features but can be used on anything from prepaid to unlimited everything. I am able to have a nice phone and not pay a ton of money for internet service.

My Dislikes - Having to check my email on a computer (not the phone's fault, since it IS capable of email). The poor texting setup really lowers this phone from great to good. The excessive menus can be irritating and you waste a few seconds clicking through them each time you have to do anything. The charger cord is only like 18 inches long and doesn't reach the nightstand so I can't use the phone as an alarm clock and charge it overnight. Unlocking the screen in order to answer the phone is irritating. The cut-and-paste manual from Samsung and other cell phone manuals is entertaining but not useful, and the stuff that CECT wrote is in poor English.

The Verdict - If you are looking for a stylish, affordable phone and plan to use it as just a phone/mp3 player, this phone definately deserves a close look. If you are planning to go overseas, this phone will be your best friend since it is already unlocked and Europe is primarily comprised of GSM networks. If you are a hardcore texter, this phone will likely make you cry. It is a great sub-smartphone with some smartphone features, but doesn't stack up to a Blackberry when it comes to practical messaging and internet applications. Several guides on eBay bash this phone as a copy of the iPhone, which it is to a large extent, but if you want an iPhone and expect the same exact features then just buy the real deal. This phone is very good for what I need it for - a sleek phone with a media player to occupy myself in a cubicle farm and the general functionality of a phone.

There are several guides on eBay explaining how to add pictures, set up playlists, etc. If you have any questions feel free to ask and I will share what I know. I will possibly do a follow-up guide at a later date to inform what has grown on me about the phone and what has irritated me. If you have found this guide helpful, please say so! Thanks and happy eBaying!

~Alex