CSL G8 phone review

I was looking for a wifi phone or a dual sim card phone to cater for my long break from work. Wanted wifi for the flexibility of going online anywhere, even more that we now have Unifi at home.

With limited time to look for a phone with a budget of approx RM6++, i was open to any available ones despite being a 100% Nokia supporter all along.

When i was introduced to CSL G8, i was firstly surprised at how close it looked with an I phone. It was my first hand exposure with a touch screen phone. rather impressive.

I was even more attracted to the phone after getting to know its a dual sim card phone. saves trouble of getting one wifi phone and a second basic feature phone to cater for 2 sim cards.

Place : subang parade

Price : RM635

Freebies : hands free kit, plastic backcover for phone, charger, finger print free screen protector

Post buying experience:

Plus (+)

1. I liked how i could customized the buttons on the menu by moving them around.
2. Speed is rather fast, for a malaysian made phone.
3. Applications for facebook, messenger, google, opera mini is ready to be used
4. 3.5” screen. screen quality is clear, colors are bright.

Minus (-)

1. It would be even better if the buttons could be moved around across pages. Then i could have placed the main features i use on the first page.
2. some of the applications are copied from other phones like i phone, sony ericson. Half done work, apps are either in chinese or the buttons are not made for CSL G8
3. Youtube doesnt work on this phone! (or i have yet to find an app to make youtube work)
4. Google-ing on google app is troublesome as certain webpages cannot be shown (ie. error message : memory not sufficient)
5. VGA camera. or so i think so, there is no specification mentioned, pictures are rather blur

Was faced with a rather serious production issue with this G8 phone i bought. Everytime calls were made, i could hear the other end, but the other end couldnt hear me due to loud buzzing sounds like a spoil telephone. The disturbance was worse when i was near any computer or on the road driving.

Send the phone back to Subang Parade where i bought it, the salesman couldnt do anything. Went to Sunway Pyramid where the service centre is, thank god for good service. No questions were asked, no request for guarantee letter, they took my G8 and reformatted the phone, with constant polite request for me to check if phone is better.

Despite these attempts, the buzzing sound didnt go away, but remained equally loud. Sent it to the HQ in Glenmarie, Shah Alam for the final check. Same, no questions asked, no request for guarantee letter but was just asked to fill up a form and write down the problem and i could go back and collect the phone within 24 hours.

Final verdict : the microphone was faulty and needed a change. CSL HQ did manage to fix my G8 within 24 hours.

Good service, better than any other brands based on my experience.

The verdict :

For a dual sim card phone, CSL is the in brand now with a large variety to choose from. But for a wifi phone, the applications are half done. Any other wifi phone would have much better and professional applications that are much more user friendly and less copy-cat feel.