Scimin Sciphone I68 (Unlocked) Cellular Phone

The Sciphone and other Asian "Clones" of the popular iphone do a good job at capturing the cachet for a relatively small investment. For under $80 (or cheaper used) you can have a phone that, on the surface, looks and acts like an iphone costing several hundred dollars (plus monthly data plan charges.)

Going by several names, such as i68, i68+, i9, i9+, i9+++, these clones share the same dimensions, buttons, and display size as the iphone. They actually have two major advantages over the iphone;
1. they are unlocked and will work with any sim card, worldwide
and 2. They have two sim card slots so you can receive on one, and call on another, or slide in a foreign country sim while keeping your domestic one safely intact.

The major disadvantages are;
1. it is a totally different operating system, so you cannot use iphone apps.
2. It does not have wifi, unless you get the newer G2+ model.
3. the virtual keyboard is smaller and not as conducive to quick texting.

I bought several for my family, which just needed ATT compatible phones and did not want the $30/mo data charge, did not need wifi, and did not need useless apps. They worked right out of the box and everyone is happy. They will even work if/when we move over to TMobile!

For the wise and frugal family, the Sciphones and other clones are a great and affordable replacement or upgrade phone.

This phone has been nothing but a problem since I got it. I wanted a G1 but went with this because it was cheaper and I really wanted a touchscreen phone. The battery only last about 20mins. If someone has previous apps on the phone and uninstalled java you cannot get rid of them. Its very poorly made there is always something new under the screen. It doesn't have wifi. And the camera is no good. My Stripe took way better pictures then this piece of junk. I am probably going to get the G1 or My touch instead.

It is an inexpensive iPhone "look alike". I bought it because I wanted an inexpensive smart phone, and that is what I got. The main feature I wanted (and got) was wifi internet connection potential.

It was difficult (not impossible) to set it up for internet access using my pay as you go T mobile account, but I expect not to need it (prefer the wifi access). T mobile forums finally got me the right settings.

It works as an MP3 player "better" than the previous bluetooth phone I had, but the shuffle feature is limited to only the first 60 songs--but you can finesse that. It is easier to use with my car's bluetooth radio.

Photos are not 2 Meg like it says...at best it is 1.2 Meg. Not great in today's environment.

Touch screen is frustrating, but I expect I'll get the hang of it eventually.

For under $70, it is good value; it even plays Java games if you can find any not written in Chinese!!

the battery life on this phone is horrible, it comes with two batteries, and i see why, i take both batteries with me to work for an 8 hour shift, and i need both batteries, if i actually use the phone alot through out the day, the batteries will not even make it the full 8 hours, more like 4 to 5 tops, and the screen is horrible, have my calls are dropped due to my face brushing against the phone and hanging up, but at the same time, you pretty much have to use the little pen utinsel it comes with to due anything on the phone, i threw the phone away after 3 days, i would not use this phone if someone gave it to me, horrible horrible phone, not worth the money

This doesn't have wifi capability, and many features of T-mobile don't work with this limited older model. There are better Sciphone models. I bought this for my wife to use on ano-contract basis. She could not access t-zones or get timely texts. She had to use her minutes every time she was in wifi hotspot. This model has nto SD card slot. It takes too many taps to get things done, compared to slightly more expensive models. It can work for kid's game system. But, as there is no headphone jack, it is also limited in the gaming / music realm also.