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Mobile phone prices in Lebanon increasing already

By on June 1, 2013 in Lebanon

mobile phones

As you all know, and in order to stop mobile phones smuggling in Lebanon, the ministry of telecommunications is now requiring all traders to register the IMEI (a unique ID assigned to each mobile device) of every legally imported mobile phone or tablet.

The collected IMEIs will then be used as of today June 1st to filter the devices that are allowed access to our mobile networks (alfa and touch). So typically speaking, a legally imported mobile phone with its due taxes paid will be allowed to connect to the mobile networks, while other smuggled ones will be denied access since their unique identifiers are not registered at the ministry.

The weakest ring in the process is of course the group of people who will be responsible of the data entry of the registered IMEIs. Since they will be easily able to register and IMEI of some untaxed mobile if there was not much control over them.

As a result, mobile phone prices ended up notably increasing over the last week. For instance, the guy who sold me my mobile was listing the iPhone 16 GB for around $650 since mid-May I guess, then he increased the price 2 days ago to $745. Logically due to the fact that the handsets he’s currently offering were legally imported and subject to some import tax.

Everybody is eventually complaining about all of this, especially that it gets a bit complicated when you buy some used handset from abroad. And I know it’s wrong to complain about a price increase when it’s a result of complying with the government taxation rules, but still, a $100 increase totally sucks!

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Beirut’s mobile phones guy

By on March 27, 2013 in Lebanon

apple-iphone-5

I was recently on the hunt for a new mobile phone and decided to first go check Amhaz prices since they’re known to be among the lowest in the market. Their branch at Beirut Mall was selling the iPhone 5 for a reasonable price at $689 but I got so irritated when the sales guy tried to sell me the A1428 model which doesn’t support our 4G network instead of the A1429, claiming that a software update has resolved the issue and made the A1428 compatible with our network!

So I started searching for another place until @CAbN mentioned a guy called Mohamad selling mobile phone at a similar prices as Amhaz if not lower, and based on several people’s feedback, Mohamad was quite reliable. The guy turned out to have a profile on elmazad.com under the name of “mhdskr” where he maintains a pricelist of all the models he deals with, and the iPhone 5 A1429 was listed for $680 (sealed in its original box), so I immediately called him and agreed to meet up somewhere so I can pick up my phone as he doesn’t operate a shop.

Upon meeting Mohamad I found him to be quite nice and friendly, and never trying to bullshit you with stuff like “khod l A1428 w byimsheh 3a mas2ouliyteh”. He also offers to deliver you the phone wherever you are in Beirut, in addition to granting a 7 day trial period after which you get your money back if the phone turned to have any glitch. So I totally recommend that you contact him in case you’re looking to buy some new mobile.

You may check his pricelist here, and call him on 70 686406 to either agree on a place to meet or simply give him your address to get your phone delivered to you.

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Nokia Lumia 900 hands on

By on August 13, 2012 in Reviews

Thanks to Nokia Lebanon, I’ve been uising this Lumia 900 device for a couple of weeks now and my experience with it has been very pleasant! The Lumia 900 is one the first Nokia devices running Windows Phone operating system (version 7.5) which I honestly think is as good as the currently dominating systems, i.e. Android and iOS.

Hardware:

Although the Lumia 900 is powered by a 1.4GHz single-core processor and 512MB RAM, I was surprised by how fast the operating system is. Scrolling and moving between application was so quick and smooth.

As for the design, well there’s nothing to complain about as the phone fits almost perfectly in my hand, with the volume, sleep, and camera buttons all situated on the right side.

Display:

The display is a 4.3-inch, 800 x 480 AMOLED ClearBlack screen, and I know that’s less resolution that what you may find on other competitive phones, but I say it’s not a deal breaker. Colors on the other hand seems pretty fine and well saturated for my taste.

Camera:

That was basically my only disappointment with the device. Knowing that the Lumia 900 has an 8MP camera with a Carl Zeiss lens, you’d expect the phone will take some really good photos, but unfortunately the camera under-delivers. I don’t mean the photos are disastrous, but they’re just not too good. Below is for example 2 photos I took with an iPhone 4S and a Lumia 900 for you to notice the difference.


iPhone 4S


Lumia 900

Battery life:

On my first couple of days using the Lumia 900 the battery was lasting for like 10 hours since I had 3G turned on all the time and was spending long time toying with apps. But on the next days I started turning off 3G whenever I had WIFI around me and the battery life improved significantly improved, so at around 11PM I’m usually left with ~20% battery remaining with screen brightness set to maximum.

Windows Phone:

My experience with the operating system has been very pleasant so far. It took me like an hour to get familiar with it and start downloading some apps to make full use of the Lumia 900.

Multitasking is supported and you will be able to view the open application by a long press on the “back” located on the left. Still, it should be pointed out that every time I tried accessing an application sunning in the background I would receive the application’s splash screen… which made me wonder if that application was really working in the background or not.

The experience Windows Phone offers with applications is very nice as well, and they almost all look so gorgeous on it, but still what I believe this operating system is lacking is definitely a wider selection of games and applications like what Android and iOS have.

One this you should be aware of though is that Windows Phone 8 (the upcoming version of Windows Phone) is around the corner and the Lumia 900 is not going to support it.

All in all:

No device is flawless, and that applies to the Lumia 900 as well, but am I willing to continue using it? Definitely yes. Especially that the main applications that I’m concerned with are already available and working very well for me (WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, WordPress, etc..), and I’m pretty pretty sure many more applications will be added to the Windows Marketplace soon.

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Stars Communications (Amhaz) – Mobile phones at cheaper prices

By on March 21, 2012 in Lebanon

I bet at least half of those who will read this post already know about Stars Communications, so this goes to the other half. Stars Communications (aka Amhaz) is a cell phone shop in Dahyeh known for its very competitive prices, probably the cheapest you’ll ever find around Beirut!

Some people claim that Stars Communications are able to lower their prices that much because they don’t pay any custom fees for the mobiles they get since they’re backed up by some politician. But who cares anyway when we’re paying less? I already bought a couple of phones from there and never face a problem with them.

If you’re interested to check out the shop, they have two branches, one off Sayed Hadi Nasrallah street in Dahyeh (just go there and ask about “Amhaz”), while the other is at Beirut Mall in Tayouneh and is usually few dollars more expensive than the first branch.

Update:

Seems like there’s a third branch in Verdun under the name of LibanNet. And you may check their latest prices on this Facebook group.

Thank you Amer.

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Typically Lebanese

By on May 5, 2011 in Lebanon

With a total of 43 Nokia handsets, 5 HTC, 1 Sony, 1 Alcatel, 1 Ericsson, 1 Blackberry, and 1 iPhone, George claims to have owned a total of 53 headsets over the last 13 and a half years! Which means an average of a new phone every 3 months or so.

Very typical Lebanese eh! 😛

On a serious note, all the handsets I’ve owned over the past 13 years were Nokia as well, except for the first one which was a big fat Nokia D160 that used to run on 4 AA rechargeable batteries!

1

Nokia N8 review

By on April 25, 2011 in Reviews

Earlier in March Nokia Lebanon lent me an N8 device to try out and write a review about it. I’ve been using the phone for over a month now and I have to tell you this, it’s GOOD.

Camera:

First things first, the N8 rocks a 12 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss lens and auto-focus, and that’s what I loved the most about this phone. The images it produces are just so detailed and natural, and you’ll probably have so much fun with the panorama tool that Nokia offers for free via the OVI store. You can check the N8 flickr group to check by yourself how good can its camera be.

Display:

The N8’s 3.5″ display might not be the best in the market, but you can easily watch a movie on it if you’re on a flight or something, that’s how good the colors look on it, let alone using applications or previewing the camera photos.

Keyboard & touchscreen:

The last touch screen phone I’ve used from Nokia was the N97 which had a quite disappointing resistive screen, so I personally noticed a big improvement with the current capacitive screen on the N8, but unfortunately you still cannot rely on it if you’re the type of person who texts a lot. So I wish the N8 had room for a hardware keyboard like the E7.

Multitasking:

The N8’s operating system, symbian ^3, was built to handle as much simultaneously open applications as possible. You can safely browse the internet while you’re listening to music, having your e-mail open, and maybe a Facebook or Twitter client as well in the background.

Satellite navigation:

While other phones offer a built-in GPS chip and leaves you on your own to search for a navigation solution, with the N8 and other Nokia phones you’ll get OVI Maps pre-installed with free navigation. I’ve been using OVI maps ever since I purchased the E72 last year, but experiencing it on the N8’s 3.5″ display was a treat!

What I also liked:

The HDMI-out capabilities and the ability to connect to a USB flash drive through the dongle that ships with the phone.

N8 vs iPhone 4:

Everyone who saw the N8 with me had the same question, how does it compare to the iPhone 4? I actually don’t think there’s a definite winner, it all depends on what you’re expecting to get from your device. If it’s all about games and entertainment, then you should go for an iPhone, but for everything else I’m pretty sure the N8 is up to the challenge.

Overall:

Would I keep it if I had the chance to? Yes, particularly for its superb camera and display, although I’ll be missing the hardware keyboard on my E72!

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Nokia E7 flash mob at City Mall

By on April 5, 2011 in Lebanon


I personally liked the one performed by the Beirut Duty Free more. I salute the efforts made by the organizers for Nokia’s flash mob, but I would have preferred it to be more natural. It’s not like I’m an expert in making viral videos and stuff, but there’s really no need to perform sophisticated dances, keep it simple like the Dabke in the airport, and allow people to join instead of stressing on the security guards to keep them away of the dancers.

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