Nokia E72

Style & Handling Summary for Nokia E72
The Nokia E72 is a stylish bit of kit, putting us in mind of a streamlined BlackBerry, and the keyboard is nice and tactile.

User Friendliness Summary for Nokia E72
It’s as easy to use as you expect from Nokia, although the optical trackpad could be more comfortable. The keyboard, though, is one of the best we’ve used and allows for quick, comfortable typing.

Feature Set Summary for Nokia E72
The Nokia E72 is every inch the business phone, with great messaging and A-GPS. It falls short on social networking features, though.

Performance Summary for Nokia E72
Fast internet browsing, push-email, a great keyboard and accurate GPS make the Nokia E72 a fine business device.

Battery Power Summary for Nokia E72
We are mightily impressed with the battery power on the Nokia E72 – we got two nights of power while

Full Review and Specification for the Nokia E72

Back in the day, phones were made for either business or pleasure, with no crossover between the two. But these days, even the most businesslike of phones require the fun features to make them all-purpose devices. This is what make Nokia’s E71 such a barnstormer, but unfortunately, the Nokia E72 doesn’t quite reach the same heady heights. Sure, it has Nokia Messaging and a touch-sensitive trackpad, but comes up short on the features that make a phone fun.

Style and handling for the Nokia E72

The Nokia E72 boasts the stylish looks we expect from Nokia smartphones, resembling a streamlined BlackBerry, and has a tactile QWERTY keyboard. It’s a busy fascia: between the 2.36-inch screen and keyboard is a dashboard of keys and a D-pad. The shortcut keys take you to home (or, if you do a long press, switch between apps), contacts, emails and calendar. There are the usual call and end keys, plus two hot keys, and the D-pad has an optical trackpad in the centre, like the BlackBerry Bold 9700.

It’s not as effective, though. Yes, it’s responsive and accurate, but surrounded as it is by the raised edges of the D-pad, you end up hitting the edges rather too often. There is also some confusion with the menu when the trackpad and D-pad have the same function. So trying to select something from the drop-down menu became almost impossible, as both scrolled through the list of options and selection was difficult.

Other than this, the user interface is as easy to navigate as most Nokia devices. On the home screen is a bar of shortcuts for functions including messaging, memos, clock and maps. Unfortunately it’s non-customisable, which means you can’t add favourite programs like Facebook or Chat like you can on BlackBerry devices.

The home screen also show you notifications of emails and appointments as well as Wi-Fi hotspots, and two home screens mean you can separate your business and social life neatly.

The Nokia E72 is packed full of connectivity and access goodies including Wi-Fi, HSDPA internet speeds, Bluetooth, GPS and a microSD card slot. And we’re mightily impressed with the battery life: it lasted for two days even with push-email, GPS and Wi-Fi running constantly.

Email on the Nokia E72

Nokia Messaging hasn’t been around for very long but it’s an excellent email interface that allows you push-email support on up to 10 accounts and a choice of how many you have on your home screen at any one time. We chose to put our Exchange email on our business screen and Gmail on our “social” screen, for example.

Nokia Messaging gives you a desktop-like email experience so you can view all your folders and manage your mail through a host of shortcuts. One of our favourite features is that you can press the right key on any email or contact number to save or contact it or on web addresses to get there directly.

The QWERTY keyboard is compact but alphabet keys double up as numbers and symbols and the common punctuation marks get their own keys, making messaging comfortable, quick and easy.

GPS on the Nokia E72

The A-GPS on the Nokia E72 is flawless. It located our position to an accuracy of around five feet which, considering that many devices promise you 500m accuracy, is not too shabby. Nokia Maps v3.0 is fully featured and includes the Explore option, which lists places of interest near your location and lets you plan multi-stop routes.

If you’re using it in your car, you can choose the dashboard view, which shows your GPS location, speed and altitude. A ten-day trial of Nokia Maps Premium gives you extras including live traffic information.

Social networking on the Nokia E72

The Nokia E72 is meant to be a business phone, but there are some consumer features in there too, so it’s only fair we test these out as well. Frankly, though, there’s no much to shout about. The Chat application is rather flat – it enables instant messaging through Gtalk and includes a couple of VoIP apps, but there’s no capacity for Windows Live Messenger. You can’t even download it from the Ovi Store, although there is an all-in-one IM programme available called Nimbuzz.

Incoming chats are pushed to your home screen, at least, which isn’t the case for the Facebook app – strange, as it was designed especially for the Nokia E71 and E72. It’s not well integrated at all, actually. Not only do you miss out on push notifications, but the app doesn’t even automatically update in the background. Every time you want to check your notifications you have to open the app and refresh the page.

Camera on the Nokia E72

The photo uploading service also leaves much to be desired. When you’ve taken a photo on the five-megapixel camera you have the option of sending it via email or MMS, both of which work well, or ‘sharing’ it. We would assume that this meant sharing the pic on the social network of your choice, but the only way we could do it was with Nokia Ovi.

The camera itself is pretty decent and includes auto-focus and an LED flash. The lens doesn’t compare with the fullness of the N86 8MP (which is, after all, a camera-centric device) but photos come out well in both daylight and low light with only slight overexposure when using the flash.

Ovi Suite itself was a little disappointing. For example, there is software for syncing your contacts with Outlook, but not your calendars. Really, it’s only useful for backing up your contacts and media files.

The verdict on the Nokia E72

The Nokia E72 is a lovely piece of hardware with some good business specs, but leaves a lot to be desired on the features front. If we could easily download an app for getting our Outlook calendars or photo sharing. It does have some of the best email features around, though, and the battery life is astounding.

Read More »

Add Comment

Unknown nokia

Nokia X3

Style & Handling Summary for Nokia X3
The Nokia X3 is a well-built, modern-looking handset with a nice slide mechanism and a tactile keypad. The 2.2-inch keypad and red control strips to either side are stylish too.

User Friendliness Summary for Nokia X3
A customisable user interface makes for easy navigation, and email is similarly straightforward. Nokia’s usual user-friendliness and a few shortcuts make for a smooth experience.

Feature Set Summary for Nokia X3
The Nokia X3 is a pretty good music phone for the casual user, and you can boost your apps collection from Ovi Store.

Performance Summary for Nokia X3
The lack of 3G access means loading web pages is slow, although instant messaging and emails work fine. Music is okay, but sound quality is far better in higher-end music devices.

Battery Power Summary for Nokia X3
Battery life isn’t great, especially considering the Nokia X3’s placement as a music phone.

Full Review and Specification for the Nokia X3
In an age when just about every phone includes a music player, it’s getting harder to make a mark in the dedicated music phone arena. The Nokia X3 offers dedicated music controls, a 3.5mm audio jack port, bundled in-ear headphones and a year’s subscription to Comes With Music. It’s also the first standard phone from Nokia to be able to access the Ovi Store, Nokia’s download portal – but is it enough to make it stand out from the crowd?

Style and handling on the Nokia X3

The second release in Nokia’s relaunched ‘X’ music phone range, the Nokia X3 has an updated design and is well built with a smooth slider mechanism. Taking up a large portion of the front is the 2.2-inch, 320x240-pixel screen; on each side of this are red stripes, one of which contains your media controls. The slide-out brushed metal keyboard looks and feels good, and a volume control strip sits neatly on the side of the phone next to the camera launcher/shutter release key.

The camera is 3.2 megapixels, but not one of the best Nokia has come up with. There’s no night mode or flash, so lowlight shots are dark – but then even daylight pictures come out soft. The option to upload pictures to the internet is, as usual, just uploading them to Ovi.com, not Flickr or Facebook, even though Flickr is preloaded on the Nokia X3.

The 3.5mm audio jack port is at the top of the device, alongside the charger port. It’s a good position if you listen to tunes when the phone is in your pocket. There are also a bundled pair of in-ear headphones, which are fairly comfortable, and a remote control to pause, play and select tracks. No volume control, sadly.

Personalisation and messaging on the Nokia X3

There are two user interfaces to choose from on the X3 – one is the standard wallpaper, the other a home screen similar to those on smartphones – and this is where you can personalise your phone. There is a customisable shortcut bar as well as three customisable slots for programs like music player, calendar and even a notifications bar.

Navigating around email is just as straightforward – number shortcuts allow you to compose a text, reply or save a contact. You can add different email accounts but don’t get any notifications of new mail, and there is no support for Microsoft Exchange. In fact, the email application here is really just a portal to link through to your webmail account and nothing else.

We’re guessing the target market for the Nokia X3 isn’t one that values business apps because Windows Live Messenger has been preloaded. It runs in the background, and a live slot on the home screen gives you new-message notifications. Once you have signed in, you will be able to add your Messenger contacts to your phonebook. You can view these and text in a threaded form.

Music on the Nokia X3

The music player on the Nokia X3 is what you expect from Nokia. You can organise your tracks by genre, artist, song title and album and the side-mounted music controls are easy to use even in your pocket. Sound quality is pretty good, and trebles sound fine, but heavy bass lacks fullness. It’s fine for casual listening, but those of you who want the full audio experience will want to go elsewhere. A 2GB microSD memory card is bundled in, which will hold about 500 songs. If you want to cart your entire music collection around with you, you will want more storage space than that.

You also get a one-year subscription to Comes With Music, Nokia’s unlimited download music service. It sounds like a great deal, but you may want to investigate the available songs before jumping in – after all, unlimited downloads are a great idea, but only if it’s music you actually want.

Internet and downloads on the Nokia X3

For web surfing you have the Opera Mini browser preinstalled, which is always excellent. It resizes your web pages perfectly so you can read the text easily without scrolling.

However, the X3 has neither 3G nor Wi-Fi, so you have to rely on the slower EDGE internet speeds. It’s not so bad for email and instant messaging, but even mobile-optimised web pages load slowly.

This is despite the phone being advertised as the first Symbian S40 phone to have access to Nokia’s Ovi Store. We managed to download a 304KB application in two minutes or so but, depending on your operator, you could face delays in downloading, bumping up those data charges.

Ovi Store has a way to go before it catches up with Apple’s App Store or Android Market but there are a few useful apps available. Snaptu compensates for the lack of a dedicated Facebook app by providing a portal for several social networks, blogs and news sites. It’s similar to GetJar, which can be accessed by almost any Java phone, but is a little easier to navigate.

The battery power is unimpressive, despite the lack of internet features to eat up juice. We downloaded a couple of apps and checked out emails a few times and still needed to recharge within the day.

The verdict on the Nokia X3

If you just want to play a few tunes while you’re out and about, and budget is an issue, you could do worse than the Nokia X3. But we are put off by the lack of 3G and Ovi Store’s obvious drawbacks. It’s no iPod replacement, but a good-value buy for casual listeners.

Read More »

Add Comment

Unknown nokia

Nokia 7230

Style & Handling Summary for Nokia 7230
The black body and chrome edging are a stylish touch, and the bright, 2.4-inch screen slide smoothly over a polished keypad.

User Friendliness Summary
We’ve got used to Nokia’s simplicity and user friendliness, and the Nokia 7230 is no different. The interface is familiar and bright.

Feature Set Summary
Ovi Maps offers great navigation functionality, there’s a 3.5mm audio port for your headphones, and 3G internet to boot.

Performance Summary
It’s pretty efficient but can feel underpowered – some programs take an age to load up.

Battery Power Summary
The 220-minute talktime is pretty decent.

Full Review and Specification for the Nokia 7230

Nokia’s position at the top of the mobile market is consolidated by phones like the Nokia 7230: fairly basic phones for a reasonable price that may not have the high-end features but do the job reliably and stylishly.

Style and handling on the Nokia 7230

Despite being a lower-end phone, the 7230 is well built and good looking, with a black plastic body and chrome edging. A smooth slide of the 2.4-inch screen reveals a nice-looking keypad with smooth tablet-style keys, which is tactile and comfortable to type on despite their bouncy feel.

We like the concentric fingerprint-like ridges on the back cover, although it is somewhat flimsy, as well as the 3.5mm audio port and the 3.2-megapixel camera.

The user interface is the familiar and user-friendly Nokia grid with the addition of some fancy new wallpapers, and the screen looks bright and clear, with clean-edged icons and nice large fonts. You can customise the interface to a limited extent: the left key brings up a shortcuts list that you can reorder to your own preferences, and the direction keys can be set to take you to your favourite programs.

Some applications can be slow to load, even fairly basic ones like the camera, but we are keen on the scroll function, which scrolls through your apps more quickly the longer you press the down key.

Navigation on the Nokia 7230

There’s is no GPS on the Nokia 7230 but navigation is nevertheless one of the phone’s best features. Ovi Maps is a great bit of software, packed with features and real bonus at this price. You can get a specific address for any map point and save your locations for later reference. You can also call, text and see your inbox directly from the program. The maps themselves look good on the screen: clear and bright.

Internet and email on the Nokia 7230

Another surprising addition is 3G internet, which provides pretty fast internet access if your network supports it. The preloaded browser is Opera Mini, which is the best browser available for Java phones and renders webpages clearly despite being very slow to load. You only get to view mobile-optimised web pages, as the phone doesn’t have the memory to render full websites.

As far as email is concerned, you get Ovi Mail (someone out there must use it) as well as the most popular webmail, although you don’t get push notifications. You can also use Ovi Messaging, if you know anyone else who uses it.

The 3.2-megapixel camera isn’t the best – daylight shots are somewhat sharp and no flash means grainy lowlight shots – but you can share your photos via text or Bluetooth, or upload them to Nokia’s sync and backup service, Ovi.

Ovi on the Nokia 7230

Ovi is generally only found on smartphones, so it’s nice to see that you can back up your media and contacts on the Nokia 7230. This means that should you lose your phone or upgrade to another Nokia handset, you can still get hold of and transfer all your essential information and saved media files. All you need to do is set up an Ovi account and you will get regular, wire-free synchronisation.

Nokia’s application and themes store, Ovi Store, is less inspiring, with a limited selection of downloads, especially for Java phones.

The verdict on the Nokia 7230

There is always a market for basic-yet-stylish handsets, and the Nokia 7230 fits the bill perfectly. 3G web speeds and Ovi Maps are bonus features at this price point, making for a capable handset all round

Read More »

Add Comment

Unknown nokia

Nokia 5230

Style & Handling Summary for Nokia 5230
The classic look of the Nokia 5230 makes it look more expensive than it is – although the side-loading SIM slot is just wrong.

User Friendliness Summary
As familiar and easy to use as any Nokia handset with the exception of the frustrating and fiddly on-screen keyboard.

Feature Set Summary
The desktop-like Nokia Messaging and Ovi Maps 3.0 with sat-nav give this otherwise basic device a smartphone flourish.

Performance Summary
The usual Nokia simplicity and shortcuts make navigating a breeze, and the two-megapixel camera is actually rather good, but it is let down by Ovi Store, which really needs some improvement.

Battery Power Summary
Pretty poor for a Nokia, with 270 minutes’ talktime on 3G

Full Review and Specification for the Nokia 5230

The Nokia 5230 has Nokia’s familiar and simple user interface, its superb email functionality and Nokia Messaging, as well as a pretty good touch-screen. It also has a less-than-impressive on-screen keyboard, some daft hardware ideas and the uninspiring Nokia Ovi apps store. All in all, the 5230 is an average handset with strengths and flaws.

Style and handling for the Nokia 5230

The Nokia 5230 is a good touch-screen proposition for £150: a simple-looking plastic handset in white with a silver trim; a 3.2-inch touch screen – the same as on a HTC Hero – and a nicely rounded shape.

While the touch-screen is resistive rather than the superior capacitive kind, it’s fairly responsive. Haptic feedback lets you know when your press has been registered with a pleasantly soft vibration. Below the screen sit three keys – call and call end, and a menu key that, when you press it, divides the screen like sliding doors to show all your programs.

Nokia hasn’t let us down with the 3.5mm audio port, so you can plug in your own headphones. If you want a decent selection of music, though, you’ll have to shell out for a memory card – the 5230 has just 70MB internal memory.

There is a side-loading SIM slot that just makes life harder. Not only do you still have to remove the battery to insert it – rather negating the point, we think – but you need something pointy to push the card in and pull it out again. If you change your card on a regular basis, this will soon be making you jump up and down in frustration.

Finally, the unlock key is s springy slide key on the side of the phone which works well but sticks out a bit.

Home screen and internet on the Nokia 5230

The home screen is a scaled-down version of the usual Nokia S60 home screens, with one live notification bar for emails, a tool bar for four favourite contacts, and an application toolbar that you can customise but is set by default for Facebook, Maps, Sky Mobile and Ovi Store.

There is 3G connectivity but no Wi-Fi, and while Sky Mobile does support 3G, it’s not as efficient as Wi-Fi for streaming video. We were timed out three times when trying to load Sky Mobile, and users of Ovi Store have rated the app just one star out of three.

There’s no full HTML browser so mobile-optimised websites are loaded automatically. If there is no mobile version, the page takes a bit longer to load.

The Facebook application is really good, giving you the full set of features, and the accelerometer means that when you turn the phone on its side, the screen orientation automatically changes to landscape.

The jewel in the software crown is definitely Nokia Messaging, which gives you a desktop-like experience and a shedload of shortcuts. There’s support for up to ten email accounts that you can skip between easily. You can view your emails by subject, date, sender, unread, priority, flagged or attachment filters; and if you hold down on a mail in your inbox you get the option to reply, reply all, delete, mark as read, move or mark the email.

On-screen keyboard on the Nokia 5230

It’s a shame that the excellent email capabilities aren’t matched by the on-screen keyboard. Typically for Symbian phones, it doesn’t allow you to type in the email field; you need to go to another screen with just the keyboard and a text box. Numbers and symbols are on a second keyboard screen, so not only is typing a drag, you can’t hold down on a key to get the alternative symbol like you can on BlackBerry and Android devices.

The resistive screen is pretty slow if you’re a quick typist, missing a couple of letters from almost every word you type, and there is no auto-correct to sort it out for you. It all makes for a frustrating typing experience. If you hold the phone in portrait orientation, though, you get the old-style number keypad, with predictive text. It may well be faster to use.

Ovi on the Nokia 5230

There’s been no improvement to Nokia Ovi Store, unfortunately. Out of several thousand items, most are themes and wallpapers, or pointless applications such as Fart Attack (Lite), which we can’t see being useful in any circumstance at all. The interface is also a bit rubbish, with tiny pixelated icons.

But Ovi’s over-the-air backup system works well. Simply sign up at Ovi.com and your contacts and media will be backed up periodically, meaning that lost phones don’t necessarily have to mean lost information. It makes for easier upgrading too.

Camera and maps on the Nokia 5230

The two-megapixel camera is surprising good considering its low resolution and lack of flash. Daylight photos look pretty good, and a range of modes such as night and portrait mean you even get fairly decent results in low light.

A bonus feature is A-GPS and Maps 2.0, which you can upgrade to Ovi Maps 3.0 via Ovi, getting you access to free sat-nav, Lonely Planet and Michelin City Guides. The maps interface is simple and user friendly: you can view in 3D or top-down 2D, and have menu access to directions, current location maps and the weather. You can also save your home location so direction finding is a speedier process.

The verdict on the Nokia 5230

Phones with some smartphone features are everywhere now, and Nokia does it very well, releasing basic handsets with a selection of smartphone flourishes at a price that won’t break the bank.

The Nokia 5230 is an expensive-looking device with a nice touch-screen (except the on-screen keyboard) and a few fancy functions thrown in. Foremost of these is Ovi Maps, which add sat-nav and city guides to an otherwise basic handset. The Facebook application is good, and Nokia Messaging fully-featured and satisfying. This is a decent low-cost phone with enough extras to make it stand out from the crowd.

Read More »

Add Comment

Unknown nokia

Nokia 3720 Classic

Style & Handling Summary for Nokia 3720 Classic
The 3720 has the classic Nokia candybar styling in a touch ruggedized shell.

User Friendliness Summary
The S40 user interface is familiar and simple to learn and use – although we’re confused by the lack of a dedicated camera key.

Feature Set Summary
There’s not much in terms of features: a flashlight, a two-megapixel camera and EDGE data speeds. But this phone is built for robustness, and is shock, water and dust resistant.

Performance Summary
The camera isn’t great, and internet is slow to load and to browse.

Battery Power Summary
An impressive 420 minutes’ talktime is just the thing for a phone designed for outdoor pursuits.

Full Review and Specification for the Nokia 3720 Classic

Despite producing high-end smartphones stuffed full of gadgets and features, Nokia is still best known for its simple, reliable, user-friendly handsets. The Nokia 3720 Classic is one such phone: a ruggedized candybar with a basic feature set that’s built to be tough and easy to use.

Style and handling for Nokia 3720 Classic

You can certainly tell this is a Nokia from its classic shape and simple, minimalist design. The fascia is equally divided between the standard 3x4 keypad and the 2.2-inch screen, and the corners are slightly curved, making it fit comfortably in the hand. The keys are large enough to ensure accurate typing.

It’s ruggedized, but not to the extent of truly touch phones like those from Sonim. But it’s not created to survive being run over by a bus or nuked in the microwave, more to withstand life’s knocks and bumps. It’s dust and water resistant and more than capable of coming out in one piece from a fall to the pavement, for example, despite weighing only 94g.

The back battery cover is fastened on with a single screw and sealed securely to protect against water ingress. There is also a seal on the microUSB port and the 2.5mm (not 3.5mm, unfortunately) headset port. So we’re unsure why the same isn’t true of the charging port – surely that should be protected as well?

To protect the display, there is a raised metallic trim around the fascia; turn the handset upside down and the screen is raised a few millimetres above the surface, protecting it from scratches. Oddly, though, the camera lens has no such protection.

Media on the Nokia 3720 Classic

A couple of handy shortcuts serve to make life easier. For example, if you hold down the ‘0’ key you are taken straight to the internet.

Web surfing is a slow process. There’s no 3G for a start, images are pixellated, and scrolling using the cursor is jerky – and necessary because of the size of the screen.

There’s no shortcut to take you to the two-megapixel camera; you need to go through the main menu and hold down the asterisk key. This switches on a bright flashlight that’s also an LED flash for the camera, and is another handy touch for an outdoor phone. The camera is passable – pictures appear drained of colour and fragmented - but there are several adjustable settings to improve your snaps before sharing them on Nokia Ovi.

Verdict on Nokia 3720 Classic

The Nokia 3720 is far from being a classic handset, despite its design and simplicity. But for a basic phone that will withstand life’s knocks and bumps it does the job well, and should appeal to labourers, outdoor types or those of us who find ourselves dropping our handsets far too often.

Read More »

Add Comment

Unknown nokia

Nokia C5

Style & Handling Summary for Nokia C5
This is classic Nokia, a light handset with smooth lines that’s good looking to boot.

User Friendliness Summary for Nokia C5
This is a highly accessible handset with an intuitive feel and calls pushed to the front.

Feature Set Summary for Nokia C5
The Nokia C5 is light on features by design, but there are a few extras including GPS, Bluetooth, a 3.2-megapixel camera and FM radio.

Performance Summary for Nokia C5
The Nokia C5 performs quickly and well with minimal effort from the user. Very effective.

Battery Power Summary for Nokia C5
Excellent battery power, with up to 300 minutes’ talktime.

Full Review and Specification for the Nokia C5

Nokia’s range of classic handsets, the C-series, is designed for those who want a simple, easy-to-use handset that brings making and receiving calls to the fore and look stylish to boot.

The latest in the range, the Nokia C5, has a Symbian S60 operating system, although it is definitely not a smartphone. It does however, feature GPS and Ovi Maps, which turn it into a satnav. And because you can use Ovi Maps offline, without the need to download data as you go along, you can use it more or less anywhere in the world for no cost.

Style and handling on the Nokia C5

The candybar Nokia C5 resembles the Nokia 6700 but has the same matte silver backing as the 6700 Slide. The colourful 2.2-inch screen has a muted quality about it that can’t compare to the latest generation of super AMOLED screens, but that’s to be expected from a phone at this price point. Large, blocky keys make typing straightforward too, in line with its user-friendly remit.

One nice touch, also seen on the 6700 Slide, is the introduction process, which kicks in the first time you switch on the phone. It gives you step-by-step instructions on transferring your contacts and personalising your phone, including setting up email and choosing a wallpaper and ringtone.

Shortcuts on the Nokia C5

Nokia’s Switch application, which transfers contacts between compatible Nokia handsets, is present on the Nokia C5. And, like the 6700 Slide, a row of shortcut icons run along the bottom of the screen, only this one also has an Ovi Maps icon.

No touch-screen means you navigate maps using the keys. This, along with the maps’ basic appearance and the small screen, make the app somewhat low-key and less easy to interact with. It’s unlikely to be a replacement for your regular satnav, but is nevertheless useful for occasional location checks.

The apps icon in the menu leads you to email, Facebook, document viewer and more, and access to the Ovi Store, via another icon, means you can download a range of new apps including a handy app that helps you remember where you parked and another that turns your screen into a mirror.

Features on the Nokia C5

For internet browsing you get HSDPA data speeds of up to 10.2Mbps, depending on coverage. In reality, there’s not much chance of reaching these speeds, but it’s good to know it’s there.

A stereo FM radio is a good extra – enhanced by the welcome addition of a 3.5mm audi jack so you can plus in your own headphones – and the 3.2-megapixel camera with LED flash produces relatively nice results thanks to Nokia’s expertise. Video is basic, shooting at just 15fps.

The lack of Wi-Fi has the twin effect of keeping costs down and marking the C5’s niche as a voice-centric phone. The small amount of storage space can be expanded by investing in a microSD card.

The verdict on the Nokia C5

For all its smartphone prowess, Nokia still excels at basic phones with a classic appearance and simple handling. The Nokia C5 does have a few extras, such as GPS, but it’s the easy operation and familiar, smart appearance that will appeal to most.

Read More »

Add Comment

Unknown nokia

Nokia 6700

Style & Handling Summary for Nokia 6700 Slide
We preferred the look of the first 6700, but the Nokia 6700 Slide is nevertheless a stylish and compact device with a clear, bright screen.

User Friendliness Summary for Nokia 6700 Slide
The Slide has all the simplicity and logic we’ve come to expect from Nokia phones.

Feature Set Summary for Nokia 6700 Slide
The standout features on this otherwise basic phone are the five-megapixel camera and 3G, but access to the Ovi Store is another big plus, allowing you to download apps and games and pimp up your phone to your heart’s content.

Performance Summary for Nokia 6700 Slide
Everything works quickly and intuitively, from typing to taking photos.

Battery Power Summary for Nokia 6700 Slide
The 180 minutes’ talktime should last you very well.

Full Review and Specification for the Nokia 6700

Nokia is never afraid to try something new with its phones, ploughing new furrows in design and features, but it’s the classic, easy-to-use phones that have kept it on top for so long and kept Nokia users loyal to the manufacturer for years.

It was late to the touch-screen party, perhaps because it knows the value of familiarity, but has now found its feet there too. The Nokia 6700 Slide is a good combination of touch-screen technology and Nokia simplicity.

Style and handling on the Nokia 6700 Slide

The 6700, released last year, was a beautifully designed handset with a chrome finish. The Nokia 6700 Slide offers similar stylishness with a bigger screen and the compact size afforded by a slide-out keypad. We prefer the shiny glossiness of the original 6700 to the Slide’s matte-silver body, but it looks good nevertheless and should draw some admiring glances.

Beneath the 2.2-inch screen sit a large D-pad and four large buttons, for call and call end, menu and home. The home key takes you to your home screen from anywhere you happen to be and if you press it from your home screen it goes to the menu icons. The keypad, revealed with a gently sprung slide mechanism, is almost completely flat except for the small ridges between the keys, which are curved to match the shape of the base of the handset. Flat keys aren’t always the most comfortable to use, but the size of these means you’ll have no problems whipping off messages.

The D-pad is especially useful for navigating the home screen. As well as the regular on-screen info like your network, time and date, signal strength and battery power, there’s a line of icons across the bottom of the screen that you can scroll over using the D-pad. These include Facebook, camera launch, the clock setting and more. An icon on the home screen takes you directly to Ovi Store, Nokia’s apps download service. It’s not as fully stocked as Apple, for example, but new apps are appearing at an impressive rate.

Media on the Nokia 6700 Slide

The home screen should appeal to everyone: simple enough not to get in the way of people who just want to make calls; full enough to keep more demanding users amused. It’s hardly a smartphone, and the low-price means we can’t really expect features like GPS or Wi-Fi, but there’s 3G and a front-facing camera if you want to make video calls.

You can configure the phone to let you end calls either by closing the slide or pressing call end. Make sure you get it right – you don’t want to say something inappropriate when you think you’re put the phone down only to realise the listener is still on the other end.

The five-megapixel camera has LED flash and autofocus. Like most cameraphones, it takes a few moments to shoot after you’ve pressed the button but the autofocus ensures a good view. The results aren’t bad for quick snaps and sharing photos with friends.

The verdict on the Nokia 6700 Slide

For a decently priced, good-looking handset that does the basics well, is easy to use and has a couple of little extras thrown in, you could do a lot worse than the Nokia 6700 Slide.

Read More »

Add Comment

Unknown nokia

Nokia C3

Style and handling summary for Nokia C3 review
The Nokia C3's stylish looks, taken from the professional Eseries range, belie its low price. The lightweight plastic cover is given a respectable matt finish, and the four-line QWERTY keyboard is superb for a handset at this price.

User friendliness summary for Nokia C3 review
It’s certainly easy to use, but the slow running makes web browsing a frustrating task.

Feature set summary for Nokia C3 review
The two-megapixel camera is basic, giving you okay daylight pictures but nothing else. The happy inclusion of Wi-Fi makes uploading and downloading quick, but social networking doesn’t run in the background, so no push notifications. Email is also basic but allows for all webmail accounts.

Performance summary for Nokia C3 review
The Nokia C3 is definitely held back by its slow speed. Social network addicts will want faster access, and scrolling down is slow and frustrating.

Battery power summary for Nokia C3 review
The Nokia C3 offers a respectable 240 hours of talktime.

Full Review and Specification for the Nokia C3
The full Nokia C3 review and specification

Youth-orientated social networking phones are everywhere at the moment, and the latest contender in the crowded arena is the Nokia C3. It’s the first phone in Nokia’s low-priced Cseries to have Facebook and Twitter and while that sound promising, it’s all-too-obviously a low-cost device.

Style and handling on the Nokia C3

Design-wise, the Nokia C3 looks fantastic, with the professional stylings of Nokia’s E3 series. Despite its lightweight plastic cover, its matte finish looks stylish. Below the 2.4-inch display sit a D-pad, call and call end keys, two option keys and two customisable shortcut keys.

Below these is a four-line QWERTY keyboard that is one of the best we’ve seen on a low-priced handset.The camera is a basic two-megapixel model with no flash or autofocus. You’ve got no chance of night or inside shots, and even pictures taken in broad daylight come out quite soft, albeit it with pretty good colours. You can upload them directly but only to Flickr, oddly not Facebook, or you can send them via MMS, email or Bluetooth.

As for internet, you get EDGE speeds rather than 3G, but Wi-Fi is included, which is impressive. This means that uploading and downloading is a speedy affair. You can’t run social network apps in the background, though, so there are no push notifications of events.

Social networking on the Nokia C3

There are three shortcuts areas the homepage that you can customise with your most-used contacts, your calendar, a toolbar that links to all applications and Communities, which contains the Facebook and Twitter apps. These are both fairly full featured: Facebook links to everything you’d expect on a desktop and includes a list of events showing what you have been invited to over a ten-day period; Twitter is also a desktop-like view, showing direct messages, mentions and favourited tweets.

Once you have selected your account you can update directly from the home screen via the Communities icon.But despite the two apps’ features, they both run painfully slowly, especially when scrolling. And this snail’s pace is the main problem with the C3 overall. We know it’s a budget phone and didn’t expect brilliant multitasking capabilities, but... For example, press the call end button and you’ll get a message asking if you really want to close the app. Pressing any button results in a one-second delay, and programs take some time to load up. It all amounts to a frustrating experience.

Internet on the Nokia C3

We’re happy to see that Nokia has embedded the superb Opera Mini browser, which really makes the best of low-specced phones. Pages load quite quickly despite a slight delay when typing in search terms or URLs. There is a zoom box (no keys) that lets you go from viewing the page at full page to 100% which does a pretty good job at making non-optimised sites readable, but this is really only a phone for quickly looking up info.

Dedicated browsers look elsewhere. In common with many Nokia phones, loading your contacts on to the Nokia C3 is no picnic – you somehow have to sync them with Ovi suite first. Ovi Mail means you can add any webmail account; it’s basic, with no push notification, but does the job well if you just want to check your mail on the move. The QWERTY keyboard makes messaging quick and easy.

The verdict on the Nokia C3

The Nokia C3 only costs £80 on prepay, so you can’t expect anything high-end for that price. Its looks are high-end and stylish, and it’s easy to use. The Facebook and Twitter apps work well but the whole experience is marred by its slow performance.

Read More »

Add Comment

Unknown nokia

Nokia C6

Style and handling summary for Nokia C6 review
The C6 looks and feels good and is comfortable to use, with a good slide-out QWERTY keyboard.

User friendliness summary for Nokia C6 review
The Symbian OS is slow and unresponsive and feels outdtaed, and the resisitive touch-screen needs quite a lot of pressure for your command to be recognised.

Feature set summary for Nokia C6 review
There are lots of good features packed into the C6 including Wi-Fi and a five-megapixel camera with an LED flash.

Performance summary for Nokia C6 review
The touch screen is slow, but it’s mostly responsive, and the keyboard makes texting easy.

Battery power summary for Nokia C6 review
There’s a good day or two of battery life inside the C6.

Full Review and Specification for the Nokia C6

Nokia’s latest smartphone is the C6, a reasonable priced, good-looking smartphone stuffed full of features. But while it looks good on paper, there’s nothing new here.

Style and handling on the Nokia C6

The C6 is a great looking phone with a vivid 3.2-inch screen in a stylish matte black or chrome body. Beneath the screen sit three keys for call, call end and menu. Pressing on the side of the phone and the QWERTY keyboard slides straight out rather than the tilting action seen in previous Nokia smartphones. The keyboard spacious and feels good to use, with subtle backlighting that moves with your fingers. This is a nice touch that employs the phones ambient light sensor, although it is a little slow at times.

On the back of the phone sits the five-megapixel camera and flash, and on the side is the lock-screen switch which we’ve enjoyed on other Nokia touch-screen phones. On the top sits a 3.5mm audio port so you can plug in your own headphones; always a bonus.

Inside the phone are Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and an FM radio as well as the excellent Ovi Maps service. But while it sounds great on paper, the C6 is... well, uninspiring. It’s a great price and stuffed full of features but there’s just nothing new here.

Touch-screen on the Nokia C6

The touch-screen on the C6 is the pressure-sensitive resistive kind, which flounders next to the plethora of far superior capacitive screens out there. And although it just makes the phone seem cheap rather than low-priced, Nokia is better at resistive screens than any other manufacturer. And with a resistive screen, you can use gloves or a stylus to operate the phone, and don’t need to be as exact as you do with a capacitive screen – but you do miss out on the sharp resolution. One problem with most resistive screens, the C6’s included, is that if you don’t press quite hard enough you need to input your command again, which gets frustrating when it happens enough.

Of course, with a resistive screen you also miss out on the multi-touch capacity that allows for things like the iPhone’s pinch-to-zoom. There is also no alternative like the N900’s Maemo feature. You can double-tap but the text won’t reformat for you.

OS on the Nokia C6

This lack of effective zoom is just one of the pitfall of the outdated Symbian OS, which was once one of the best but is now unresponsive and slow in comparison to other operating systems. At least Nokia is working on a new OS but the C6 is stuck with Symbian.

Apart from Nokia’s prowess with touch-screen phones, it is also adept at producing pleasantly chunky phones that make a real change from the flat, wide handsets that make up the majority of phones.

The main screen is well designed, with customisable icons and shortcuts to the calendar, camera and Ovi Maps among others. The call quality is superb, and the camera pretty decent, albeit with shutter lag.

The Ovi Store has more available applications by the week, but its range of essential apps pales in comparison to Android Market or Apple Store. Battery life is good enough to last a day or two. There realley is a lot going for the C6 but the plain fact is there are better smartphones available.

The verdict on the Nokia C6

Well priced, good looking and stuffed with features, the C6 certainly appears to be a good buy. But it’s underwhelming, with a slow and outdated OS and an unresponsive screen. There are better phones to chose from out there.

Read More »

Add Comment

Unknown nokia

Nokia E5

Style and handling summary for Nokia E5 review
With an array of colour choices, the Nokia E5 manages to look professional while remaining eye-catching.

User friendliness summary for summary for Nokia E5 review
Be prepared to be somewhat patient while you find your way around the Symbian menu systems.

Feature set summary for Nokia E5 review
How excellent to find a five-megapixel camera, QWERTY keyboard, HSDPA, Wi-Fi, and A-GPS on an entry-level smartphone.

Performance summary for Nokia E5 review
Having opened up or set up the numerous features, the Nokia E5 proves itself a competent handset.

Battery power summary for Nokia E5 review
The Nokia E5 offers a longer-than-average 330 minutes of talktime, 670 hours on standby, and music lovers can listen to 38 hours of their favourite tunes.

Full Review and Specification for the Nokia E5

The Eseries from Nokia has always been the Finnish company’s most successful brand – we named the Nokia E71 our Phone of the Year in 2008. But it has always been associated with business users, so could the new handset which, even though it is not dismissing the business market, also offers social networking features at an affordable price, be the first Eseries smartphone to appeal to the mass market?

First impressions

The Nokia E5 looks like its older siblings, with its wide candybar body, smallish 2.36-inch screen, and QWERTY keyboard. While the keys do run into each other, they are rounded enough in between to allow you to distinguish between them. However, be aware that we found them rather slippery, so you may need to take care when typing. The Nokia E5 raises the style bar, offering a number of colour schemes, while the back is metallic. To open the back, hold down the two buttons at the bottom of the phone.

We found the volume keys on the side of the handset somewhat stiff, but happily you have an alternative in the shape of the D-pad if you’re using media facilities such as the movie and video players. To change the sound simply push the D-pad up or down, and push it to the side to fast forward or rewind.

Surf’s up

Web browsing was wonderfully fast using HSDPA or Wi-Fi. There are four pre-loaded social networking apps, including YouTube, which ran smoothly and offered a top-quality image, despite the small display. The browser, however, was disappointing, offering us both pixelated text and graphics. The mouse browser, meanwhile, is as speedy as most we’ve seen. In fact, it’s so fast we suggest you use the following tactics; press and release the D-pad, rather than holding it down. You’ll also find 12 browser shortcuts, which use the keys 0-9 plus the star and hash keys, and offer facilities such as finding a keyword and page overview, which is especially handy for longer web pages.

Snail mail

Email setup was tricky – we blame the old-hat Symbian OS, which means the Eseries is great for messaging, but not so good for emailing. Type in your email address and password and you still have to find your way through a number of menus to be able to retrieve your messages. Android offers a far easier system for email – simply enter your email address and password and that’s your lot. And while MySpace, Twitter and Facebook are well customised for the Eseries, setting up live feeds is more complicated than it needs to be.


We’re also not fond of the camera facility. To get ready to take a snap, you’ll have to go through two menus – there’s no quick-start button that you’ll find on the majority of phones these days. It’s particularly galling as the E5 has a five-megapixel camera that produces some excellent images. We even like the LED flash that can be used as an impromptu torch by holding down the spacebar on the home screen.

Verdict

It’s great that Nokia is offering the Eseries to the mass market, and for the price you get a great range of features. It’s just a shame the Symbian OS is past its best and doesn’t offer the ease of use an entry-level smartphone should.

Read More »

Add Comment

Unknown nokia

Nokia N8

Style and handling summary for Nokia N8 review
The N8 boasts good looks, thanks to its aluminium chassis, with its matt metallic sheen and stunning AMOLED display

User friendliness summary for Nokia N8 review
One of the best QWERTY keyboards we've seen, and the new Symbian^3 operating system is far better than its predecessors

Feature set summary for Nokia N8 review
A fantastic set of features include A-GPS, a 12-megapixel camera, Wi-Fi and 3.5-inch capacitive screen

Performance summary for Nokia N8 review
While were impressed by the camera and sat nav features, the phone's performance would have been better if it had a more powerful processor

Battery power summary for Nokia N8 review
The Nokia N8 will let you talk for 330 minutes on a full battery charge, and runs for 400 hours on standby


Full Review and Specification for the Nokia N8

Nokia has had a pretty successful year so far, even by its own high standards. The Finnish phone maker has produced a number of mid-range handsets, which has seen some people querying its credibility. This has all helped to boost interest in the arrival of the Nokia N8, which is the first phone to come with the new Symbian^3 operating system, as well as offering a 12-megapixel camera with Xenon flash and auto-focus.

First impressions

So what's so great about the N8? Well, first of all, its chassis is made of anodised aluminium with a matt metallic sheen. It feels reasonably sturdy, yet we were expecting it to be heavier in the hand. It's a stylish device, and managed to stay relatively slim despite boasting a Xenon (chunky) flash. Mind you, we'd suggest taking care when you put the phone down, as the Xenon flash tends to stick out, and there is no lens protector - we'd hate the impressive Carl Zeiss optics to be damaged.

Like the iPhone, the Nokia N8 has an integrated battery, which is why you'll find the SIM and microSD cards on the side of the handset. The upshot of this is that you can swap SIMs and memory cards without the need to turn off the phone - really handy if you like to hot swap media content. But however good looking the N8's chassis is, it hardly compares to the capacitive display. It measure 3.5-inches high, the same as the iPhone 4 - although it's not as wide - and looks as beautiful when it is illuminated.

Third time lucky

As we said, the Nokia N8 is the first handset to feature the Symbian^3 OS. We haven't been keen on Symbian operating systems lately - they've seemed out of date, especially when compared with the more user-friendly likes of Android and Apple. But we were happy to see the Symbian^3 OS had the update we'd been hoping for. It's still recognisable as Symbian - you'll find the same menu system, with its green hovering circle that shows what tools and programs are open. But while we've found its predecessors rather cumbersome and characterless, Symbian^3 OS has crisp icons that sit above the wallpaper and look as if they're in 3D. There are three home screens, which can each be customised with shortcuts, social network feeds and all kinds of apps from the Ovi store.

But that's not all you can expect from Symbian^3. It now lets the user read text messages in a conversation-like feed, as Apple and Android users have been able to do for some time. It also has a far better virtual keyboard. Hold the device in portrait mode and you'll be presented with an alphanumeric version of the keyboard. Turn the handset on its side and you'll be rewarded with a spacious QWERTY keyboard, which we much prefer. The QWERTY keyboard is wonderfully responsive and offered one of the fastest and most accurate messaging facilities we've enjoyed. Mind you, you do have to press the ‘1' key to get to the numeric pad and punctuation keys, which slows you down somewhat if you want to make your messages grammatically correct.

Finding your way

You can have multiple email accounts, and setting up Hotmail, Yahoo and Gmail is as simple as typing in your address and password. We also really like the way you can show your email in order of date, sender, subject, priority, unread and attachments - it's as close to a desktop email experience that you can get. If you need to, it is also possible to adjust the font size.

This year, Nokia announced that its superb Ovi Maps would be free and could be used wherever you are in the world. So on the Nokia N8 it is possible to view detailed maps on its excellent 3.5-inch screen and get voice directions to your destination, as well as being able to visit points of interest along the way, whether you are walking or driving. Ovi Maps has a host of features - you can record your own directions, and there are a number of preloaded Lonely Planet Guides as well as its latest addition, ‘Check In'. This allows the user to post their GPS location with a message and/or picture on social networks such as Twitter and Facebook.

While we've been impressed with the sat nav fix, what really makes the Nokia N8 stand out is its 12-megapixel camera with Xenon flash and auto-focus. It offers excellent quality as well as some good features such as ISO, white balance and so on, that put it head and shoulders above its competition. Once you're used to the N8's camera, you can expect to be taking photos that are as good as those from a digital point and shoot snapper. It may not be the best for action shots or low-light situations, although that Xenon flash could well provide the extra light required.

Need for speed

Nokia has decided to furnish the N8 with an ARM 11 680 MHz processor. This is a pretty impressive piece of kit when compared with most handsets, but when you realise phones such as the iPhone 4 and Samsung Galaxy S have 1GHz processors, you can see that the N8 is lacking in power. Yes, it can manage multiple apps being opened at the same time, but each time we added another one, it slowed down a bit more. In fact, even when it was running one app, we found it a tad sluggish on opening. It is by no means slow, but for a high-end device, it cannot compete with its competition in terms of speed.

We also found a consistent Wi-Fi connection was hard to maintain - even when we tried to connect to another network, the N8 kept trying to connect to the original one, even though we'd disconnected. Apart from these problems, the N8 offers the user a really decent browsing experience, thanks in the main part to the beautiful AMOLED screen, which shows the websites as sharp and vibrant. We were also happy to see that Nokia has included the pinch and pull zooming method, along with the facility to play Flash video. This means that it is possible to watch video embedded on most websites, as well as watch your favourite BBC programmes with BBC iPlayer.

The verdict

The N8 shows what Nokia can do when it wants to. The stylish handset will appeal to the fashion conscious, and early adopters will be happy with what's going on inside. The camera and mapping facilities are standout features and, apart from its Wi-fi issues, we really enjoyed browsing the web on the device. But, we were frustrated by the slow processing speeds, and though we're impressed by the improvements made in the Symbian^3 operating system, we still prefer the Android and Apple operating systems. Let's hope that the N8 is giving a taste of good things to come from Nokia.

Read More »

Add Comment

Unknown nokia

Nokia C7

Style and handling summary for Nokia C7 review
The Nokia C7 looks rather like a pebble, and is pretty cool, thanks to its metal look and feel

User friendliness summary for Nokia C7 review
While the capacitive display impressed, the news feed and widgets were too tiny, and the home screens cluttered

Feature set summary for Nokia C7 review
With Wi-Fi, GPS, an eight-megapixel snapper with dual-LED flash and a 3.5-inch capacitive display, there's plenty here

Performance summary for Nokia C7 review
Browsing disappointed, and while the camera and sat-nav are great, the overall user experience is not a smooth one

Battery power summary for Nokia C7 review
Like most Nokia devices the C7 boasts a strong battery

Full Review and Specification for the Nokia C7
We do admire the loyalty that Nokia has shown the Symbian operating system. While many have criticised the OS, the Finnish phone manufacturer has stuck with it, which is probably why it has such a loyal following of users who never have to learn new menu systems.

Nokia has so far refused to take on Android and Windows Phone 7, as Samsung, LG and HTC have. Symbian has had a recent update - Symbian^3 - which first appeared on the Nokia N8, and now graces the Nokia C7, a touch-screen device with a social networking focus.

First impressions
The Nokia C7 is certainly a good-looking handset. Reminiscent of a stretched pebble, it looks and feels metallic, and so feels cool to the touch. Having said that, it also means that it is prone to getting covered in greasy fingerprints, so be prepared to keep wiping them off if you want it looking pristine.

While the 3.5-inch AMOLED screen looks good, we were also pleased with how responsive the capacitive screen turned out to be. It's a shame that its default setting is for three very cluttered home screens, though. Each has a total of six rows of news feeds, widgets and shortcuts. They can be altered or cut, but not individually - this meant we had to take out a whole row and then re-add widgets even if we only wanted to get rid of one. Not only that, but to delete or add you have to go through the menus as there is no facility for dragging and dropping as there is on Android devices.

Getting social
As we mentioned, at the core of the C7 is social networking. You can input your Twitter and Facebook details, and feeds from both networks will be joined into one stream. It is also possible to post updates to both networks, search for friends and upload photos. Mind you, we found that because the feed is so wee, if updates are more than a few words long, you won't be able to read the whole post without opening up the application totally anyway. When we did do this, text appeared pixelated - rather a surprise on a screen of this quality.

You'll also find Google and Bing pre-loaded on the C7, so you can choose which search engine to use. It's a shame that the text bars are so tiny, as we found it hard to see if we'd managed to actually spell out our search teams correctly. Another issue was that in landscape mode, web pages appeared with a big area of empty white space on the right side. It is possible to bring this into line by pinching and pulling, but it seems a bit of an odd omission when all is well in portrait mode. We also missed the copy and paste facility, which appears on most smartphones.

Voice search is also disappointing and doesn't compare well with that offered by Android Froyo. Google's efforts in this area have been fabulous, but on the C7 (where it's fired up by pressing a dedicated key on the right side of the device) it was robotic sounding and inconsistent - a real shame.

But there is some good news. Of the "free" mapping facilities on offer, OviMaps is one of the best and the C7 managed to offer us a speedy and accurate A-GPS fix, then the vibrant AMOLED screen did the rest. The eight-megapixel snapper is one of the best things on the C7.

Its zoom is probably smoother than most other phone cameras, and it provides a number of after effects to improve your snaps - there's also a facility for removing red-eye. We found the dual-LED flash really powerful - don't fire it off too near if you're taking pictures of people - it left us rather startled and seeing spots! The flash can also be used when recording video.

The Verdict
We were full of praise for Symbian^3 when we reviewed the Nokia N8, although we did mention some of its downsides. It seems that while Windows and Android are progressing in leaps and bounds, offering better features and usability, Symbian is plodding slowly forward. The C7 proves this - while the mapping facilities, camera and design are great, the phone is let down by limited customisation, cluttered home screens and a less-than-smooth user experience that means we'd rather choose Windows, Apple or Android than Symbian any day.

Read More »

Add Comment

Unknown nokia

Nokia C3-01 Touch and Type

Style and handling summary for Nokia C3-01 Touch and Type review
The C3-01 is a slight, aluminium handset that manages to be lightweight without seeming cheap, has good-sized keys, and boasts a capacitive display

User friendliness summary for Nokia C3-01 Touch and Type review
The C3-01 runs Symbian S40, which is Nokia’s own software designed for non-smartphones. While it offers a smooth user experience, we would have liked to see more customisation for the home screen

Feature set summary for Nokia C3-01 Touch and Type review
There’s plenty of features for a handset in this price bracket, including a five-megapixel camera with LED flash, push email and high-speed HSDPA internet

Performance summary for Nokia C3-01 Touch and Type review
The C3-01 can’t be faulted on its performance, and the keypad and touch-screen work well together

Battery power summary for Nokia C3-01 Touch and Type review
You should get through a few days on a full charge, as the C3-01 doesn’t have an excessive number of features to drain power

Full Review and Specification for the Nokia C3-01
If you were a fan of Nokia’s top-notch basic handsets during the 90s, you’ll be pleased to see it launch the C3-01 Touch and Type. While it looks like a standard candybar device, it actually has a touch-screen instead of your average screen. And this results in one of the most efficient handsets we’re seen from the Finnish phone maker in some time.

Looking good

Nokia has done well with the hardware. The phone is lightweight but manages not to seem cheap. It’s slim, with an aluminium chassis and good-sized keys, along with that capacitive display. There is no D-pad of course, which helps the minimalist design – instead navigation comes courtesy of the 2.4in display. The combination of keypad and touch-screen works well together – it makes sense to select icons on the display with a finger and then use hard keys for calls and texts.

All the standard functions work well and you’ll find you only need to make the minimum number of clicks to call and text.

It’s nice to see a 3.5mm audio jack on a basic handset, but if you want to store music you’ll need to buy yourself a microSD card, as the onboard memory is a measly 30MB. You can add up to 32GB more with a microSD card, and the slot has been well placed so that you don’t have to take out the battery to swap cards.

Back to basics

The phone is built on Symbian S40, which is Nokia’s own software designed for its non-smartphones. You’ll find one home screen with space for four toolbars – favourite contacts, time/date, and a customisable shortcut bar, on which you can add anything from calendar, mail, chat, notes, communities and notifications, or a set of hot links to Twitter and Facebook.

Tap on the time and you’ll enter the clock app, which allows you to set an alarm. Tap on the date, meanwhile, and you’ll find a really intuitive calendar. We found the touch-screen pretty responsive, although you’ll find yourself tapping harder than you would on an iPhone, for instance, scrolling is a bit on the jerky side.

The only downside is that, should you want to customise your shortcut bar or home screen, you’ll have to delve around in the rather hidden settings menu to do so – that’s if you can work out what you need to do.

Of course, back in the day this is how handsets worked, but times have moved on and it would have been nice to be able to customise the shortcut bar from the home screen. If you’re not keen on this – head into the settings menu and turn off ‘home screen mode’ and you’ll be greeted with a grid-style menu screen instead.
Snapper and net

The phone boasts a dedicated shutter button, so it feels like using a real camera when you take a picture. The five-megapixel snapper does produce rather faded shots indoors, despite its LED flash, but we were pretty pleased with our outside pictures. They can all be sent via email, Bluetooth and MMS, although there’s no facility for uploading them to social network sites.

The email and web facilities are quite basic and you may be disappointed with how non-mobile sites show in the browser. Having said that, thanks to high-speed HSDPA internet and touch-screen navigation, it’s one of the best internet user experiences we’ve found on a basic handset.

While it is possible to load Gmail, Hotmail and Microsoft Exchange email accounts onto the device, the mail program is not able to run in the background. This means you’ll only receive email when you are actually running the app.

However, it’s a comprehensive program for such a little handset, and if you use Hotmail it’s also possible to run your Windows Live Messenger chat account.

It goes without saying that, thanks to the fact it has few really advanced features, the C3-01 does not use a lot of power, and a fully charged battery will last a good few days.

The verdict

Nokia has always been famed for its standard handsets, and the C3-01 Touch and Type offers a new twist on the old favourite. The capacitive touch-screen offers a new lease of life to what is a tried-and-tested handset, making its standard facilities and basic web browsing offerings more than usable.

Read More »

Add Comment

Unknown nokia

Nokia C5-03

Style and handling summary for Nokia C5-03 review
Because it’s made of plastic, the Nokia C5-03 feels a tad tacky, but on the plus side it is lightweight and will fit into even a small pocket

User friendliness summary for Nokia C5-03 review
The touch-screen was rather disappointing and the user is limited on customisation, thanks to the move back to the Symbian Series 60.

Feature set summary for Nokia C5-03 review
A 3.5in resistive touch-screen, plus A-GPS, Wi-Fi and a five-megapixel snapper are on offer.

Performance summary for Nokia C5-03 review
The web browsing experience is hampered by issues with zooming and scrolling, and the camera offers a serviceable facility. However, the sat-nav is excellent

Battery power summary for Nokia C5-03 review
Along with 270 minutes of talktime and standby hours of 576, music lovers can enjoy 35 hours of their favourite tunes on a single battery charge

Full Review and Specification for the Nokia C5-03

There's a lot of competition in the ‘affordable' smartphone sector now, probably even more so than in the top-end of the market. Each handset manufacturer is now trying to offer the public the best possible phone, both in terms of feature set and hardware quality, so consumers are onto a winner. Orange has recently raised the bar with the introduction of its San Francisco handset, which proves just how superior a reasonably priced phone can be. So, this is the market into which Nokia has introduced its latest ‘affordable' handset, the Nokia C5-03.

First of all, don't confuse the C5-03 with the original C5, which was launched last year and which boasted a more traditional design with a 3x4 keyboard. The C5-03 comes with a touch-screen. Just beware that Nokia now seems to be calling this new release the C5, so try not to get the two muddled up.

First impressions

Using less-solid materials is one way in which manufacturers keep down the price of a phone, and Nokia has done just this with the C5-03, which is, in the main, made from plastic. While this does make it lightweight, we'd fear for its safety if it were dropped from any height. We also found it hard to prise off the back cover, which has to be done quite often if you're hot-swapping memory cards. We found we had to ease our fingernails under the chassis and we weren't impressed with the way the cover bent while we were doing this - it felt like it could snap at any minute.

Size-wise, the C5-03 is certainly friendly on the pocket. As well as being lightweight, because it is so slim you should be able to slide it into the pocket of a tight pair of jeans. And yet Nokia has still managed to squeeze in a decent sized 3.2in display - to get a decent amount of content on it, we recommend turning it into landscape viewing mode, especially if you're inputting text. Because the screen is so narrow, Nokia has chosen a 3x4 keyboard along with a T9 predictive text method to speed things along. Put the accelerometer into use, however and you'll be rewarded with a virtual QWERTY keyboard in horizontal mode. Its reasonably responsive, but we found some of the keys were oddly positioned - the enter or confirm key, for instance, is not in the bottom-right corner as you'd expect, but in the top--left corner.

Symbian OS

Over the past few months, we've been less than impressed with the Symbian OS - which is rather outdated - thanks to the progress made by the Android OS. However, when the new Symbian ˆ3 appeared on the Nokia N8, we thought there may be some hope for the Symbian operating system. Which is why it's such a disappointment to find that on the C5-03, Nokia has chosen to go backwards and load on the Symbian Series 60, which suffers from a serious lack of customisation opportunities. Both Windows Phone 7 and Android allow the user to tart up their home screens, adding widget and links. With the Symbian Series 60 only providing one home screen, customisation is severely limited. However, you can choose which four shortcuts you'd like to display at the bottom of the screen, as well as change the order in which features are displayed in the menu, and add in your most-dialled contacts.

Sure, it is possible to change wallpapers and themes, but it doesn't really allow the user to make the C5-03 truly their own. And we have another gripe with Symbian Series 60 - you can't exit a program just by pressing a home key, you have to physically exit out of it, which means you can end up with a number of programs running in the background and having a detrimental effect on your power usage.

Web browsing

Despite the fact that the Nokia C5-03 has the benefits of Wi-Fi, HSUPSA and HSDPA, browsing the internet was not an enjoyable experience. It's not that it lacks speed, but that it lacks a number of useful tools. For instance, there is no zoom facility, instead you have to double-tap on the display - and you can only do this once. Nor is there any auto-fit on offer, so whether you hold the handset in landscape or portrait mode, you'll find there's a limited amount of content to be viewed on the screen. Another problem was that a lot of the website images could not be displayed. We were prepared to be lenient, because of the budget price tag, but you can't ignore these issues.

However, there is a bonus in the shape of the sat-nav offering. Nokia is well known for its high-quality mapping services and thankfully the C5-03 has not missed out on this. Drivers will find the display too small, for anyone on foot, being able to follow accurate voice directions is a bonus that even some of the pricer smartphones fail to offer. But we were most impressed with the highly accurate and speedy GPS fix. Not only will you see the road you are heading along shown at the top of the screen, it will even show you the number of the building you're walking past. Sheer perfection.
Nokia handsets are also well known for the quality of their snappers, and the C5-03 has a five-megapixel camera on offer. It's just a shame there's no dedicated camera key. Instead, you have to access the camera via the menu, and to take a photo you have to tap the display - not great when it is so unreliable. Nokia has chosen not to include a flash, and also takes up about a third of the screen with the snapper's settings option. We would have been happier to see the icons floating at the bottom of the display.
Verdict

As we said at the start, handset manufactures have been cutting corners to bring low-price smartphones to market, but what the C5-03 fails to do is offer the ease of use expected from a low-cost phone. This is mostly because of the inclusion of the user-unfriendly Symbian Series 60 OS and that unreliable touch-screen. We were disappointed in the web browsing experience, and while the snapper is reasonable, the phone's sole standout offering its mapping. While there are plenty of entry-level handsets featuring the more user-friendly Android, as well as comparable feature-sets, we suspect that the Nokia C5-03 will find it hard to compete with the likes of the Orange San Francisco.

Read More »

Add Comment

Unknown nokia

Nokia X2

Style and handling summary for Nokia X2 review
The shiny, stylish design of the X2 is only marred by the rather odd choice of a metal back panel. Its keys are user friendly and it sits comfortably in the hand

User friendliness summary for Nokia X2 review
The Symbian 40 system may be a tad elderly now but it remains very accessible, and its user friendliness is only improved by the addition of media playback keys

Feature set summary for Nokia X2 review
The five-megapixel snapper is better than many, although the lack of Wi-Fi or 3G make the handset rather limited in terms of data capabilities

Performance summary for Nokia X2 review
The X2 is a speedy performer and it works well, apart from the issue of data speeds

Battery power summary for Nokia X2 review
Thanks to the lack of Wi-Fi or 3G, this handset lasts for days between charges

Full Review and Specification for the Nokia X2
When Nokia first brought out its X-series, the handsets offered a combination of good storage for music along with a speedy, responsive touch-display, which hadn't previously been offered by the Finnish phone manufacturer. The X2 also concentrates on music, but also has a conventional keypad, along with a much lower pricetag.

First impressions
Glossy black is the order of the day for the front of the device and its keypad, along with the sides and part of the back. There are also matte red buttons and strips and a metal battery cover which, strangely, is actually dark grey and looks like it doesn't quite go with the rest of the phone. An odd choice.

The matte red strips are actually multimedia buttons - you'll find media control buttons on the left side, while the volume rocker, camera button and microSD card slot sit on the right hand edge. They don't look awful, but there's something decidedly lopsided about the way the handset is designed. The phone also comes in a blue and white version.
Smart snapper
The snapper on the handset's back is a pleasant surprise - it comes in at five megapixels and also has a flash, although there is fixed focus, not auto focus. We found images okay, although not fantastic, as they appeared somewhat washed out. Having said that, if you like to upload snaps to Facebook, it did this well using the Facebook app - but the lack of 3G on the X2 means this takes some time to achieve.

However, as we said at the beginning, the main focus of the X2 is music. There is the opportunity to insert cards of up to 16GB in the multimedia slot, so you can save plenty of your favourite tunes. And with a 3.5mm headphone jack on the top of the device you can listen to your music on your favourite headphones.

While we weren't that impressed with the look of the multimedia buttons, they do their job well. So if you happen to have your phone in your pocket while you're enjoying your music, you can easily feel which button to press to step forward or back or play/pause.

While they work well, it's unfortunate that the keypad locks after a while and you can't override this if you want to use just the media buttons, which is a disappointment. Of course, you could always set the keyguard timer to a longer length of time, but we'd have really liked to see the multimedia buttons work anyway.
Music playback
It's also possible to control the music via the navigation pad. As your music plays, the track and artist show up on the home screen. You can scroll to the track, then press select to find the playback screen with playback controls - an easier way to navigate your music collection if you're actually looking at the phone, rather than if it's tucked in a pocket.

There's plenty going on on that home screen. As well as the usual signal strength, battery info, time and network information, under that you'll find music as well as the links to the Ovi app store and built-in radio. And that's not all - there's a shortcut carousel that leads to the Facebook app, messaging and the video and photo gallery. It is also possible to customise your shortcuts to be more pleasing to the eye.

The X2 is a decent device with plenty going for it, especially its price. But the omission of Wi-Fi and 3G is a big one.
The verdict
While the Nokia X2 is very affordable and looks good, the Symbian S40 operating system is getting a tad outdated and the omission of 3G is a big letdown. Even the most basic handset could benefit from a speedy data connection - however, for the price it's not a bad phone.

Read More »

Add Comment

Unknown nokia

Nokia E7

User friendliness summary for Nokia E7 review

We love the solid feel of the E7's metal body, but sliding out the QWERTY keyboard takes quite a lot of force. The phone feels very business like, thanks to the Symbian^3 operating system, which is unlike the user-friendly interfaces of Android and iPhone handsets

User friendliness summary for Nokia E7 review

Despite the face that Symbian^3 is a revitalised operating system that is supposed to be optimised for touch-screen handsets, it is neither user friendly or smooth in use - and the out-of-date software makes it frustrating to use many of the handset's features

Feature set summary for Nokia E7 review

There's a long list of features - accurate GPS with free sat-nav from Ovi Maps, excellent email, HSDPA and Wi-Fi for web access, an eight-megapixel snapper offering HD video recording, plus an HDMI port so you can view on a large high-def screen. It's a shame the software doesn't equal it

Performance summary for Nokia E7 review

The E7 is a good multitasker but we did find it would slow to a stop if we had eight programs running. The operating system is clunky and not fun to use, especially if you've experienced Android and iPhone operating systems.

Battery power summary for Nokia E7 review

Unimpressive battery life, even for a smartphone - it hardly managed to last for nine hours

Full Review and Specification for the Nokia E7

Back in the mists of time (which isn't that long ago in mobile phone terms) beloved of the geek squad were Nokia and its range of Communicator mini-PCs. The last device to carry that name was the E90 (in 2007), but Nokia has brought it back to life in the E7 - interestingly just as Nokia has revealed that it is dumping the Symbian OS to partner up with Microsoft to make the Windows Phone 7 smartphones. In terms of closure, it would have been delightful if the E7 had proved to be a wonderful swansong for Symbian, but unfortunately the software just makes the handset really hard and irritating to use.

Looks

On the outside, the E7 looks very professional. It has a smart-looking metal chassis, which feels solid, as well as a four-inch touch-screen with Nokia's Clear Black display and a resolution of 30x640. The touch technology has been well designed - there's a really nice soft haptic blip when your touch is acknowledged. Under the display you'll find the home button, which is also the all-programs button when you're actually home. On the side edges are a dedicated camera button which fires up the camera when you press and hold it, volume button and a lock-screen switch.

An HDMI port will let you watch your HD content on the large screen of an HDTV. All good so far - but when we tried to slide out the QWERTY backyards we found the mechanism really stiff and hard to move. Once you get it going, it flies out with a loud crack, for all the world as if might trap your fingers. We really like typing on the keyboard - although it might be a bit of stretch for smaller hands as the direction keys mean the keyboard's middle is further to the left than normal.

Symbian^3, is supposed to be an update of the old Symbian found on Nokia's more aged smartphones, and gives the handset a business look with its uniform widgets and squared off edges. There are three customisable homescreens, but you can't add app shortcuts directly, which is a bit of a faff - instead you have to first add a shortcut widget, to which you add your chosen apps. Strangely, Nokia has taken away the usual small clock/time at the top corner and replaced it with a large weather widget and clock that can't be taken away.

While the OS looks better than its predecessors, it just can't compete with the usability of iPhone or Android systems, nor prove as efficient as the BlackBerry OS.

Back to basics

There's a comprehensive lineup of features - social networking, sat-nav, camera, email and web. You'll find a preloaded shortcut that lets you set up all your accounts, although before you sort out social network accounts you have to first set up an Ovi account. It's a bit of a faff, but no different to having to set up a Gmail account to activate Android handsets.

The handset is operated via a combination of keyboard and touch-screen, which works pretty well, and the responsive touch-screen means that the virtual keyboards (QWERTY in landscape and T9-style number pad in portrait mode) are very easy to use when typing.

Phone calls are easy - enter the first few letters of a name and their profile will appear - but text messaging is not so simple. To get a recipient, first you have to press on the contacts book, then type in the contacts name, then choose by which method you want to contact them.

The E7's 680MHz processor doesn't live up to the 1GHz chip in the present superphones, but the handset can manage ‘true' multitasking - which the iPhone, for instance, can't do. This means, for instance, that you can check out your emails even while you're waiting for a website to load. Mind you, it all slowed to a halt when we had eight programs running - and an alert popped up tell us to shut something down. This you can achieve through the multitasking menu - something even some Android handsets can't manage.

Battery life is disappointing - maybe because of its multitasking capabilities. We only managed nine hours with Wi-Fi- but no sat-nav or music - on. If you were heading out after work you'd be wise to charge it at your desk before you go.

Internet

The four-inch display offers a decent enough space for browsing the web, but the browser is so clunky that if you bring up the display address bar, the boxes that appear to assist you in navigating to the next page take up at least half the screen. If you want to visit a previous page hit the back button and a carousel of your previously visited pages will appear. It's sort of useful, but very different to the simpler options from other handsets.

The social networking app for Twitter and Facebook feeds suffers from the same problem. There are huge bars at the base and right edge of the screen that covered up the activity feed, while if you want to use Twitter, you won't be able to retweet - only reply and favourite.

Snapper

Things improve with the eight-megapixel snapper, which offers a dual LED flash, auto-focus and face focus. There are lots of pre-and post-production tools for tweaking your images - exposure and contrast settings, preset scene modes, plus rotating, cropping and colour correction. A nifty feature is when you pinch the screen the aspect switches between 4:3 and widescreen.

Daylight images looked good, but zooming in revealed pixelation. The colours are a little darker than in reality, but when we tried to change the exposure the lighter colours were overexposed. While it has a certain artistic element, the camera is by no means the point-and-shoot model found on the N8.

Redeeming features

The E7 has two saving graces - excellent email and sat nav. It is possible to sync up to 10 email accounts, and inbox widgets will automatically appear on your home screen. It is easy to switch between your various accounts and there are keyboard shortcuts for composing, replying to and deleting emails easily. The white text appears on a black background - it may be plain but it is also efficient.

Whether from web mail or Microsoft Exchange server email, we found that new mails appeared immediately - sometimes before they even appeared on the desktop account. If you really only wanted a handset for emailing, the E7 would be your answer. And on the navigation front, there is Nokia's free Ovi Maps, which proves a very decent replacement for sat nav, especially on the E7's display. The GPS proved accurate down to the door number and there are loads of features such as the ability to set a ‘home', and voice directions as well as TripAdvisor and Michelin add-ons that provide information of service nearby.

There are business features too - including QuickOffice, Notes, PDF reader - there's even a zip file maker. Voice Reader can read back text messages - and we found it surprisingly accurate.

The verdict

The shame about the E7 is that it has so many cool features and useful additions - but it's all let down by the Symbian operating system, which is just not intuitive or user-friendly enough compared with the competition. It's confusing, clunky and still suffers from the issues that bugged older versions of the OS. It just proves too frustrating to use, despite its excellent email and sat nav functionality.

Read More »

Add Comment

Unknown nokia