It has been a long time since I wrote a cell phone rvu (the last was on LG 1500 way back in April last year) and moreover I have got a new cell phone(2 actually-the other one is exchanged in Reliance) so it’s a perfect time to write a rvu on it.
With a budget of 6, 000 or slightly more I had choices of Sony T-230, Nokia 2600, Nokia 3120 and going higher I had 6610 and 6100. The price difference between 6610, 6100 and 3120 is about 2000 bucks while what I don’t get in Nokia 3120 is an Infrared port and FM radio. Else all the features are there in 3120. So in the end I went for Nokia 3120. Let’s get in the details of the fone:
First of all Nokia 3120 is a Tri-band fone.
Looks: O.K. Let me first tell you 3120 is an improved version of 3100. The looks are far better than 3100 and it is sleek and sexy. It has a metal shiny sort of look compared to 3100. Dual coloured body with the front case being silver coloured metal and the back side is made up of plastic which is cheap. From the front the fone is impressive but back side should have been more compatible with the front portion. The dimensions are 101.8 x 42.6 x 19.4 slightly lesser than both 6610 and 6100 (& even 1100). But it looks more smaller compared to these too. Weight is 84 g and so it’s also lighter than the other two. While 3100 didn’t look like the money spent this one looks costlier but its not. The charging port and data transfer port are at the bottom while the speaker is at the top right hand side. (Same place as in 2300, 1100 and 2600). Interchangeable body covers are available which you wont get in 6610.
Keypad: The keypad is much improved from 3100. It resembles much to 6610. The keys are of metal and symbols are embossed so no tension of them being erased. 4-way navigation is present here. In the standby mode these keys serve as shortcut keys to text editor, calendar, and phonebook. (Its not customizable though) The two selection keys present right below the display perform function indicated on the display. Below them are other two keys. The right one dials a number and answers a call. Also it serves as a shortcut key for various in-call functions. In the idle mode it gives a list of recently dialed nos. The left hand side key is used to end or reject a call. Its more like a cancel or exit key. The power key is at the top of the fone. Its useless. You have to press it hard to switch on or off the cell. The “0” key serves as a shortcut to browser in standby mode. Backlight is cream in colour. Rhythmic flashing backlight alert is present too.
Battery: One great feature of this fone. Battery is BR-5c-the slim battery that’s runs very long. The battery requires approximately 20-30 mins of charging when it slightly more than discharged (it has 7 pointers) Runs for about 4 days with heavy usage(less browsing though). Battery life is higher than both 6610 and 6100. Company suggests talktime of upto 2-6hrs and standby of about 170 to 410 hrs. Overall I am thoroughly satisfied with the battery. SIM holder is beneath the battery and once again it’s a tough job to take out the SIM. The holder lock is tough to open.
Display: Display is 4096 colours with 128 x 128 pixels. It’s a high resolution passive matrix color display. 5 lines for text in basic mode with 16-pixel font are supported and display brightness can be adjusted. The display even though shares same as 6610 or 6100 but is richer and easily visible (because of passive matrix). The fone automatically enters in power saver mode where it displays a digital clock after a particular period of time which is not adjustable by the user. Though the display fades in direct sunlight but is visible still.
Messages: The fone supports Picture msgs, Colour Logos, SMS, MMS too. It has shared memory so the ringtones, applications, wallpaper, games, memory all use the same memory. Presently I have 120 SMS in my inbox. No multimedia msg as yet. New folders can be created. Msg. counter(sent, received) is present. Templates and distribution lists can also be created. The max. limit of MMS msg is 45kb. The formats of MMS supported are jpeg, gif, png and bmp for pictures and midi for sound. Group messaging is supported.
Contacts:300 contacts can be stored. Numbers can be for fax, mobile, home, office or general. Can assign photo-id’s to callers to numbers too. Caller groups (5) are present which can be modified. All the normal phone-book functions can be performed. Searching is easy too. No one can beat Nokia in user-friendliness.
Tones and Pictures: The fone supports Polyphonic ringtones (4-bit) and in MIDI format. It comes with pre-installed 25 polyphonic ringtones and 10 monophonic ringtones. Monophonic ringtones can be received directly and for Polyphonic ringtones you need to have GPRS on. The ring volume is surprisingly loud enough and audible in less crowded. The best option is to keep vibrating alert on. Polyphonic ringtones can also be downloaded from PC or GPRS and you can store them in gallery. Various folders can be created for different purposes. Wallpapers can be downloaded as well. The fone has pre-installed 10 wallpapers in jpg and gif format. Mind you no composer is present so the only option to send ringtones is by MMS. Video clips are not supported.
Games and Applications: Java is supported as a result Applications and games can be downloaded. The total memory of the fone is roughly around 800KB. Three games come pre-installed-Beach Rally, Snake and Nature Park. Each of them is roughly around 50KB. I have deleted Nature Park. Java based applications can be downloaded. No application comes preinstalled. Other features like Stopwatch (lap), Countdown timer, Calculator (10 places with square root) and World Time.
Connectivity: The fone supports GPRS1 for always on data and browsing. The fone xHTML1 browser (over WAP 1.2.1 Stack) for improved browsing experience and richer graphics and as I had said earlier as the display is rich browsing WAP sites is a pretty cool experience. For other connectivity’s we have USB connector support. Moreover the fone can also be connected to PC with connectivity cable DKU-5. Nokia PC suite8 can be installed for data transfer and synchronization. It also has Digital Rights Management (OMA forward lock) for content protection. But the fone doesn’t have IR port, nor Bluetooth so the only data transfer option is through cables. But I don’t usually have the need for the support and that is the main reason why I didn’t go for 6610.
O.k I think I have described the fone completely. I got this fone for Rs.5, 900/- with bill. Now the fone doesn’t have a FM radio as well. But I have a FM handsfree kit so I just key it in and lo my 3120 turns into 6610 devoid of IR. Other thing which will be of concern to guys is less memory. But after all the other features and the Nokia brand name which u get at the price you pay makes this fone worth buying. So if you want to go for a low end colour screen then this is the fone for you.