Hi Ppl.. Nokia 3230 is my fourth phone (after using Nokia 8250, Sony Ericson Z-200, Nokia 6100 - in the same order) and I am totally happy with it (?!).
I am not a spendthrift (atleast dont want to be one, especially on cell phones which depreciate so fast!!) but a tech savvy / gadget freak. So have been looking out for a truly affordable all-in-one phone. Have checked the Motorola MPX 200, Imate JAM etc (which are essentially windows mobile based smartphones). They are ok but too expensive and I am sure you can easily buy a laptop at that price :) Nokia 3230 stands unique in this league for the primary reason of its affordabilty. I have piad Rs 15900/- with bill and I have got some 3 grand for my old mobile so I feel at 13K, it might not be a steal but good Value For Money. Don’t get too excited till you reach the end of the review about the tru color of VFM!!
The phone screen is big and has got v good resolution, camera is really good - better than similar phone cameras, and signal reception is good, as the case would be with any Nokia mobile. It has got a whole gamut of feautres (which you can find on Nokia site) but the things to look out for are
-> FM Radio is good but dont expect a very good quality
-> MP3 player - same as above. So, so quality especially if U really lkie your music
-> WAP / GPRS: I have it activated on my phone and the speed is ok (much slower than imate may be because of the slower processor) but the bigger problem is the screen layout. Though U can access the web page, it becomes really cumbersome to browse. I have also connected it to my laptop and the browsing speed is at par with some slower dial-ups. :(
-> The keypad layout was off balance initially, but U get used to it in no time. So dont worry too much about this.
Now lets get to the real ’moral of the story’! I have been using this phone for past one month and I have used the phone camera for 10 shots max, browsed the net may be for 2 minutes, and have not heard FM or mp3s at all cos of poor quality (and also cos I have my Creative FM/MP3 player which is really good). I have used the phone to makes calls and messages for 99.9% of time and I was able to do the same equally effectively with my previous Nokia 6100. So have I made a good decision by parting with 13grand for the features that I don’t use? Thats a million dollar question!!
The conclusion is that 3230 has got great array of feautures at a 16grand price but the quality of the features are also effected by the poor pricing. The best part is it does its basic function, to behave like a phone in a very nice way and thumbs up for that!!