Today
I will review a unique product which has got lost in the maze of a
plethora of cellphones in the market. I have had this piece for nearly
2 years now and it has been with me through thick and thin
(figuratively speakin’). This review is about my Nokia 3300 .
I
bought this piece from an Novelty Market inIndore for 5500.
This is an original Finland make phone. As accessories I got a data
cable, an included 64 mb mmc card(nokia) and a nifty handsfree. Thanks
to my dealer again:)
Now
coming to the phone. This is a series 40 phone with mp3 and radio
capabilities. It has a slot beneath the battery where you would place
the MMC card. I have tested out MMC’s upto 512 MB without any problems
whatsoever. As soon as you connect the 3300 to a Win 2000/XP computer
the drivers are automatically installed and it shows up as a flash
drive. The data transfer rate is real fast considering it is a USB 2.0
device.
The battery life of the phone is 3 days of normal use
and 2 days of intensive use(music or games). Yes, it does support a
lot of java games and the bundled games are also a delight!
Display:
It
has a pretty bright display(good at night, ) but is a bit dull under
daylight. It has a square and big(compared to most other Nokia phones)
screen with 4096 colours. This is less colours compared to most other
64k colour phones, but is decent enough for normal users. The screen
type is passive matrix(not TFT LCD.) This is a bit dull and of low
resolution compared to LCD and creates ’’Ghosts’’ in fast moving games.
(Ghosting is an effect where light impression of the previous image
remains on the screen for a fraction of a second.) This should not
bother normal users, it is not easily noticeable and is at times give a
smoothening effect to most games or animations. The predefined
wallpapers, supplied default in the handset, are bogus and does not
project the full beauty of coloured screen.
he complete specs(tech) is as follows
-Weight 4.4 Ounces
-Dimensions 2.5 x 4.5 x 0.7
-Technology GSM/GPRS
-Band 850/1900
-Games yes
-Custom Graphics yes
-Color Display yes
-Downloadable Applications Java
-Phone book numbers 500
-Predictive text input full keyboard
-Custom Ringtones yes
-Stand-by Time 228 hours
-Talk Time 150
-wap yes
-Speakerphone yes
-Faceplates yes
-MMS yes
-Music enabled Stereo FM radio and MP3/AAC
-SMS yes
-DATA GPRS
Ringtone:
You
can have Midi or Mp3/AAC audio files as your ringtone. It can play
simultaneously upto 24 midi instruments(pretty good compared to 4 and
16 capability of other Nokia handsets.) Mp3/AAC ringtones(also known
as Truetones or Singtones) are not that loud and clear, but in any
standard, better than that of other contemporary phones providing this
feature. Overall, the loudspeaker of the phone is not ’’loud’’ at all!
ringtones are not audible in too noisy environments but nonetheless, is
clear and soothing.
User Intrerface:
The phone
has a new User Interface, but overall menu style remains the same.
Comparatively, NGage has a more sleeker and better(very much like Sony
Ericsson type) menu navigation system.
Memory:
It
has a good 4MB of internal memory and storage is dynamically shared
between Gallery, SMS, Addressbook and other phone settings. This is
more than enough for normal users. But that’s not all, you can also
access MMC cards that can store upto 128MB of data. Weird but true, you
cannot access the MMC card to view or use images.(I wonder why this
restriction exists!)
Audio:
The sound quality is
unbelievably great.(With AAC codec pre-installed in the phone, music
can be encoded in very high quality at half the size of Mp3.) It has
stereo widening, loudness and 5-band graphic equalizer support. The
stereo FM radio’s audio is crystal clear but the reception quality is
poor in areas far away from FM broadcasting towers and also poor when
the phone is in high-speed motion(i.e. in cars, Trains, etc) It has a
good voice clarity, but its loudspeaker isn’t that loud, compared to
Ngage, 3100 and others. The recorder is pretty basic and can be started
using a dedicated record button on the phone. You can record music from
FM radio(at surprisingly great quality) and from any audio source
through a line-in jack. Again weird is its incapability to record a
call conversation or use the phone’s microphone as a recording source!
Gaming:
It
has pretty good gaming features with so many extra keys and Gamepad
like design. However, the passive matrix display is a slight problem
and it has a comparatively slow processor. It has no Bluetooth or IR
facility for direct gameplay. It supports a wide range of Java games.
PC Connectivity:
It
easily connects to PC with the supplied USB DKU-2 cable. Only Nokia
Audio Manager 3.1(supplied with the phone) works to encode AAC files
and to transfer Mp3/AAC files and M3U playlists onto the phone. Weird
again, Nokia PC Suite does not work with the phone(as of now.) This
means you cannot access Addressbook, SMS or Gallery items. This is a
serious problem even for normal phone users.
Full Feature Set: (as on Nokia website)
Dimensions
>Weight: 125 g
>Measurements: 114 mm x 63 mm x 20 mm, 115 cc
Digital Music Player and Recorder
>Digital music player for MP3 and AAC files
>Digital recorder(AAC) from stereo FM radio and from analog stereo line-in connector
>Music file download from compatible PC over USB cable
>Memory card(MMC) as storage for music content and ringing tones
>Five-band graphical equalizer and stereo widening to enhance playback sound
>High-fidelity stereo headset for music player, stereo FM radio, and voice calls
Stereo FM Radio
>Music available from favorite radio channels
>Automatic channel search
>Preset user definable 20 radio channels in memory
>Integrated recorder(AAC)
Enhanced Messaging Features
>Multimedia Messaging(MMS): Storage for up to 50 MMS messages
>Enhanced SMS support: chat, distribution list, SMS concatenation
>Templates, and picture messages.
>Storage for up to 150 SMS messages
More Fun with Games
>Optimized game controls for two-hand use
>Supports Mobile Information Device Profile 1.0(MIPD 1.0)
>Listen to music player or stereo FM radio while playing games
Content with WAP Browser
>WAP over GPRS/CSD
Imaging
>Picture viewer, Storage for up to 50 pictures
Hardware Characteristics
>Codec support for HR, FR, EFR
>Data support CSD, GPRS(2+2, 3+1, Class B)
>Pop-Port™ bottom interface connector
>Stereo line in for audio recording(2.5 mm analog)
>Slave USB 1.1. for digital music PC download
>Four-way scroll key, separate volume and record keys, FM radio and music key
>In-built Vibra with profile support
Phone Features
>Personal ringing tones for incoming calls: Mp3/AAC/Midi
>Full profiles settings
>Graphical meter for pre-paid
>Full SIM ATK 2
>PIM: Calendar(up to 250 entries), To-Do(up to 30 entries)
>Calculator, Reminders, Stop Watch, Countdown Timer
Dual-