| Nokia 2100 |
| General |
| Network | Gsm 900 / Gsm 1800 |
| Announced | 1q, 2003 |
| Status | Available |
| Size |
| Dimensions | 105 X 44 X 20 Mm, 77 Cc |
| Weight | 85 G |
| Display |
| Type | Monochrome Graphic |
| Size | 96 X 65 Pixels |
| | - White Backlight
- Rhythmic Backlight Alert
- Full Display Screensaver
- Dynamic Font Size
- Softkeys |
| Ringtones |
| Type | Monophonic |
| Amount | 35 Fixed + Downloadable |
| Customization | Composer, Download, |
| Vibration | Yes |
| Memory |
| Phonebook | 100 |
| Call Records | 10 Dialed, 10 Received, 10 Missed Calls |
| Card Slot | No |
| | - Dynamic Phonebook Memory
- Editable Message Templates |
| Data |
| Gprs | No |
| Hscsd | No |
| Edge | No |
| 3g | No |
| Wlan | No |
| Bluetooth | No |
| Infrared Port | No |
| Usb | |
| Features |
| Messaging | Sms |
| Browser | |
| Clock | Yes |
| Alarm | Yes |
| Games | 3 - Link5, Space Impact, Snake Ii |
| Colors | 3 (yellow, Green, And Grey) + Xpress-on Covers |
| Languages | Major European Languages |
| Camera | No |
| | - T9 For 10 Languages
- Sms To Many
- Calculator
- Currency Converter
- Stopwatch
- Picture Messaging
- Xpress-on Front And Back Covers |
| Battery |
| | Standard, Li-ion 720 Mah (bld-3) |
| Stand-by | Up To 50 - 150 H |
| Talk Time | Up To 2 H - 3 H 20 M |
|
Nokia - 2100Budgetary with the Nokia 2100
Major features
White backlighting for display and keypad area
Soft, translucent Xpress-on cover design
SMS and picture messaging support, with the ability to set up distribution lists
Built-in picture composer (for picture messages and screen savers)
Internal phone book memory
Animated and static screen saver feature
Rhythmic backlight and vibrate for ringing and message tones
Automatic keyguard feature
Problems/Issues?
Menu system can lag at times
Sales package (should contain):
1 x Nokia 2100 handset
1 x lithium-ion battery @ 720 mAh (BLD-3)
1 x standard charger (ACP-7 type)
1 x 2100 user manual
Overview
How many of you people out there are actually getting tired of seeing the same looking Nokia phone, which is also being marketed as a different model altogether that has one or two new features thrown in? The models within the Nokia 3300 series of phones are a fine example of this - and I’d wish they hadn’t based up to four handsets (3315, 3330, 3350, and 3410) on the same look and feel!
And for those who feel that the 3510/3510i are no different either, then you can add that to the list too!
Anyway, Nokia has recently wakened up to this fact (possibly) and have come up with a somewhat fresher design. The 2100 is the new trendsetter for market entry handsets, taking on a new physical design plus providing minor improvements in areas that are yet to be covered by some other current models.
An el-cheapo handset is not your cup of tea? Never mind - you can read up on those other reviews. But for those first-time buyers and conservationists who just wants a phone that simply does what it’s designed for, read on to find out more about the 2100! :)
New/outstanding features
The most noticeable difference between the 2100 and older models is its new translucent design, which gives off a slight sense of freshness to current phone designs. The 8310 used a similar design concept, which I believe has been welcomed by many up till today.
It does not try to impress on features. Similar to the 3310/3315, the phone doesn’t have WAP or connectivity capabilities. It’s simply a phone for making and receiving calls and text/picture messages with - probably enough for many people who don’t really give a stuff about WAP.
Oh, Nokia decided to give the 2100 a bigger phone book than before - supporting up to 100 single number entries where you can assign a specific ringtone for any one of them. It also has a simple reminder function that keeps your daily routines on-track!
Physical aspects
Sized a tad smaller than the 3300-series models, the 2100 is definitely more friendly to your jeans or shirt pockets that it calls home when you’re out and about. Although it has a more rectangular footprint, Nokia never fails to include rounded-off edges for any physical objects that you can see or touch. The use of the new BLD-3 type battery (being used similarly on the current 6610 and 7210 models) could be one of the reasons why the 2100 can be smaller and lighter.
For the keypad, Nokia has gone back to the use of a rubbery material previously found on older models like the 6110 and 7110 (and the Communicator models - but I don’t really see models like the 9110/9210 as being mainstream mobile phones). Each row of three buttons is pieced together, which makes removing and replacing the keypad set easy when the covers are changed.
Don’t get me wrong - there’s nothing wrong with going with the rubbery material. Just that it has been a while since I’ve seen the use of this by Nokia. And incidentally, the rubber keypad actually conveys the white backlighting through pretty well, matching near-perfectly with the translucent casing design too!
A new SIM bracket design has been incorporated into the 2100, which seemingly makes it easier to insert and remove a SIM card plus reducing any possible problems that may surface (for examples, “insert SIM card” messages because of a slight dislocation of the actual SIM card within its holder. A little clip/latch at the top of the SIM bracket needs to be locked or unlocked before the phone battery can be inserted or unlocked respectively.
Nokia has also made some slight revisions in the designs of the Xpress-on covers, where removal of the back cover is now done by pressing down onto a tab at the top end of the casing. Traditionally, all Nokia phones with Xpress-on covers requires the depressing of a button on the back cover, which can then be slid off and subsequently allowing the front cover to be lifted off. On the 2100, the back cover also comes off via lifting, and is actually easier to remove and replace than covers found on the 3310.
User Interface & display
The 2100 retains a similar look and feel of other black-and-white-screened Nokia handsets, but you may realise a slight difference in the type and size of the typeface used on the screen (in other words, the font for the text display). On most Nokia models, you could only fit up to nine numbers on a single line before the digits start appearing on the row above. For the 2100, ten digits fit comfortably on a single line - and not sacrificing readability either!
White backlighting also plays a part on improving screen clarity and the overall user experience (imagine squinting at the LCD screen because of lack of lighting!) The 2100 is probably one of the first entry-level handsets to use white LEDs for illumination, with most still retaining the traditional and very-boring green lights.
These slight differences aren’t all that new. If you’ve seen and/or used the 3610 before (available in Asian markets only), you will know the 2100 adopted this from there (a little clue - 3610’s hardware code is NAM-1, 2100’s is NAM-2).
However, I found that the 2100 design is more than just “based” - but more like taking the 3610 hardware design and removing whatever is not required (like WAP). Some of the inherent problems found on the 3610 are still existent on the 2100, which goes to show that Nokia isn’t all that proactive about perfecting or refining their products (for more details on this, please refer to the Problems/issues section on Page 3 of this review).
Making and receiving calls
There are a few things to take note here. For those who have or are using models in the Nokia 3300 series, they all came with the voice dialling capability. On the 2100, voice dialling is not an available feature - weird when you consider the fact that the 3310 predecessor had this, which was positioned and marketed to the same consumer segment as the present 2100 model.
Another slight problem I experienced with the review unit I had was the intermittent feedback in the audio from the earpiece. At the same time, you can hear a bit of the “buzzing” sound through the earpiece as well, which directly affects call quality. I’m personally not too sure whether these are common problems with the 2100’s - but it has been a while since I’ve last used a Nokia mobile phone with such problems.
Messaging
A standard set of Nokia messaging support is provided on the 2100. This means the ability to send standard text messages with concatenation available, SMS chat, and picture messaging.
The 2100 also offers a new feature, appropriately named distribution lists, which allows its user to set up lists that contain a specific group of numbers in them. You can uniquely identify groups by giving them a name. When paired up with the messaging functions, it allows the user to send that same message to all the people in a list with just a few simple steps. Distribution lists is a feature that’s probably very much needed in today’s texting environment.
Build quality
A revised Xpress-on cover design offers improved ease of use (removal and replacing) plus improving on the phone’s rigidity and build. Previously, Xpress-on covers required each other (front and back) to be held together - but there were still minor problems like faint squeaking sounds. For the 2100 covers, however, there are clips on the sides of the covers that actually grab onto the phone itself which can reduce the previously-mentioned problems.
Overall, the 2100 is a tough little phone that is indeed comparable in quality as compared to most other Nokia models.
Battery life
On average use, I was able to obtain approximately 2-3 hours worth of talk time, and 2-3 days standby. Comparatively speaking, the 2100 is not the best performer when it comes to energy conservation.
Major features...
White backlighting for display and keypad area
Being both stylish and practical, the white backlighting on the 2100 provides the illumination for both keypad and display areas. When compared to the traditional green LEDs used on other market-entry models, the white provides more-than-sufficient illumination levels plus matching any Xpress-on cover colour you may want to put on too!
Soft, translucent Xpress-on cover design
Several different Xpress-on covers are available for the 2100, each varying greatly in colour but maintaining use of a common translucent material that goes well with the phone’s white backlighting system. Whatever colour you favour, there’s definitely one that’ll be right for you.
SMS and picture messaging support, with the ability to set up distribution lists
While basic SMS and picture messaging support is included on the 2100 (alike most other Nokia models), a new feature which allows a single message to be sent to multiple recipients have been added. The distribution lists feature lets its user add names from the phone book to a list, which then can be used for simple message distribution whenever necessary. Rather than having to search for every single name and repeat this until everyone’s received it, the 2100 can do this with only a few keypresses!
Built-in picture composer (for picture messages and screen savers)
The picture composer feature allows its user to create new graphics for use in picture messages as well as for screen savers too!
Internal phone book memory
A 100-number phone book memory is built into the 2100, providing an alternate storage location other than the SIM card. This is Nokia’s first entry-level model to include this memory area.
Animated and static screen saver feature
When enabled, the screen saver feature replaces the standard one-line operator name or logo displayed full-time on default. A list of animated and static screen savers are available for choosing, while you can also use pictures that you saved previously from messages for this same purpose. And if you want to get creative, use the in-built picture composer to design your own! For animated screen savers, there are several with the current date and time displayed.
Rhythmic backlight and vibrate for ringing and message tones
The 2100 can be set to have its backlighting and/or vibration alert synchronised with the actual ringing tone selected. When I say “synchronised”, this means that the backlights will blink with the individual notes of a ringtone, and the vibration doing something along the same lines. So instead of just flashing endlessly at the same frequency, this feature can actually bring some life in your phone!
Automatic keyguard feature
An automatic keyguard facility allows the phone to enable the keypad lock automatically after a predefined timeout period. This feature becomes a convenient feature for those individuals who tend to forget to turn on this feature after making a call.
Problems/Issues?
Menu system can lag at times
Sharing a similar problem as the 3610, the 2100 has a problem of keeping up with user keypresses within particular features. For example, people who are fast at typing SMS messages on T9 will realise a slight lag between actually typing the word into the phone and it being displayed on the screen.
When performing other operations with the 2100, like going through the phone menus, this drag may not be as apparent. I found that it was just the specific features or functions that really bothered me at times, which I believed that Nokia could have rectified in this model after learning from its so-called predecessor model, the 3610.
But the worst that I encountered on the 2100 was when the calculator feature was used. For example, when you type a set of numbers in for any sort of calculation, each digit typed in will take approximately half a second to appear on the screen. So if you want the answer for 20000 divided by 5, it’ll probably take like up to 3-4 seconds. Irrespective of whether you are fast at the keypad or not or whether the calculation is a complex or simple one, this is an irrelevant matter altogether.
In Summary
The new and refreshing look of the 2100 by Nokia is certainly welcomed by me, as I feel very strongly about the overuse of the 3300-series footprint for several models up to this date. Being relatively smaller in size and retaining the same features, this phone will certainly attract users who are looking at getting their first mobile phone or also possibly doing a handset replacement - thanks to its somewhat use of soft colours and materials in the phone’s overall design.
However, as many may know, one of my biggest concerns with phones is their inability to keep up with a user’s input actions. Having to actually wait for the phone to catch up to where you are is not really acceptable, where you would think that computers and electronic items are supposed to be quite efficient (not really in the case of the 2100).
Sure, Nokia may have crammed a bit of gadgetry into the 2100 - but when you look at the likes of phones such as their own 6310i or even 3510, which both I think are great models in their own regard, “a bit” is just an understatement. |
| Common misspellings on this brand: mokia |
|
