| Nokia 3120 |
| General |
| Network | Gsm 900 / Gsm 1800 / Gsm 1900 |
| Announced | 2004, 2q |
| Status | Available |
| Size |
| Dimensions | 102 X 43 X 20 Mm, 67 Cc |
| Weight | 84 G |
| Display |
| Type | Cstn, 4096 Colors |
| Size | 128 X 128 Pixels, 5 Lines |
| | - Four-way Navigation
- Wallpaper And Animated Screensavers
- Downloadable Screensavers |
| Ringtones |
| Type | Polyphonic (4 Channels) |
| Customization | Download, |
| Vibration | Yes |
| Memory |
| Phonebook | 256 X 4 Fields |
| Call Records | 10 Dialed, 10 Received, 10 Missed Calls |
| Card Slot | No |
| Data |
| Gprs | Class 4 (3+1 Slots), 24 - 36 Kbps |
| Hscsd | No |
| Edge | No |
| 3g | No |
| Wlan | No |
| Bluetooth | No |
| Infrared Port | No |
| Usb | Yes, Pop-port |
| Features |
| Messaging | Sms, Mms, Instant Messaging |
| Browser | Wap 1.2.1, Xhtml |
| Games | 3 - Snake Ex2, Beach Rally, Nature Park + Downloadable, |
| Colors | Lime Tree Green, Iron Blue |
| Languages | Major European And Asia Languages |
| Camera | No |
| | - Java Midp 2.0
- T9
- Calendar
- Calculator
- Stopwatch
- Built-in Handsfree
- Preloaded Content From Smileyworld
- Optional Digital Camera |
| Battery |
| | Standard, Li-ion 850 Mah (br-5c) |
| Stand-by | Up To 410 H |
| Talk Time | Up To 6 H |
|
Nokia - 3120
Before reading this review, please read Some Thoughts on Phone Reviewing.
General
This is only a mini-review, meaning that I only had an hour or two to play around with the 3120 over at Square One. Fortunately I was able to put the phone through most of the standard tests, and I played with it enough to get a feel for what it could and could not do. On that score the phone was a disappointment, in that it seemed no different from countless other Nokia phones I’ve played with in the last year or so. It has the same 128x128 color screen, the same menu system, the same basic feature set, etc.
It also has one of Nokia’s current trademark design flaws; an attempt at a funky keypad that just doesn’t have the functionality of a well-designed traditional model. The keys are butted against one another, which greatly reduces your ability to feel which key you are pressing. Like many other keypads of this type the phone must be looked at to be dialed. This a definite problem when you try to use it while driving (but hey, you aren’t supposed to do that anyway).
The usual assortment of polyphonic ringtones was nice enough, but the ringer wasn’t particularly loud. As I’ve often said, a loud ringer is a necessity when the phone is used in a noisy environment. A vibrator-alert can help, but you can’t always feel the vibrations through thick clothing in the winter.
RF Performance and Audio Quality
Due to the phone’s lack of distinction in terms of functionality I’ll skip right to the bottom line, which is RF performance and audio quality. In terms of RF performance the 3120 was a reasonable performer, though in the Hall of Shame at Square One it failed to match my 1900-MHz-only Nokia 6310i. Granted, the difference was marginal, but the 3120 just couldn’t hold onto a call as well as the 6310i when the signals were substantially weakened.
Incoming audio quality had a nice tonal balance, but it seemed to suffer from way too much high frequency distortion. Many people who experience this distortion describe it as HISS, which isn’t far from the truth. However, unlike background hiss, which is independent of the audio, and subsequently constant, the effect on the 3120 varies with the audio. This makes it far more annoying than ordinary background hiss. Overall I found the sound reproduction sub-standard.
Outgoing sound quality was okay, but hardly stellar. Like many Nokia phones it managed to pick up background noise too well, and as such it made it sound like you were in a nosier location than you really were. Sound quality was only average and ever so slightly muffled compared with much better phones like the Nokia 3650.
So you wouldn’t find me using a 3120. The poorly-conceived keypad, the distorted incoming audio, and the sub-standard outgoing audio just don’t add up to a quality GSM phone. |
| Common misspellings on this brand: noia |
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