Nokia C3 deals & review

Blackberry doesn’t have the final word on its signature candybar full-QWERTY smartphones anymore as just about all the Big Fives have one. Finnish smartphone leader in the Symbian world Nokia has plenty in its E-series line-up but goes one step further to use the Blackberry form factor in the Nokia C3, a non-smartphone that can easily be mistaken for one.

It looks and feels like one, but it isn’t. The C3 is another fine specimen that blurs the distinction between that two on a more modest budget line that should please a wider market that wants a Blackberry on the looks department.

Measuring 115.5 x 58.1 x 13.6 mm with a lightweight 114g comfortable in any pocket, it doesn’t have the thin profile of the E71/E72, but neither do the Blackberrys. And apart from the common black, it comes in state grey, hot pink and golden white body colors you can choose from which betrays its pitch to a younger more fickle-minded crowd.

Features on a Non-Smartphone

It is not a 3G phone. There’s no GPS either. But it has WiFi 802.11b/g for hotspot online social networking and downloading at a more than adequate 54 Mbps local data speeds. As a capable social networking messaging handset, the C3 delivers as it comes preloaded with the Opera Mini with SNS apps and Flash Lite 3.0 support. 

You will need to secure a GPRS/EDGE data plan from your network carrier to get decent SNS messaging, push email, instant messaging, internet browsing and downloading speeds because it ’s just your basic quad band GSM (850/ 900/ 1800/ 1900) on 2G with class 32 GPRS/EDGE data connectivity up to 296 Kbps. It local high speed connectivity also supports Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP and microUSB 2.0.

The C3 has the usual landscape 2.4-inch TFT LCD screen with the minimum QVGA resolution and 256k color depth. Its imaging prowess gets a rather outdated camera with just 2 megapixels of resolution and no autofocus or LED flash, but you get a decent QCIF video capture at 15fps that yields low file sizes you can immediately upload to your media sharing sites or SNS. 

Your mobile entertainment is served with a stereo FM radio with RDS, an audio player supporting MP3, WAV, WMA and eAAC+ file formats and a video player supporting MP4, H.263 and H.264 files. It has a monaural speakerphone but for stereo listening, its 3.5mm audio out jack allows using your high fidelity headsets and its A2DP profile support over Bluetooth allows wireless stereo listening.

Onboard phone memory comes with a modest 55 MB with practically unlimited phonebook entries. But your multimedia files are better stored on a microSD card which the phone supports for up to 16 GB. Its standard BL-5J li-ion battery on a full charge is muscled enough to deliver up 7 hours of talk time on 2G and 792 hours when on standby.