Nokia X3-02 Touch and Type Review - read honest Nokia X3-02 Touch and Type reviews

Nokia Touch and Type Review

In a Word or Two

On the surface the Nokia X3 Touch and Type may not be anything special, but it crams in a great deal of messaging, connectivity and entertainment features into a very affordable handset.

Design

One of the main highlights of the X3 Touch and Type is its combination of touch sensitive screen and traditional numeric keypad beneath. This design has been employed before on a number of phones but the X3 T&T is the first such phone to be released by Nokia.

The last few years have seen an unprecedented number of touchscreen phones make their way onto the market with this feature seemingly becoming the future standard for mobile phones. While touch sensitivity offers up a whole new world of interaction and features there are many phone users who still prefer to have a regular old numeric keypad. One reason for this is that they are usually so much better for fast texting than on screen keyboards offered by touchscreen phones.

The X3 Touch & Type provides the fast texting offered by a physical keypad while at the same time offering touch input for its many menus and applications. The beauty is that both of these methods of input can be used at the same time with one hand. The screen on the X3 is smaller than ones found on most touchscreen phones, being just 2.4". This still allows for some nice graphics and nifty applications, like the Guitar Hero 5 game which comes included.

Specifications

With access to the Ovi Store there are many more touchscreen games and applications that can be downloaded for the X3, as well as other content. With Wi-Fi and 3G HSDPA connections you can connect to this and other online services from virtually anywhere. Web browsing is provided by the Opera Mini browser and the X3 comes with fantastic support for online social media sites like YouTube, Facebook and MySpace.

In keeping with its role as a messaging phone the X3 comes with combined SMS/MMS inbox as well as fantastic email support. As well as this there is Nokia Messaging Service, and support for a large number of instant messaging clients such as Ovi Chat, Yahoo Messenger, Google Talk and Windows Live (MSN).

The X3 offers a high quality 5mp camera for capturing those special moments and this comes with 4x digital zoom and many other features. This camera can also record video but only at VGA resolution (18fps). The X3 comes with multimedia support with great playback for music and video with support for most major formats.

Verdict

The X3 Touch and Type is a great phone for people who are drawn to the idea of a touch sensitive screen but at the same time are a bit apprehensive about opting for a phone that is virtually nothing more than a screen. The X3 Touch and Type, and phones of a similar nature, are a great idea for those of us who are not quite willing to give up on the old worldy physical keypad just yet. Indeed, this would also be a great phone for those looking to make a transition to touchscreen but still not entirely sure if it is for them.