Probably the best phone of 2005 in terms of features and specifications.The camera is in a different league than most other phones. It takes great pictures day or night and offers autofocus. Video quality is exceptional.
Sound quality is great. It plays mp3 and AAC formats for music and ringtones. The mono loudspeaker is very clear while the earspeaker in the top of the phone is adequate. There is an offline mode for music playing during flights and such.
The screen uses a brilliant 352x416 display. Compared to most other phones, its like high definition. Easily visible in daylight and the detail is incredible.
The S60 OS offers many ways to add productivity and fun via 3rd party applications. The address book and calendar can sync with both MACs and PCs. Nokia offers a free PC Suite download to help manage the phone. Memory expansion is available with MMCmobile cards up to 1 gig in size.
The build quality is good. Despite my own clumsiness, it has held together real well after 6 months use. The keypad has nice big buttons.
But there are a lot of reasons why this phone is not for you:
First is the price. All this technology, mainly the camera and the display, drive up the cost of the phone to appeal to the enthusiast only.
Second, its very big and heavy. Its a real brick of a phone.
Third, it lacks vibration. Most people could not do without this.
Fourth, the battery life is mediocre. Due to the small battery it uses, it will last 18 hours with heavy use. I find myself keeping a 2nd battery just in case.
Fifth, the phone has many moving parts. It transforms into many different modes and some people may be put off by that. Others, like me, enjoy it.
This phone would make a great gift for the gadget happy person in your life, but not for the person who just needs a phone. Mine was locked and didn't come with a bluetooth headset, so that's a nice bonus from Amazon.
Pros:
* 1600x1200 camera takes high resolution pictures better than needed for the web
* VHS quality video
* Syncs to Outlook (but not Outlook syncing to Exchange!)
* lots of other great software
* comes with chargers, converter so you can use an old style Nokia charger, and a hands free kit.
Cons:
* the pictures are not of particularly good quality. They tend to get a bit of a haze over them.
* The video is at 15 frames per second, not the normal 30 frames a second.
* Big big phone, bigger than your phone at home likely.
Overall I think this is a great phone which does everything it says it will. I can surf the net, take pictures and video, and it is very quick to turn on the video or photography functions. The size makes it a little clunky but it is also kind of refreshing after using micro cell phones.
And if you're a parent it is a great way to always have a camera or video camera at your side to capture what your kids are doing.
Revision: I've just learned that the phone only supports an MMC card up to 256 megs unfortunately just after buying a 1G card that doesn't work and I cannot return. Buyer beware!1) Extreme clarity Screen
2) Very easy to use menu
3) Awesome Signal Reception
4) Good Battery Life
5) Very nice camera, good for parties and events, where bulky digicam would not make sense
6) Great looks, aesthetically pleasing
7) Outer screen is very high quality
8) Swivel main display is a great feature for videos
9) Good Camera in Low Light
10) NO VIBRATOR
11) BATTERY LIFE COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER
12) NO SUPPORT for US 850MHz roaming
13) NSUITE difficult to setup on PC
14) THE USER INTERFACE IS SLOW and non-responsive at timesAll the functionality is to be expected.
The button and keyboard layout is exceptionally insightful !!
I'm extremely happy with this phone.
I've spent all day taking pics (with red-eye reduction flash!) and it has minimal effect on battery life. But when I tried to shoot video (7 mins to be exact), the battery went down too fast and I had to stop...mainly this was because the flash seems to come on automatically.
The form factor seems to be a tad too long, making me a bit self-conscious while make a call in public...cutting 1 cm off the top and another 1 cm at the bottom would have got 5 stars from me.The main draw of this product is the obviously the video capabilities which do not disappoint. The quality and convenience of the mpg4 video is head and shoulders above any other recorder this size never mind its phone capabilities. The ability to pull this pone out of my pocket, shoot some video, transfer it to me laptop via Bluetooth, and email to family is great.
Aside from the video Nokia seems to put little thought into much else however. Removing the memory card will cause you to have to reset your wallpaper every time. If you're already on the phone and get another call the caller ID gets scrambled and jumbled up with the current caller information making identifying who is trying to contact you impossible. While the phone has the ability to add memory and play music, the only option for headphones involves their proprietary ginormous data port connector (no standard headphone jack). The connector sticks out the side of the phone so far that it is no longer an option to put it in your pocket. I guess they do this because the headphones also seem to have a microphone built in for making phone calls but even here design flaws abound also. When wearing the headphones the junction that contains the microphone and answer button hang down to my belt buckle (and I'm 6'3"). This could make for a very strange looking phone conversation to passers by.
It's also necessary to note that I've had to have one of these things replaced due to a failure in the camera focus mechanism. After using the replacement for months I tried to use the headphones to find that one ear didn't work unless I pullet the connectorsaurus half way out.
All in all this thing takes great video but the lunacy of some of the other features combined with the "Didn't they test this thing at all" bug factor can be frustrating enough to make you swear in front of your kids before you catch yourself. After all, in the age of iPod where music is important and design can make or break your product what the $#%^ were they thinking with these headphones?
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