NEC e338

...was a very smart looking NEC 338, and of course being the techno-freak that I am, it took very little persuasion to get me to sign on the dotted line.

Three days later and my new toy was delivered by Royal Mail, and I excitedly opened the box, to find :

My new mobile phone,
A battery
A charger (that came in two parts)
A headset
A welcome pack from Three including my USIM card.

...
...think I rather like my NEC 338, it looks good and does exactly what its supposed to. I find I can make calls and send texts without any problem, and I have the added bonus of being able to take photos. My only real disappointment was the lack of WAP services, which means I am unable to download ringtones from my favourite free site.

Of course after the previous bad publicity, I was a little concerned about going with Three, but to ... more

I must have gadget freak written in some sort of secret code on my front door, that only salesmen can read. Not too long ago, a salesman from Three managed to read this hidden notice and knocked on the door ready to introduce me to the world of 3G telecommunications. Part of the deal he was offering me, was a very smart looking NEC 338, and of course being the techno-freak that I am, it took very little persuasion to get me to sign on the dotted line.

Three days later and my new toy was delivered by Royal Mail, and I excitedly opened the box, to find :

My new mobile phone,
A battery
A charger (that came in two parts)
A headset
A welcome pack from Three including my USIM card.

~~~The looks~~~

The 338 is a smart clamshell design, the main body of which is black, with the flip top being silver. Being from Three it has a discreet “3” on the front. Measuring in at 93.8mm x 47.1mm x 23.3mm, whilst not being the smallest phone on the market, it is certainly a reasonable size. I personally don't like tiny mobile phones, as I would be afraid of losing them. The only thing that degrades the look is the aerial, I'm used to Nokias with their integral aerial, whereas this has one sticking out of the top.

~~~Charging the battery~~~

The battery charges remarkably quickly, even the first time. The first charge took approximately 4 hours and subsequent charges have taken less than 2. The instruction manual states that you shouldn't leave it charging for more than five hours, so I would say this is the maximum time they expect it to take. Unlike my previous phones (which have been Nokias) there is a light that comes on the front of the phone while charging and then goes off once the phone is fully charged, something that I found very handy.

Once charged the battery life, is pretty good, when used for calls and texts. I need to charge the phone every two to three days with reasonably heavy usage. However, using 3G services does seem to drain the battery a lot quicker.

The battery life indicator however is not very accurate, only having three steps, full, half full and nearly dead, which I find a little awkward (with my Nokia 3100 there were 6 steps and I had a much better idea of how much power the battery still had).

~~~Turning on/off~~~

It seems to take a long time for the phone to “boot up”, as least twice as long as my previous Nokia, which can be a bit annoying, as I often have to take my son to hospital, where it needs to be switched off. I'm an inpatient so and so and hate waiting for it to spring back into life, switching off is almost as slow.

~~~The screen~~~

The full colour screen looks extremely impressive, is very large and colourful, nicely backlit and displays everything clearly. However it does seem prone to finger smudges and needs wiping quite often.

The actual main screen has a battery life indicator along with signal strength and three balls that indicate whether you are in a 3G area, ( three balls filled in and you are, two and you're not).

~~~The menu system~~~

Although actually very well thought out the menu system can seem a little confusing after having used a Nokia, but after a few uses its become almost like second nature. My only problem being that when I've used the camera, instead of being taken back to the main screen I always seem to end up at the menu.

~~~Adding Contacts~~~

As someone that is used to Nokia's address book system, it took me a while to work out how to add contacts to the phone. But I got there eventually, and it's surprisingly easy. Simply tap in the phone number and then press the hotkey under add. You then have the chance to enter the name of the contact, type of phone (home, mobile, office), their email address and even a photo (if you have one on the phone). Unfortunately you can only add one number per contact, but different types of number are represented by different icons. (E.g. home is represented by a house). amazingly you can save upto 500 contacts, I don't even know enough people to store 50.

~~~Making Calls~~~

Making voice calls is simple, as it is with most phones, it's simply a case of inputting a number (or finding it in your address book) and then pressing the green start call button. Once the call has been started, I've found reception is clear and the volume perfectly loud enough. Having previously used a Nokia and having to put the volume up to the highest level, I automatically did this with this phone and was nearly deafened. I would say that the default setting is perfectly adequate for volume.

It took me a while to get used to the position of the phone while actually making calls, and it still seems slightly awkward (but is getting more comfortable all the time), I imagine this is just because I'm not used to clamshell phones, rather than a problem with design though.

Ending a call couldn't be simpler, just close the phone and the call ends.

Unfortunately, as I don't know anyone else on the Three network I've not been able to make any video calls, but as soon as I get the opportunity to try this feature I'll update this review.

~~~Texting~~~

I've found texting on this phone takes quite a lot of getting used to. The keys are very close together, and there is quite a long wait for it to move onto the next character. I don't personally use the T9 function, as I always end up with suggestions for words that I didn't want. However, I do like the shift key, and the fact that there are a multitude of special characters available, even though it's a bit of a weird way of getting to them.

~~~The camera~~~

The camera is very easy to access, via a soft key and you have the choice of using the phone as either a video or still camera. As a video camera, it will record for 11 seconds with sound as the default, although you can set it to record for longer. You can also increase (or decrease the quality) which will affect the default time. From what I can tell you can record and store upto 100 of these short video clips, although I've never even bothered keeping one. The picture quality is actually pretty good and the sound clear.

As a still camera, I would say it's only value is to provide wallpaper for the phone, although the photos look fine on the camera, they are of very low quality with the highest setting being 352x288 pixels, and are really no where nearly the standard of even the most basic digital camera. I also find that the pictures seem to suffer from white out, especially indoors with artificial lighting. As with the videos you can save upto 100 photos on the phone.

The one thing I really like is being able to swivel the lens around so I can not only take photos of people, but also of myself.

~~~The ringtones~~~

The phone comes with a variety of rather naff ringtones as standard, and if you were hoping to download any from your favourite site via WAP (like I was), then you're in for a disappointment. You can only download tones from Three at a price of £2.50 each, which is about average for sites where you need to pay.

As well as being naff, I find the ringtones to be a tad on the quiet side, and definitely hard to hear over the noise my children make. I imagine it would be impossible to hear the phone ringing in a pub or club. Thank goodness for the vibrating alert. Strangely, the one and only tone I've downloaded is much louder, maybe they are trying to make me buy more.

~~~Video~~~

The phone comes supplied with two short video clips, which I think are there to just showcase what it can do. The supplied clips were of brilliant quality, and you can download further free samples from “My Three”. Just so you know the phone can play a variety of formats including MP4.

~~~Music~~~

As well as video the phone can play music in the MP3 and WMA formats among others, you will need a data cable to get them on the phone though. The sample file, seemed to be of a reasonable quality, and this is something, I'm definitely going to try.

~~~Games~~~

Nowadays most mobile phones come with a selection of games pre-installed. Unfortunately, this phone isn't one of them, there are zero games on the phone. That's right not even one game to while away those hours waiting at bus stops. Of course you can download games at a price from Three if you so wish, but I do think it's a little bit stingy.

~~~Three Services~~~

It is easy (and free) to connect to Three services by using the green triangle as long as you have a full 3G connection, and you only pay when you actually download. It generally takes 30 seconds to connect and you then have a choice of two menus, one for “Today on Three” and the other “Three Services”, I normally connect to the Three services which then gives me yet another menu with lots of options for different mini-sites such as Tunes and Pix, music videos, weather, horoscopes, email and most importantly “My 3”, where you depending on whether you are on contract or pay monthly you can, check your balance, top up, see how many minutes (and texts) you have left and check the previous months bill.

I've downloaded a few free samples from the site, and have been extremely impressed with quality.

~~~Extras~~~

As well as the features above there is a facility for voice recording (for leaving yourself little memos), a calendar, To Do list, alarm clock, notepad, and calculator which are all pretty self-explanatory. There is also the facility to send emails, but to be honest I haven't bothered working out how to do this yet, as my computer does a perfectly good job of this.

~~~Durability~~~

The phone feels very durable, but I've only had it for a short time, so it's not been dropped (and I hope it never is). It definitely feel solid and well built.

~~~Unlocking~~~

My phone is locked to the Three network, and I don't think it can be unlocked. It certainly can't take a standard SIM card from any other network, but then with the deal I'm getting why would I want to change providers?

~~~Accessories~~~

There are a number of accessories available for the phone including:

Mono and Stereo Headset
USB Cable + Utilities CD-ROM ~ £35

All of which should be available from a Three shop (usually located in Superdrug)

~~~Price and Availability~~~

My phone came free as part of a contract package which also gives me 750 minutes of calls and 150 texts per month, however it is also available on Three's pay as you go tariff at the price of £80 from Comet, which seems a bargain if you ask me.

~~~Final Words~~~

I think I rather like my NEC 338, it looks good and does exactly what its supposed to. I find I can make calls and send texts without any problem, and I have the added bonus of being able to take photos. My only real disappointment was the lack of WAP services, which means I am unable to download ringtones from my favourite free site.

Of course after the previous bad publicity, I was a little concerned about going with Three, but to be honest I've found reception where I live to be perfect. I can even make and receive calls in places that I had no reception with Vodafone.

All in all this phone suits me perfectly, and my poor Nokia 3100 is now looking for a new home.

 

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