Nokia 1100 > Reviews (52)

After my last phone came to a premature wet end (you really don't want to know what happened) I still had another six months before I was able to upgrade. Instead of opting to shell out loadsa money for a flash new phone, I bit the bullet and bought a Nokia 1100, after seeing it for sale for £18 on Amazon. Bargain!

Yes it is just a phone!
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The 1100 is erm.. a phone. That's it. No built in organisers, no bluetooth or MP3, not even a camera! It does make and receives call and text messages though! But despite its basic options, I have grown to love it.

The look
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The phone is small and light, weighing 86g and measuring 106x46x20 mm, in a 'candy bar' style (as opposed to a flip or clam phone). It comes in several bright colours (red yellow, green, dark blue, cyan, purple) and black, which I opted for. It looks basic, but a surprising amount of people have commented on how nice it looks! I was slightly embarrassed to tell them that it really is a bottom of the range phone. However, it looks more decent than many other cheap phones on the market.

The screen
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The screen is rubbish, but its all you really need! It is an old monotone - it lights up when in use, and has a tacky green hue to it. However, the display is clear and provides all the information you really need. The menus have basic block-pixel pictures, and you certainly will not be able to view pictures sent to your phone!

Ring tones
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The ring tones are pretty basic, but I find them much less irritating that what I usually endure from other people's phones! It is not polyphonic but thankfully has a vibrate function, which is my preferred option.

Battery life and charging
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Because the phone is so basic, the battery lasts days and days. It takes the standard 'Nokia BL-5C,' and charges in a couple of hours. It uses the old style Nokia charger. I use it quite a lot and only have to charge it up every 5-6 days.
- Official talk time: up to 2 - 4.5 hours
- Official standby time: up to 100 - 400 hours

Menus
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Scrolling through the menu, you get the following options:
1) Messages (texts)
2) Contacts (addy book)
3) Call register
4) Tones
5) Profiles
6) Settings (eg time etc)
7) Alarm clock
8) Reminders (a very basic diary)
9) Games (yes it has Snake II and a game called Space Impact Plus)
10) Extras (calculator, stopwatch, countdown, tone composer, screen saver and the funky Flashlight!)

The Flashlight!
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Ok I did lie a bit; there is one feature of this phone which makes it a bit special - the flashlight!! On the end is a bright LED, which you can turn on and off. It always impresses people when I show them, but to be honest, it isn't bright enough to be of much help in a blackout!

Durability
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My phone has withstood a few falls from significant heights. Once the keyboard cover came off, but it is very easy to slot back in. Definitely a good phone for the clumsy.

Also if it does break, it didn't cost you much in the first place, so you will not be too upset!

So...
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Advantages

- It is cheap
- Its reception and speaker quality is comparable to most other phones (although I am sure technically minded people would disagree)
- It is very easy to use
- The battery lasts ages

Disadvantages

- The keys make a clicking noise when you press them, this may irritate some people
- Sometimes you have to scroll through lots of menus to get to the one you want. For example, to get from the text word editor back to the main menu, you have to scroll back through a number of other menus
- Some people wouldn't be seen dead with it!

All in all a functional phone, which has filled the gap between my old phone (ok, seeing as you have read all the way through, you deserve to know, I dropped it in the toilet) and the one I'll be getting soon when I am due to upgrade. Definitely not for technophiles or those who get thrills about having the latest phone. I haven't really missed any of the features from my old phone at all.

I'll give it 7/10!

Dan.