Nokia 3200

The Nokia 3200 is a phone that I have owned for about 5 months now. It is a phone that defines cool in my opinion. Its design allows it to be very personal and this is principally what attracted me to it. I received this phone in February as an upgrade on my old phone because I have a contract with O2’s online service. This of course like most others allows for an upgrade at the end of each 12 months, so I chose this one due to its unique look and the fact it was free!

Firstly the specifications are as follows:

· Tri Band
· It is small in size: 107.5 x 45.1 x 20.8 mm
· It is light: 90g
· It is colour screen: 4k resolution
· It is WAP and GPRS enabled
· It has a camera
· MMS capable
· Has vibrating alert
· Infrared capacity
· Up to 288 hours on stand-by
· Up to 4 Hours talk time
· Supports polyphonic Ringtones and Java Games

Initially, the thing that strikes you most about this phone, as I have already mentioned, is its rather unique look. In actual fact the covers on the Nokia 3200 are clear. The colour that you can see on the picture above is provided via interchangeable covers that lie beneath the actual plastic case. These are pretty cool and with the phone you receive 3 different colours: blue, red and green. Furthermore, on each phone, to match the cover there is a wallpaper and Ringtone that suits each. For example, the blue case has a blue wallpaper, which consists of the same design already on the phone. You also receive blank covers when you purchase the phone in order to create your own covers. I have never tried this myself because I think the blue looks pretty funky but I does not seem too hard to try out. Failing making your own, Nokia sell set packs that contain a cover, wallpaper, Ringtone and a Java game that all go together on the phone. The other interesting feature that strikes you about the way the phone looks is that the keypad is rather unusual to say the least! The numbers and the other buttons are all grouped in twos, apart from the scroll keys that a formed differently. This does take some getting used to, however, I would not let that put you off buying the phone, as eventually you get used to them!

The phone is well packaged and comes in a box covered in a jungle theme, just for show really and continue the covers theme of the phone. Inside you receive, as I said, the covers, a hands free kit (more on that later), the phone, a charger and an instruction manual. The instruction manual is, as with all Nokia products, pretty comprehensive. It covers all the features of the phone and explains them all pretty well. Furthermore it is littered with different diagrams, the vast majority of which make it very clear even if the text does not.

This phone has an array of different and useful features. The first one of note is the fact that it has an FM radio. This is what the hands free kit I mentioned earlier is for. You simply plug in the hands free kit, choose your favourite station and you are away! The radio on this phone is, I believe, very useful. The sound quality of it is very good; it has a good range on it too, picking up most channels even in poor signal areas. The volume control on the phone is also very good as it gives you an adequate balance with which to listen to your music. Furthermore, provided that your headset is compatible, the phone does play in stereo sound. Although the hands free kit you receive with the phone does not give stereo sound. Another great thing about the radio is that you can play it on loudspeaker on this phone. You do get good sound quality still and this is certainly a feature to impress your friends! Therefore, the radio on this phone is very good.

The second valuable feature on this phone is the fact it has a camera. The picture quality on this phone is not great in my opinion. I have seen different pictures on other people’s phones and the Nokia 3200 does lack in quality. It can store lots of pictures though. It has an internal memory of 1MB, which is definitely a bonus. I have about 65 pictures on mine and can take many more, but that’s mostly due to games and Ringtones taking up the other space. However, nevertheless, despite its quality the camera is adequate and if you merely are looking for something with a camera it is still for you.

One interesting feature on this phone is the flashlight. It is very bright! I nearly blinded myself first time I put it on, as I wasn’t entirely sure where light came from! However, how useful this function is, is debateable but nevertheless it is a novelty function, quick to use (just need to hold down star key) and also may impress your friends-although not as much as the radio!

This phone as I have mentioned is also WAP and GPRS capable. Obviously the connection standard varies between networks but the actual browser on the phone is quite good. It allows you to save bookmarks you like and it show all wapsites in colour. This is particularly good as more and more are starting to put pictures on them.

There is also a whole array of other more standard features such as polyphonic capable. The sound of the polyphonics is generally good and you can store a reasonable number on the phone. Also another feature is a full calendar, calculator and alarm capability. As I have already mentioned it has MMS capability. Furthermore, one cool feature is the ability to put different pictures to different contact, which when they call you is displayed. Although, this is not unique to this phone. The phone also has a voice recorder, which again is not unique. In addition the phone will receive Java games. It can save a certain amount of them on it too that can be downloaded off the WAP. The phone comes with 2 standard games- bounce being the better of the two. Also to make accessing different things on the phone quicker, there is a ‘Go to’ menu that is quite useful too. I would also like to mention that the battery is good as it seems to last a long time, even when listening to the radio.

However, I have encountered one problem with this phone. Unfortunately the ‘on/off’ switch has broke on it. I went to put the phone on one day and it would not switch on. Of course it is under warranty so it is not a problem, just a pain, as it had to be sent away to be fixed. This actually proved quite difficult due to the inefficient services I got from Club Nokia. I have to say though, a tip to anyone buying a Nokia phone. Make sure you register with Club Nokia as if you do encounter problems with you phone and it is covered by 12 month warranty then you need to be a member to get in touch with them.

Overall, this is a good phone. I don’t know if the fault I had is a common one for the model or that I’m just too heavy handed! Either way just be a little cautious if you do buy the phone. Also, that shouldn’t detract from what is a handy little phone. Its convenient, lightweight, doesn’t bulge out your pocket and in my opinion, user-friendly. The menus on the phone are easy to use and the instruction manual is too. I am really pleased with this phone and it does have some great features, although it lacks a stop-clock and could separate the ‘Profiles’ into the menu itself, rather than being part of the ‘Settings’ menu.

This is a five star phone, however due to the problems I have had, I'm knocking it down to a four.

Thanks for reading!