I am a Student at Collyers College in Horsham, West Sussex. I'm studying ICT alongside Music Tech, B...
I am a Student at Collyers College in Horsham, West Sussex. I'm studying ICT alongside Music Tech, Business and Photography and going to uni to a degree in Business IT. I enjoy skiing and sailing plus managing P\Arts Productions and Gigs.
Overview The Nokia 3510i is Nokia’s replacement to the Popular 3310\3330 range and was released at a similar time to the 3410. The 3510 was originally released with a monochrome screen but the current 3510i has a colour screen. This phone then is just a basic entry-level phone for people that just want something cheap, easy to use and reliable.
It has all the key features you would expect from a modern phone like Wap, GPRS, MMS Picture messaging, SMS etc but does not have the features you would find on higher end phones such as Photo Messaging (Camera), Bluetooth, Infrared etc.
Price This phone can be had very cheaply at around the £80 mark on Virgin PAYG. For contract customer’s large cash back can be expected – I got a £225 cash back deal from Carphone Warehouse on Your Plan 120, this was an exceptional deal but some degree of cash back or free gift can normally had on all but the cheapest of tariffs; contract buyers should certainly not have to pay for this phone as their tariff subsidy should cover it.
Compared to other models it is price competitive,
slightly more than the 3410 because of its colour screen but a fair price considering features and quality.
Features
-Phonebook – the phonebook allows plenty of space, 400 entries would be no problem on the phones internal memory and I suspect more is possible depending on the number of SMS messages stored. Each entry can have multiple numbers such as Home, Work, Office etc and it is easy to add a number to an existing contact. You also have the option to select a default contact number, or if you wish you can view all numbers and select an alternative number when you make a call.
- Messages – This menu is the typical nokia text message menu with a few additions. You get ‘Text’ ‘Multimedia’ ‘Chat’ and ‘Voice’ with help text that explains each setting if you need it. In ‘text’ you have the normal Create, Inbox etc but also get ‘Archive’ which allows you to store messages in folders and sent items so you can see what you have sent. It is easy to move messages around although I have found that sent items takes up a lot of the message memory so it is worth clearing it – this is for saving messages to send later though, I believe that new messages will overwrite sent items automatically unless you select otherwise. The menu system is intuitive and it is easy to move messages around, read them and create new ones. There is the option of using predictive text or the traditional multitap method for entry.
- Call register – this is one of the more boring functions but useful all the same. There are the normal timers for last call, all calls, in, out etc to help with inclusive mins in call duration as well as a text message and GPRS counter – a really useful feature that is starting to appear allowing you to keep track of spending or inclusive messages. As normal you also get missed calls, dialled calls and received calls register.
- Tones – this menu allows you to adjust the tone settings for your current profile with the entire normal text message, ringing and vibrate options. This phone has a good vibrate function and also supports Polyphonic ring tones – personally though I stick to a more professional sounding ring ring.
- Settings – the usual stuff really about networks, call settings such as call waiting and phone settings to do with security etc. One useful function which is certainly worth turning on in here is the ‘Auto Key Lock’ – you can set the timeout period and the phone will automatically lock the keypad for you – saving you the expense and embarrassment of accidental calls.
- Gallery – this allows you to organise your picture files into folders and view them. They can be set as backgrounds or forwarded to friends etc. I haven’t really a use for this though but at least your mates who want to show off their flashy phones will be able to send you pictures.
- Games – when your bored there are a few games installed including ‘Racket’ ‘Backgammon’ & ‘Sky Diver’. As this is a Java phone you can download more over Wap if you wish. If you’re a serious gamer though you wouldn’t buy a phone, or if you did you would get a Nokia N-Gage or something.
- Organiser – This has some useful functions but nothing really new. You get Alarm Clock, Calendar and well that are about it. No Outlook sync or anything like that here but useful all the same for setting reminders.
- Applications – allows you to manage Java applications you have downloaded. There are no default apps in here.
- Extras – here are the bits that might have been in Organiser, you get Calculator which is fairly straight forward, using the * key to select + - * or /; Countdown timer – stops you burning your dinner and stopwatch – useful for well, timing things (not quite sure what though). There is also ‘Wallet’ – not quite sure how that works but assume its something to do with storing bank details etc, it is pin protected anyway which is reassuring.
- Services – Wap basically, you can change the settings and choose between GPRS or Dial Up (GSM ISDN) as you wish. You can save bookmarks or your fave Wap pages and browser wap sites as well as on any normal phone (i.e. non-smartphone). I wouldn’t say wap is particularly special but it does have its uses I suppose.
- Profiles – this allows you to have default settings for different environments and switch quickly between them. You also have the option to time a profile to be on until a specific time – useful if you know you have a one hour meeting but will forget to turn your phone off of silent afterwards.
That’s about It really other than to mention that it has a clock which is displayed as a screen saver and believe it or not it also makes and receives phone calls.
Robustness and Quality The design is fairly robust like all nokia’s, whilst I haven’t tried throwing against a wall to see if it still works it shares much of its design with the 3310 etc and feels pretty solid so I feel it would cope with being dropped and generally abused reasonably well. It has removable covers which can be easily replaced when they become worn out, or when you get bored of them.
It’s got nice fast menus and feels well built; the only thing some may find a bit tacky is the keypad isn’t solid. I personally don’t mind it though and think it is better than many other phones – like the 3310 the keypad can be replaced easily if needed.
I always put my phone in a leather case anyway to ensure that it doesn’t get broken and protect it from scratches etc. The downside to them not breaking is the amount of phones I have. It’s a personal choice but the phone operates perfectly easily in or out of a case.
Look and Feel The phone is light enough to carry around yet big enough to hold onto. It looks reasonable as it is but can be personalised if needed be. The buttons are easy to use without needing tiny fingers. Overall the look and feel is good, remembering it’s a phone not a fashion accessory.
Accessories The phone can use a portable hands free kit, which plugs into the bottom of the phone or a car kit. There is an auto answer option when using these. Fascias can also be changed if wanted.
Battery Life Battery life is excellent as is common on modern phones. You can expect to get 3-7 days battery life out of it depending on usage and network conditions. Even in poor coverage areas a week standby with low usage isn’t a problem.
Call Quality Call quality is very good and the phone will hold a signal fairly well, although does struggle like any phone in poor coverage areas.
Summary An excellent phone with some good offers to be had on contract. For people that just want a phone they can use without having to worry about and aren’t interested in loads of features they will never use this is brilliant. It is good quality with excellent battery life does enough without being over complicated.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
the prices are slightly outdated now, but damn right the phones rocks
and the phone does work even when thrown repeatedly against a wall (tried and tested :) )
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Advantages: A doddle to get the hang of, customisable, excellent battery life... Disadvantages: Only the one screensaver, naff ring tones, those flippin awful orange side panels...
rachels_ratty 14.12.2003 (14.12.2003)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Nokia 3510i
Advantages: Colour screen, java games, polyphonic tones, wallpapers - basically everything Disadvantages: Bigger than Nokia 3310, no camera, can't assign downloaded tones to people
Batch 25.10.2004 ·
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Nokia 3510i
Advantages: A doddle to get the hang of, customisable, excellent battery life... Disadvantages: Only the one screensaver, naff ring tones, those flippin awful orange side panels...
rachels_ratty 14.12.2003 (14.12.2003)
·
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Nokia 3510i
Advantages: STORES up to 500 directory entries; multiple numbers, e-mail addresses and notes per entry Disadvantages: Couldn't answer phone before I lost the call. It took too long to charge phone.
jesi 26.06.2008 (26.06.2008)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Nokia3510i
Advantages: 3.2MP camera, no need for an mp3 player anymore, cool features Disadvantages: Slighty bulky, no video in the dark, battery life is standard
Jan 13th, 2004
exceptional by (8%):
very helpful by (89%):
helpful by (3%):
