I love my phone. It’s a happy, foxy little thing and I have nothing really bad to say about it. But I shall try to be objective…
When my old phone, one of those brick-like mobiles that has a mind of its own, decided to randomly refuse to answer calls I figured an upgrade was in order. It was a very difficult decision for me to make, and I considered my options very carefully. After a lot of thought I chose the C35i because a) it wasn’t a Nokia (I try to retain a modicum of individuality in the face of the teenage obsession that is snap-on covers) b) it was in the Christmas sale and c) it seemed good value for money compared to the other phones on the market.
Not only is the C35i very sexy to look at but *hurrah!* the antenna is moulded as part of the phone casing
so it won’t annoyingly fall off like many other phones. Despite the fact the phone is small it is also reassuringly solid; it doesn’t feel tacky or as if it will break if someone sneezes. Indeed, I have thrown the poor thing around many times and it still looks as good as new. The shape of the phone is a bit …sort of… bendy, so it ergonomically fits both your hand and your ear perfectly.
Aesthetics aside, the C35i does everything you would expect a mobile to do. The internal memory of the phone itself can hold 100 numbers, and the SIM card can hold a further 100. You can also assign pictures to different people, and prioritise your calls with the VIP phonebook. The phonebook itself is well organised, pressing the first letter of the name you are looking for will take you to the right section of the alphabetically stored names. There is a button dedicated to the phonebook which makes finding numbers much easier and less fiddly. Text messages are simple to write, send or store, with optional T9 text prediction. Apparently there is also a sending and receiving Fax thing included, but I wouldn’t have a clue how to use it. Still, it sounds impressive.
There are quite a few ringtones that are supplied with the phone, and also a ringtone composer. This is quite tricky to master, but once you get used to it you can programme just about anything you like into the phone. The internet provides the programming codes for all the usual chart and TV ringtones, and it only takes about two minutes to programme them in. It’s much cheaper than downloading/phoning for Nokia tunes as the codes are all free.
The WAP capabilities of the phone are quite good, I check my emails regularly using my C35i. It connects quickly and it’s easy to navigate your way around, though currently there aren’t a great deal of sites available to WAP users. However, the ‘favourites’ menu (allowing you to input your favourite URLs into the phone’s memory) and the option of adding bookmarks to pages you regularly visit make using WAP much easier, and much cheaper too. Basically, although WAP technology is pretty darn useless right now, the C35i makes the most of the situation and is comparatively quick and easy to use.
The games pass the time but are nothing special; there is ‘Wayout’ a 3D (ish) maze game which is cool for about two minutes but the novelty wears off very quickly; ‘Quattropoli’ which is basically Connect 4 and probably the best game on the phone; ‘Reversi’ otherwise known as Othello and fiendishly difficult; and also the dreaded ‘Minesweeper’, courtesy of Microsoft.
There are two problems I have with the C35I, one is that although standby time is very good, when you are using the phone the battery runs down quite quickly. This is not a major problem as it takes less than an hour to recharge the phone even if the battery is fully discharged, but can be annoying if you are not anywhere near a plug socket. The other problem I have with the C35I is a purely personal and rather insignificant one, but I thought I would mention it to show precisely how few real problems there are…When the battery runs out the C35i lets you know by going BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP rather loudly every 30 seconds or so, accompanied by a message on screen telling you that the “Battery is low”. This is remarkably annoying if you are trying to store a number before the last of the power goes, to the point where you find yourself screaming “I KNOW YOUR BATTERY IS &£*%@#* LOW!” at the poor defenceless phone, which is after all only trying to do its job. Maybe that’s just me. But like I said, they are the only two problems I have encountered with the C35i.
All in all, it’s a gloriously foxy looking phone, it does everything you’d expect it to and more, and it’s teeny enough without being so small you can’t press the buttons. You know you want one.
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Yep, my mum has one of these and it's pretty nice!
maximax 10.11.2001 18:48
very interesting, but you didn't change my mind : i still prefer my lovely 3310 :) see ya, max.
the_mad_cabbie 02.10.2001 20:17
Good opinion....I have the S35i, which I think is more or less the same phone....Only crib I have is that damned annoying habit it has of second guessing you when your typing a text message.....ken (the mad cabbie)
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Advantages: a wealth of special features, good reception, quite small and handy, vibrator function. Disadvantages: external antenna, lack of customization options characteristic of Nokia handsets.
Marechal_Grouchy 06.02.2001 ·
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Review of Siemens C35i
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 Nokia 3510i
Aug 26th, 2001
(Oct 1st, 2001)
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