Nokia 2320 @DASHING THING REVIEW

Nokia 2320

Of all the cell phone manufacturers on the planet, Nokia arguably has the most different manufactured goods line nearly. From fancy models like the Nokia N97 Mini to basic handsets like the Nokia 1661, the company has them. The Nokia 2320 for AT&T’s Goprepaid benefit is beyond doubt of the latter camp. Built for interaction, the 2320 offers a austere point and excellent call feature, even if we would have liked Bluetooth and a dedicated number rocker. It will cost you $29 with no contract.

With its charming lines, austere reins, and plastic skin, the Nokia 2320 is just what you’d guess from a basic candy bar phone. It won’t win any point contests, and it doesn’t feel above all well-built, but this is a handset that justly puts usability first. At 4.21 inches by 1.81 inches by 0.54 inch, the 2320 travels well. And at just 2.81 ounces, you might even not dredge up it’s in your sack.

The 1.75-inch sight chains 65,000 sign and 160×128 pixels. As you might guess, it’s not very animated, and graphics are far from sharp, but sign are sharp and you can see the sight in supervise over light. The menu interface is intuitive in any the list or icon style, and you can change a few sight options like the standby font color and font size.

The steering array consists of a toggle with a central OK button, two soft keys, and the Talk and End/power buttons. The toggle ring is raised above the surface, and its silver color stands out from the phone’s black face. The remaining keys are flush, but their spacious agreement makes them simple to use. On the downside, there’s no dedicated Back button.

They alphanumeric keypad buttons also are flat, and they have a cheap plastic feel, but they’re simple to use. When texting quickly we made occasional mistakes, even if those instances were few. Public with visual impairments should take note that the backlit text on the keys is quite small.

Unfortunately, there’s no side number rocker, which means you’ll have to use the toggle to change the sound all through calls. The only exterior facial appearance are the mount port and receiver jack on the left spine. We’ll let the 2.5mm pass on such a basic phone (naturally, we prefer a 3.5mm jack), but we have to complain about the proprietary Nokia mount connection.

Appropriately, the Nokia 2320′s figure set brushwood to the basics. The phone book holds 500 contacts with room in each entry for five phone digit types, an e-mail take up, a proper name, a company name and job title, a nickname, a street take up, a birthday, and notes. You can save callers to groups and you can pair them with a photo–just dredge up that without a camera you’ll have to be creative about which photos you use. The 2320 comes with eight polyphonic ringtones, but you can assign them only to groups and not to those.

 

Other facial appearance contain text and CD messaging, an alarm clock, a calendar, a full duplex speakerphone, a to-do list, a pad, a calculator, a timer, and a stopwatch. Bluetooth, sadly, is absent, but you do get following messaging, PC syncing, carton data help, and a few applications, counting Wikimobile, the Ride out Channel, Mobile E-mail, and Mobile Banking. Keep in mind that most apps will require data use.

You can personalize the 2320 with a diversity of wallpaper, color themes, and alert tones. More options and bonus ringtones are available with the WAP 2.0 wireless Web browser. Just be sure to watch your data use on a prepaid phone, as Web browsing can add up on your bill quickly. The 2320 comes with demo versions of three Java games: Collapse, Dig, and Midnight Bowl. You’ll have to buy the full versions for total play.

We experienced person the dual-band (GSM 850/1900) Nokia 2320 in San Francisco using AT&T benefit. The 2320 offers square call featurefor such a basic, affordable phone. Voices sounded natural, the indicate was clear, and the number was strong. As we mentioned, we’d prefer to have a number rocker, but we infer you’d get used to its loss ultimately. Our only protest was that voices could sound a bit tinny at times, even if it wasn’t really bothersome. As a dual-band phone, the 2320 will not work further than North America.

On the other end callers reported excellent call feature as well. They could tell that we were using a cell phone and even if some reporteda lot of background noise, the complaints were few. In draw a distinction, speakerphone calls were garbled, and voices were distorted. Also, the placement of the tiny lecturer on the rear face doesn’t help with the low number.

The Nokia 2320 has a rated array life of 3.5 hours talk time and 15 days standby time. We got an incredible 11 hours and 55 minutes of talk time in our tests. According to FCC radiation tests, the 2320 has a digital SAR of 1.47 watts per kilogram.

The Nokia 2320 excellent:

The Nokia 2320 has a austere point with simple-to-use reins. Call feature is quite satisfactory.

The Nokia 2320 terrible:

The Nokia 2320′s speakerphone is disappointing and the figure set lacks Bluetooth. There is no number rocker and the mount jack isn’t standard.

The Nokia 2320 underside line:

The Nokia 2320 is an ideal phone for occasional callers who need smallest facial appearance and a user-friendly point.

The Nokia 2320 Price: $20

 

Nokia 5800 Steering Journal@DASHING THING REVIEW

Nokia 5800 Steering Journal

GPS on cell phones is no longer an emerging trend. It’s very near a must-have figure nowadays, and more and more handsets are offering it. Even if, taking subsidy of GPS, and the steering powers that come with it, ordinarily comes at a price. If you want facial appearance, such as voice-guided directions, you often have to subscribe to a location-based benefit–TeleNav, for model–which require a subscription fee. That’s why it was such huge news when Google announced that it would offer all of this for free with Google Maps Steering. Well it’s not just Google any longer; Nokia has also entered the fray.

In late January, Nokia announced that it will offer its Ovi Maps with Steering for free on all its GPS-enabled smartphones. The Nokia 5800 Steering Journal is in fact one of the handsets that by now existing a free ticket to Ovi Maps with the buy of the phone, and at a reasonable price at that: $299 unlocked. For this price, not only do you get a decent route-finder, but also a solid phone and CD device as well. There are bumps in the road, even if. The Nokia 5800 doesn’t have the most intuitive user interface, and we found route recalculations to be a bit slow. Also, you don’t get quite the power or functionality of the Motorola Droid. Even if, if your lifestyle requires you to journey often and you crave the frankness of an unlocked phone, the Nokia5800 Steering Journal is worth a look.

When it comes to point, there’s very modest differencebetween the music and steering editions of the Nokia 5800. There’s a affront alteration in bezel color, but otherwise, the physical attributes are the same with the phone measuring in at 4.37 inches tall by 2.03 inches wide by 0.61 inch thick and 3.84 ounces. Even if vaguely on the thicker side, it’s remarkably light so it won’t weigh you down in your travels. The rear also facial appearance a soft-touch close to give the phone a bit more texture and prevents it from feeling too plasticky or slick.

The sides on the handset house numerous reins. On the left spine, you’ll find the SIM card and microSD additional room slots, both of which are confined by emotionally involved covers. The right side has a number rocker, a lock thrash, and a camera admittance/capture button. There are also Talk and End keys and a main menu button just below the sight, but you’ll use the 5800′s 3.2-inch resistive touch cover for most of your interaction with the phone.

With a 640×360-pixel pledge and help for 16 million sign, the sight is satisfyingly clear and sharp. The cover does wash out a bit in sharp sunlight, but it’s not a huge issue when mounted in the car. Instead, the challenge there is viewing maps on the smaller cover. There is a built-in accelerometer so you can rotate the phone and view maps, Web pages, photos and so forth in landscape mode, and we experienced very modest lag when switching between modes.

The touch cover is open, but we have complaints about the user interface, just like we did with the XpressMusic translation and the Nokia N97. To start, the onscreen dial pad doesn’t show corresponding calligraphy on the digit keys, which makes it very trying if you’re trying to spell a supporter’s name to call up from the phonebook or when you need to dial a digit with calligraphy in it. Also, some menu items answer to single taps, but others require two taps; only after some use do you learn that icons only need one tap while list items need two. There are other annoyances like the potholed scrolling encounter, all of which you can get accustomed to over time, but it’s a tough pill to swallow when there are so many other more intuitive and simpler touch-cover phones out there.

Dying out the Nokia 5800′s point is Micro-USB port, a 3.5mm earphone jack, a power connector, and a power button on top. Also, above the sight, there’s a small touch-insightful XpressMusic button, which will bring up a launch bar for the phone’s various CD options, counting the music player, photo and video arcade, Web browser, and online air force (e.g., Flickr, Vox, Ovi).

 

The Steering Journal of the Nokia 5800 comes packaged with a USB cable, a cradle and vehicle mount, a car mount, an 8GB microSD card, a wiredstereo receiver, an audio adapter, a wrist strap, a software CD, and allusion notes. Even if our assess didn’t come with an AC adapter, Nokia’s site says one is included in the box. Also, the car mount requires a bit ofassembly, so have a Phillips screwdriver close. The cradle itself securely holds the phone in place, but the suction cup mount only works for the windshield, which is fine for most public, but still, we wish there was a dashboard choice. For more add-ons, please check our cell phone accessories, ringtones, and help page.

Recently, Nokia announced that it will offer Ovi Maps with Steering for free on all its GPS-enabled smartphones. Earlier, you had to pay monthly or yearly ticket fee to get voice-guided steering as well as premium content, but now it’s all free. In the case of the Nokia 5800 Steering Journal, this isn’t quite as huge of a deal since Nokia by now included a free ticket to the software with the buy of the phone, but it’s still excellent news nonetheless.

Ovi Maps provides numerous compensation over its competitors. You can view maps even if you don’t have a data connection. Maps are downloaded to device, so you can take up again to use it even if you’re offline. In addendum, Nokia uses a fusion vectorizing mapping equipment that allows for quicker map redraws and the ability to zoom in/out with very modest delay. Google Maps, on the other hand, requires that a new map be downloaded every time you want to zoom, thus taking up more bandwidth and time. A additional plus: you can use Ovi Maps in 74 different countries and in 46 languages.

When you launch Ovi Maps, you’ll find nine options: My Spot, Find Seats, Share Location, Favorites, Drive, Walk, Ride out, Events, and Lonely Planet. All are pretty self-explanatory, and there are a digit of shared facial appearance among the various apps, even if it’s not at once clear. For model, My Spot shows your location on a map, but you can also search for businesses (by name or category) and route to the location from there by tapping at the take up at the top of your cover. You don’t have to exit out of My Spot and launch Find seats or Drive to go the same tasks.

The Nokia 5800 Steering Journal excellent:

The Nokia 5800 Steering Journal offers voice-guided steering with text-to-address functionality, 3D landmarks, and premium content, all for free. Ovi Maps provides right directions and doesn’t require a data connection. The handset also offers Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 3G, and a 3.2-megapixel camera.

The Nokia 5800 Steering Journal terrible:

Route recalculations are slow and positioning was often off by at least half a block. User interface is a bit hard at first.

The Nokia 5800 Steering Journal underside line:

As one of the more affordably priced handsets from the company, the Nokia 5800 Steering Journal is a excellent value, offering road warriors a midlevel device with decent steering skills and the frankness of an unlocked phone.

The Nokia 5800 Steering Journal Price: $225

 

Nokia E72@DASHING THING REVIEW

Nokia E72

The Nokia N series has been a modest bit hit or miss lately, but the company’s E series of affair smartphones has consistently delivered winners, and it looks like Nokia has a additional solid player on its hands. The Nokia E72 is the successor to the Nokia E71/E71x and offers such upgrades as a closer PC, more memory, a better camera, and not to bring up free voice-guided steering thankfulness to the company’s recent Ovi Maps announcement. On top of all that, the E72 continues in the tradition of its predecessor with its sleek point and strong messaging capabilities.

Of way, we wanted to see more improvements to the user interface but in all, it gets the job done. Instead, the largest glide over for the E72 will be its price tag. The Nokia E72 is being sold unlocked for $419 (even if you can find it for less online), which may sway customers to go with a additional commanding messaging (and subsidized) device like the RIM BlackBerry Bold 9700. That said, for those who can meet the deprivation of it and for the die-hard Nokia fans, the E72 will not disappoint.

Nokia’s latest E series models, counting the E71x and the Nokia E75, are really well built and perfectly designed handsets and the Nokia E72 is no exception. The smartphone measures 4.48 inches tall by 2.34 inches wide by 0.39 inch thick and weighs 4.51 ounces, building it vaguely taller, wider, and heavier than its predecessor. Even if, the extra size isn’t a disadvantage. The E72 still has a very slender frame so it’s comfortable to cradle in one hand while on a phone call and it’s in fact thinner than the E71x, so you can slip this right into a sack or bag with no problem. Also, don’t mix its triviality for weakness. The E72 is a very well-built phone with a nice steel backplate and edges.

The E72 facial appearance a 2.36-inch QVGA (320×240 pixels) sight that chains up to 16.7 million sign. It’s clear and sharp enough and facial appearance a light-sensing equipment that adjusts the sight’s brightness based on your surroundings. That said, when compared with some of the competing products with higher-pledge screens, such as the BlackBerry Bold 9700, the E72′s sight falls a bit flat. A additional aspect of the phone that falls a bit small is the user interface.

Like the E75, the E72 runs Symbian OS 9.3 on the S60 3rd Journal platform with Figure Pack 2. Now, this is an upgrade from the E71 so anyone appearance from this device will notice more-modern-looking menus and icons and smoother transitions. The UI is pretty straightforward and gets the job done, but the problem is that there’s been very modest change in the way of enhancing the phone’s functionality. The iPhone OS, Apparatus, and WebOS have all brought about changes to improve the user encounter, whether it be for multitasking, customization, or ease of use. We know that Symbian and Nokia are effective on overhauling the OS; we just hope it doesn’t take too long.

Appearance back to the E72, Nokia did make some affront changes to the physical reins, ensuing in simpler one-handed steering. You still get two soft keys, Talk and End buttons, and shortcuts to your Home cover, Calendar, Contacts, and Inbox, but the latter are now raised above the rest of the buttons, so they’re a breeze to press without accidentally arresting an adjacent key. In the focal point of the array is a directional keypad with a focal point select button that also doubles as an optical trackpad (Nokia calls it the Optical Navi key). Akin to the BlackBerry Bold and the Samsung Omnia, this allows you to steer through menus or go a mouse-like pointer on a Web page by swiping your finger on the trackpad. Unfortunately, the outer ring of the D pad really restricts the movement of your thumb, so we didn’t find any fastidious subsidy of using the trackpad. In fact, we twisted the figure off in the Settings menu (where you can also change the Navi key’s sensitivity or turn on vibrating pointer) and just used the habitual D-pad.

The E72′s full QWERTY upright is a delight to use. The buttons aren’t above all wide, but they do have nice domed shape and grant a nice tactile pointer that isn’t too clicky or too soft. The digit keys are located in the focal point of the upright and highlighted by gray shading on top of the black buttons. The E72′s upright also offers more shortcuts for symbols and facial appearance, so you don’t permanently have to dig through menus to access them.

Other facial appearance of the Nokia E72′s point contain a Micro-USB port and a microSD additional room slot on the left side, a power button and 3.5mm earphone jack on top of the device, and a number rocker and a voice mandate button on the right. The power connector is located on the underside and on back.

The Nokia E72 comes packaged with a healthful set of accessories, counting an AC adapter, a USB cable, a 4GB microSD card, a wired stereo receiver, a soft cleaning cloth, a transportation case and strap, a software CD, and allusion notes. For more add-ons, please check our cell phone accessories, ringtones, and help page.

The Nokia E72 brings a digit of upgrades over the E71, which we’ll chat about right through this part, but messaging remains the main highlight of the phone. The E72 chains a wide range of e-mail protocols, counting POP3, IMAP4, Microsoft Chat, ActiveSync, Nokia Messaging, Mail for Chat, and IBM Lotus Notes. The Nokia Messaging app, which can handle up to 10 personal accounts, allows for push style of speaking as long as it’s supported by your network. There’s also help for HTML e-mail, attachment viewing, search, and filters.

A setup wizard on the phone will help you configure all your accounts to the smartphone. For Web-based accounts, such as Gmail and Windows Like, it’s a austere matter of plugging in your log-in ID and password, and the E72 should be able to retrieve the rest of the settings for you. The full administer of concerning our Gmail account to our assess unit only took a link of minutes, and we expected and sent post with no problem. We also hooked up our Outlook account using Mail for Chat; it requires you to know a bit more in rank, such as your server take up, but in our encounter, the setup was simple and charming and all our in-box folders were transferred to the phone. In addendum to e-mail, you can sync your Calendar, Contacts, and Tasks. Nokia’s mobile VPN client is also included on the phone if you want to tap into your company’s Intranet.

If you’re looking for a modest more personal interaction, the E72 can do that, too, as it’s a very competent phone. It offers quad-band world wandering, a speakerphone, talks mission (up to six participants), speed dial, voice dialing, VoIP calls, and text and CD messaging. The take up book is top bolt from the blue only by the available memory, and the SIM card can hold an bonus 250 contacts. Each entry has room for multiple numbers, an e-mail take up, home and work addresses, a Web URL, and so forth. For caller ID purposes, you can pair a supporter with a photo, group ID, or a custom ringtone. Bluetooth 2.0 is onboard with help for mono and stereo Bluetooth headsets, hands-free kits, dial-up networking, file transfer, differ push, audio video diffident control, basic printing, and more

The Nokia E72 excellent:

The Nokia E72 brings upgrades such as a closer PC, more memory, and a better camera. The phone’s point is both sleek and well-built. It offers exceptional messaging capabilities, 3G help, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS.

The Nokia E72 terrible:

The optical trackpad doesn’t work very well. Speakerphone number is a bit low. It has a lower-pledge cover compared with some of its competitors. Without carrier backing, the E72 carries an high-priced price tag.

The Nokia E72 underside line:

Even if the price might be off-putting to many, the Nokia E72 is a well-designed and full-featured messaging smartphone for affair users.

The Nokia E72 Price: $282