Nokia 3120 Classic
Discontinued 5th February 2008
Recently, Nokia have started to recycle product names.
First came the Nokia 2600 Classic, and now there's the
Nokia 3120 Classic which shares its model number with
a cheap colour phone from 2004. As you might guess from
the 3120 model number, this is going to be a pretty
inexpensive device, but it is worlds apart from the
earlier 3120 handset. Nokia have given this handset
a fairly low-key launch, which is surprising.
This is a very lightweight 3G phone - the Nokia 3100
Classic weighs only 85 grams, but it manages to fit
in a 2.0" 320 x 240 pixel display, 2 megapixel
primary camera with flash, video calling, microSD expandable
memory, Bluetooth, a multimedia player and an FM radio.
This is all pretty good for a handset priced at around
€160 / £110 / $220 or so before tax and subsidy.
So
it's pretty clear that the Nokia 3120 Classic offers
good value for money, but presumably there must have
been some compromises to keep the price down? Well,
in truth there are not many compromises that we can
see. True, this isn't a smartphone, the 3120 Classic
runs the Series 40 operating system that most people
are familiar with. There's no autofocus on the camera,
the screen could be a little larger, the 3120 Classic
lacks HSDPA and there is no memory card in the standard
sales package.
But on the plus side, the Nokia 3120 Classic comes
with a 2.5mm audio socket plus headphones, a media player
that can deal with MP3, MP4 and Windows Media file types,
the Opera web browser, an email client and it can also
capture video at 15 to 20 fps at 320x240 pixels (QVGA)
resolution, which is pretty adequate for most people.
This is a quad-band GSM phone with GPRS and EDGE
data, plus UMTS/WCDMA (3G). There are several different
variants of 3G radio available depending on region,
either 900/2100, 850/2100 or 850/1900 MHz.
Talktime on 3G is 2.5 hours which is a little short
for some, with 12 days standby time. The standard sales
package includes a BL-4U battery, AC-3 charger, HS-40
headset and user guide in addition to the phone.
Overall, the Nokia 3120 Classic does appear to be
a very good value for money 3G handset that doesn't
miss out any important features, it is impressively
lightweight and looks quite attractive. We think that
this might be a strong seller for Nokia
when it comes out during Q2 2008 in several different
colour combinations.
Retro: the ORIGINAL Nokia
3120
Another handset with a low key launch when it came
out in 2004 was the original Nokia 3120. Another lightweight
phone at just 84 grams, but with only a 128x128 pixel
4096 colour display, tri-band GSM and no Bluetooth or
MP3 player, and not even a digital camera.
We're pretty sure that the original 3120 cost almost
the same as the new "Classic", so it serves
as a reminder of just how much technology has moved
on in a few years.
Our advice.. if you still have the original
Nokia 3120, then it really is time to upgrade!
|
Nokia
3120 Classic at a glance
|
Available:
|
Q2
2008
|
Network:
|
GSM
800 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 UMTS
900/2100,
850/2100 or 850/1900
|
Data:
|
GPRS
+ EDGE + UMTS (3G)
|
Screen:
|
240x320
pixels, 16m colours
|
Camera:
|
2
megapixels
|
Size:
|
Lightweight
monoblock 111 x 45 x
13mm / 85 grams
|
Bluetooth:
|
Yes
|
Memory
card:
|
microSD
|
Infra-red:
|
No
|
Polyphonic:
|
Yes
|
Java:
|
Yes
|
Battery
life:
|
2.5 hours talk / 12 days standby
|
|
|