Nokia 3610 Fold

Expected Q3 2008
12th August 2008
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Times change. We used to criticise Nokia for not making enough clamshell phones compared to the competition, but new clamshell phones are getting a bit thin on the ground, so we're please to see that Nokia are still committed to this type of device with the new Nokia 3610 Fold.

It isn't a groundbreaking phone when it comes to features or design. Indeed, the Nokia 3610 Fold closely resembles the popular Nokia 6131 in both looks and features.

The Nokia 3610 Fold is a quad-band GSM phone with GPRS and EDGE data, a 2" 240x320 pixel 262,000 colour display, a 1.3 megapixel camera, Bluetooth 2.0 and microSD expandable memory.

It comes with a multimedia player, web browser and email client. One useful feature is the 2.5mm audio jack socket which is an improvement over the old 6131, however the 3610 Fold lacks the 6131's FM radio and it has a smaller screen.

Maximum talktime is over 4 hours with up to 20 days standby time. At 97 grams in weight and 100 x 44 x 20mm in size, the 3610 Fold might be considered to be a little on the large side. It is taller but narrower than the 6131 and a fair bit lighter, but otherwise roughly similar to other Nokia clamshells.

Costing €125 (around £100 or $200) before tax and subsidy, the Nokia 3610 Fold is roughly the same price at the Nokia 6300 monoblock phone in the lower midrange market.

Like the outgoing 6131, the Nokia 3610 Fold is likely to be a practical clamshell phone for users who a primarily interested in making voice calls, but who still occasionally want access to other features. This could very well be a very popular phone.

Nokia say that the 3610 Fold should be available during Q3 2008 with various colour highlights of blue, green, red and rose available.

The original Nokia 3610

The 3610 Fold continues Nokia's habit of naming new phones after old ones. The original Nokia 3610 came out in 2002 and it was primarily aimed at Asian markets. As with most phones of that era, the 3610 really didn't have an awful lot of features, coming with a basic monochrome display, no camera, no data support and lacking even polyphonic ringtones.

It is probably quite unlikely that anyone will try to sell  you one of these on eBay instead of the new 3610 Fold, but just be careful if you see a bargain that seems too good to be true.