Nokia 3220

Discontinued
31st May 2004

The Nokia 3220 represents part of Nokia's attempt to fight back and regain some lost market share. While the Nokia 3220 isn't a technically advanced phone, it does have some interesting features. Pitched primarily at the youth market, the Nokia 3220 has been designed to be fun rather than technologically advanced, and Nokia have done a much better job at creating an attractive handset than they did with the ugly Nokia 7610 or incredibly dull 6610i.

Probably the most striking thing to notice about the design of the 3220 is the shape, which is actually created by the "Xpress-on grip" which has LEDs in the side that flash in time to the handset's ringtone. The grips are interchangeable, and that's not all. Like the 3200, the Nokia 3220 allows you to print your own inserts, and it all works in a much more seamless and easy-to-use way than the 3200 too. Plus, there's a range of predesigned inserts.

That's not all.. the optional Nokia Xpress-on Fun Shell allows you to create "wave messages" with an array of LEDs on the back of the 3220. The Fun Shell even comes with a tilt sensor and a couple of games to take advantage of it.

Nokia are promoting the 3220 as a platform for Java games, and there are a number of games lined up for launch time. Combine that with the snazzy LED effects, and this looks like a lot of fun.

However there are some drawbacks. Firstly, the Nokia 3220's screen is only 128x128 pixels which is a bit limited, and the camera is a VGA-only device. However, there is an XHTML web browser, Java, GPRS, MMS and a handsfree speaker. The Nokia 3220 is a tri-band phone coming in GSM 900/1800/1900 for Europe and GSM 850/1800/1900 for the Americas.

It's a very lighweight phone, weighing 86 grams and measuring 105x44x19mm. Battery life is a reasonable 3 hours talktime and 12 days standby.

We like the Nokia 3220 a lot, not because it's particularly advanced, but it shows that Nokia are capable of very good packaging, and we think that the 3220 will be a strong seller. The price is pretty low too, with the unsubsidised price coming in at about €250/£150/$280 SIM Free, probably about €160/£100/$180 on prepay and free with most contracts. Available in late summer 2004.