Nokia C3-01 Gold Edition

Available now
12th September 2011

The original Nokia C3-01 (also known as the C3 Touch and Type) was launched last year. It was a notable handset because it looked like a standard Nokia candy bar phone but it also came with a simple touchscreen.

Twelve months on, Nokia have created a special model of the phone called the Nokia C3-01 Gold Edition. Given the name, it is unsurprising that this new variant of the C3-01 is gold in colour, and actually has 18 carat gold plating. The Gold Edition was launched at about the same time that Nokia changed their naming convention, so this is most likely the swansong of the C-series of handsets and others.

The gold case is complemented by a "ceramic feel" keypad, and the phone's on-screen theme matches the physical look of the device. Gold plated devices such as this are not to everyone's taste, but we must say that we think it looks rather good.

One interesting development is under the hood. The Nokia C3-01 Gold Edition packs a 1GHz ARM-based CPU, which is awfully fast for a basic phone such as this. Yes, faster is always good, but the C3-01 is really only suited for basic use so there's not much point putting a very fast CPU in it. We understand that some models of the normal C3-01 (labelled C3-01.5 and RM-766 on the identification label) are also running 1GHz processors.

The other specifications on the C3-01 Gold Edition are unchanged from launch. There's a 2.4" 240 x 320 pixel resistive touchscreen, a 5 megapixel camera on the back, 3.5G and WiFi support, microSD expandable memory, an FM radio, multimedia player and a 3.5mm audio socket. Talktime is up to 4 hours on 3G with 18 days standby time, and the unit weighs 100 grams and measures 111 x 48 x 11mm.

If you want one of these then the good news is that they are shipping now, priced at €220 before tax and subsidy which isn't too expensive for a flash looking phone like this. Nokia say that the C3-01 Gold Edition is designed exclusively for Eastern European and Middle Eastern markets, although it is quite likely that specialist importers will also be able to get hold of it for a premium.