Nokia 3210e Mobile Phone (Nokia 3210)

Member Name: ukblue

Product:	Nokia 3210
Date:	21/09/00 (1166 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy to use and sleek design

Disadvantages: Heavier than other Nokia phones

I bought the Nokia 3210e in June 2000, and haven’t regretted my purchase. I was fed up with my previous mobile phone, Bosch 509e. The Nokia 3210e is a splendid mobile phone indeed with easy to navigate menu system, predictive text input, 3 games, clock, sms capability, calculator, changeable covers, and phone book.

The 3210e is small and it was this that I did consider before buying as for people with large hands it can be awkward for a small phone to be easily handled. However, after handling the phone it’s weight made it easy to hold and better still when in a leather case. What makes the phone ‘weighty’ is the battery, which sits behind the removable back cover. It makes the phone heavier than other Nokia phones but I find it easy to handle and I soon got used to the slight extra weight mainly because it is well balanced. One thing to note about the battery is that if it is removed the clock and date function is lost! A minor irritation, which means having to set the time and date when you switch on the phone. It would be a rare occasion to have to remove the battery in any case so, I do not consider it too much of a problem.

The key layout is well spaced and not difficult to operate. One problem with the key position is that rocker type key (NaviKey) is used for navigating through the menu system also, it used for changing the volume during a call. The positioning of the key makes it difficult to locate whilst in call to alter the volume. I much prefer a separate key on the side of the phone. I have also noticed that it is easy to put pressure on the key when using the phone during a call. This can effectively change the volume as you talk/listen, I have found mostly it increases the volume. So, one to watch out for. You can only change the volume during a call!

The keypad can be locked against those spurious key presses when in the pocket preventing unintentional calls bumping up your bill. Pressing the on/o
ff button, on the top of the phone, displays a list of Personal, Silent, Discreet or Loud options and Switch Off.

Predictive text feature is a great boon to composing SMS messages. By keying once for each letter the phones memory will work out the possible words that the key sequence has found. Therefore, reducing the key presses needed to display a word. If the word displayed after the last letter keyed is not the one you want you can press the */+ key and each press of the key will display words that match the key presses you have made. Once the word is displayed you simply carry on with you text message. If the word isn’t found a ‘?’ is displayed next to the last letter and this gives you the option to spell the word and it added to the dictionary. The dictionary is quite extensive and you may well find it is not necessary to add words except perhaps real names or nicknames. For those who still like to use the multi-key press this is still possible and you can get to the special characters from the menu. A useful feature of the SMS system is that you can set the phone to send a receipt once your message has been sent. If the recipients phone is switched on and in service a receipt will be sent to your phone to indicate that your message has been received.

The phone book can store 90 names and numbers. These are stored on the SIM card, there isn’t a store for numbers on the phone. Creating names for your phone book entries is easy but is limited to 12 characters. You can even assign a tone to a particular phone book entry, so you will know the caller by the tone before even looking at the display. Speed dials can be assigned to a phone book entry too. This allows one key press (held) to make a call to your most used numbers of which up to eight numbers can be assigned without searching the phone book. Nonetheless, the phone book is easy to use too. The first item on the menu is the phone book and this allows you to sea
rch for names and by pressing the appropriate letter you get to entries very fast.

There is no external antenna on this phone. Instead it is concealed within the casing. I have heard reports of people having problems with reception. I think this could be the service provider that is the fault, as I have not found any problems, as yet, using Orange Just Talk. This makes the phone easier to put in a pocket and not have a protruding aerial sticking into you. Here in England the model is not supplied with a vibrate option. I have seen on the WWW kits for adding this function but this means opening the casing and potential disaster can be caused to the phone as well as invalidating the warranty!

Other features include composing your own ring tone and you can SMS ring tones too from WWW sites. There are three games too. These are Snake (the original), Memory and Rotation. Also, there is the facility to send Picture Messages (not on Orange Just Talk), to other 3210 phones. You can change the cover, back and front, of which there are many designs but avoid the cheap market place covers, they’re often poor quality. When I bought my 3210e it came with a mid-blue slightly metallic speckled cover with silver keys on the front and black for the back cover – looks very smart! I have seen covers in the style of the 7110 (Matrix) on some web sites.

Overall the Nokia 3210e is a slim and sexy easy to use phone. Usage is intuitive as with all Nokia mobile phones. It is simply a joy to use. There are no extra facilities like data capability and infrared but then this phone is designed to be used as a voice communication and not an all singing all dancing device. If you want a simple easy to use phone with some nice features and good looks then the Nokia 3210e is worth taking a look at. Priced for Orange Just Talk, UK.

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