Make obscene phone calls? Add a whole new dimension (or 2)! (Nokia 3650)

Member Name: damworker

Product:	Nokia 3650
Date:	08/04/03 (4899 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: available now, photos, games, calendar

Disadvantages: size, 7650, p800

I am unfortunate enough to work in the mobile department of a large computer software company. This means that I get access to some of the latest phones – those of the ‘smartphone’ rather than ‘small’ type. The phones I use do not have changeable covers!

I’ve owned a couple of palm pilots (they are that unreliable) and resisted even buying a phone at all until about two years ago but for the last year have had to work with the things.

I would guess that these smartphones are mostly bought either by serious business types for the useful features and by techno-junkies. Whatever, I’m more the serious user.

I can’t comment on the cost/value of this phone as I didn’t pay for mine.

The 3650 is based on the Symbian operating system. I mention Symbian as it is used by all the big manufacturers (Nokia, Sony-Erikson, Motorola etc). There are some similarities between all Symbian phones but the differences are surprisingly large. The other main alternative to Symbian is Microsoft. The only Microsoft based phone I know of is the Orange SPV which is really, really awful though doubtless Microsoft will get better (if they don’t give up as they did with TV Set Top Boxes).

I’ve used a number of smartphones recently and I can compare the 3650 with the Nokia 7650 and the Sony Erikson P800.

In terms of size it’s a little large. It’s wider than most conventional phones which I find ok but it is longer than one is used to. I think it’s almost identical to the 7650 which is Nokias older model. The main difference between the two is that the 7650 has 4Mb built in memory and an expansion slot whereas the 3650 has a 16Mb memory card which could be exchanged. The other difference is that the 3650 comes with a video camera capability. This application is available for free download on the Nokia site for the 7650.

Both the 76 and 36 have GPRS. Neit
her has a web browser like the Nokia Communicator brick I used to have. I know one would say you can’t surf a standard web site on a phone and it’s true some sites don’t work well or even at all if they have flash or javascript but it was a useful capability. Nokia sells a browser for these phones but I haven’t tried it. Both have WAP browsers which work well.

The calendar function is very useful and I keep all appointments and meetings on it.

The 36/76 phones will run Java games and snake and one of those picture squares are provided. Snake is great fun and the quality is really quite good. I don’t doubt that other games would be well worth the money and it would be a good device for this purpose.

I haven’t done much more than play with the video recorder and it’s a bit blocky but can be fun. The still camera built into the 36/7650 appears identical in resolution; the images work well on the phone and are acceptable when transferred to a pc. I keep pictures of my kids on the phone and my four year old uses it to take pictures of the floor, his hands and blurred pictures of his sisters.

I’ve only sent a few MMS images and they can be fun, if frivolous, though I’m sure these phones can add a whole new dimension (or 2) to the term ‘obscene phone call’.

I’m not much of a text messager and find mobile keyboards almost impossible to use for more than short entries. The 76 uses a standard keyboard layout while the 36 has the keys arranged in a circle. I didn’t find this easier to use so I guess it’s purely aesthetic. If you are used to texting on other phones I imagine you will hate the 36 keyboard. The 7650 uses a joystick sort of button which provides direction (i.e. push it towards the right, left, up or down) and selection (like a button on a mouse) which is very easy to use. The 36 does the same thing but the button is a sort of wobbly pl
ate and it’s very easy to get a direction instead of a click by mistake.

The battery in the 36/76 is good – I leave it plugged in at work every day but over the weekend with some use, it still has a few power bars left.

The 76 has a pull out keyboard and is noticeable smaller when closed. To me, the 36 looks a bit of a toy compared to the 76. Overall I’d pick the 76 over the 36 but these are great practical and fun toys and worth the money.

However, I’ve just had a play with the Sony Erikson P800 and that is a very good phone. The screen is bigger, crucially it has a ‘peck’ touch screen like you get with palms. Where this comes into it’s own is for text entry. It also has a small numeric keypad and rotate and click wheel for scrolling and selecting down lists like the old Blackberry. I haven’t compared the resolution but the SEs built in camera seems inferior to the two Nokias. Its perhaps a more sensible rather than fun option.

I understand that the P800 is, I think, about 100 pounds more expensive than the 3650 but I’d probably go for that if I was buying a conventional phone today.

So, put my money where my mouth is, what will I buy? I’ve put my name down for a ‘3’ third generation phone. These also run symbian. From what I’ve seen they are inferior ergonomically to the P800 (only keyboard entry) but the differentiator is the services that they offer. I have high expectations of this service. I’ll let you know if it’s any good!

Summary: