Three Three One Zero... iconic numbers indeed, especially in the mobile landscape in India. For many of us who got our first cell phones all those years ago, the modle of choice was indeed, Nokia's iconic 3310. Yes, it looked like a brick, and yes, by today's stnadards, it is an absolutely grotesque piece of old engineering. But... it did the basics, and it did it brillinatly; it made calls, sent messages, delivered good battery life, and was robust beyond measure.
Yes, it did not have billion colours LCD, and yes, it could not click a zillion pixels of pictures, or indeed, do anything which we so fancy even in our most basic mobiles these days. But think about it; we didnt really miss all those features, did we?
The 3310 was indeed, a landmark phone, duly succeeded by the 2100, and, a while after that, by the Nokia 1100 (and its variants like the 1108). If we jog our memory, we would recall the Nokia ads for the 1100 billing it as the 'Phone for India'; and indeed, it was. Having a torchlight, rubberized sides to prevent slippage and a completely dust protected shell were touted as highlights of the phone.
But anyways, the Nokia 1100... why am I reviewing it today, at the end of 2008, for a phone which was released 4 years ago? Well, to put it simply, I needed to get a corporate connection, and I did not want to get rid of my personal number. So, I duly found the old 1100 lying around somewhere in the house, and decided to go in for it. Now, I have owned 2 mobile brands till now, Nokia and Sony Ericsson, and various modles as well, starting from the Nokia 8250, the Nokia 1100, and various Sony Ericsson's (T230, K300i, K750i). My latest phone is the Nokia E52, which I quite like. So how would the rather ancient 1100 stack up against these modern offerings.
Well, first things first, the Nokia costs only around Rs. 1700 when I bought it... it was one of the cheapest phones in the market. Hence, we cannot expect more of it that, well, the basics. And in this regard the 1100 is outstanding. In all the hullabaloo of the technological developments, we have forgotten that cell phones, and indeed, elctronic devices in general, can be easy to operate and simple to udnerstand. The 1100 brings back that simplicity, something that was missing with the Sony Ericsson's and the E51... and for those of us who only care to call and message; it fits the bill just fine.
For one thing, the phone is ugly... ok, I take that back, it is not very attractive to look at, and indeed, the Auto Wallah / Dhobi / Newspaper Delivery Boy would probably have a more upmarket handset. And no, if you are in a group of friends with their N96's and iPhones, the 1100 wouldnt work at all... cancel that... the 1100 would work brillinatly in those situations, especially if you want to showcase a bit of reverse snobbery. And you can always laugh at your friends when their battery runs out, while you are happily chugging along with full network coverage.
Ah yes, the 1100's strong points... Battery LIfe is definitely in a class which we simply do not get with cellular phones these days. Mind you, the 1100 does not have much stuff to drain its battery, it does not have a hugh colopur screen, camera MP3, GPRS or indeed any hi-tech addenda in it... so the simply Nokia BL-4C battery provides around 5 hours of talk time... I have spent over an hour and a half on this phone talking everyday, and only at the end of the third day did I really find the need to charge it up again. With more sedate usage, it would probably survive for 5 days.
Signal coverage and call quality... again, excellent, as compared to some of my friends new fangled phones which lose signal quite quickly, the 1100 stays true with a strong signal. Also, the sound quality is quite clear, so no complaints on this side.
The fact that it has a horrid rubberized keypad and rubberized body shell is also not really a negative, for it means less scratches as compared with the shuny E51, and less worries because of that. Yes, the keypad has a horrid clicking noise whenever you use it, and at least the keys are large, which means its easy to type for those of us with large thumbs. One complaint though, the backlighting of the keypad isnt really bright enough, and the black writing on the keypad gets worn out rather fast.
The 1100 also has a 'torch', which isnt really that great, but is still better than not having anything, I guess. But I have been spoilt rotten by the excellent torches on the K750i / W700i, which are really, in my opinion, a Godsend when the power in your area suddenly goes off at night, when you are walking back. They are bright enough to illuminate the road for about 2 feet ahead of you, so you dont end up accidentally stepping on a stray dog. But then, because the 1100's torch is so weak, it hardly consumes any battery!
And, oh, one more thing, the 1100 is indestrictible... yes, you heard that right, it is nigh unbreakable. I have dropped it more times that I can remember, and its even fallen off a moving auto, but it still works well. In many cases, the body shell simply detached itself, and I simply had to click it back to its previous postion to make it work.
I guess I have covered most of the positives of the 1100 in the preceding paragraphs, so now, let me move onto a few gripes about it.
For one, at least it could have had an FM receiver built in, for a basic level of entertainment (especially on a long commute), but then, that I guess is sorted out in the new generation of entry level phones like the Nokia 1650 (another phone with an amzing battery life).
And while they were at it, they could have ensured a better keypad, and come on, slightly better looks at least! Also, the 1100 has the old-style Nokia chargin point, so it will not work with the chargers of Newer Nokias, like the N-Series or the E51.
And the memory for contacts isnt large at all, only 50 contacts for Phone Memory, so that means that you would have to rely on the SIm card for storing most of your contacts. Also, the menu system is a bit archaic in this day and age, but the, I guess I have been spoilt by the grid style menus of the Sony Ericssons and the E51.
But then, I am not recommending that you buy the Nokia 1100 today, indeed, it has been a long phased out model. Newer generations of Nokia 1200's, 1208's and 1650's have carried the torch forward; and the Sony Ericsson J110 / 120 are another set of entry level phones with excellent battery life.
Going back to using the 1100 alongside the E51 has made me realize the importance of entry level phones, and the fact that, do we really need all the features crammed into one device; of camera, MP3 and Video Player, Net Surfinf, Office Document Editing and Camcorder? I believe not, but Imust admit I am mesmerized by the features which new mobile devices are coming out with... maybe, one day; they will replace all the other devices we know about. But for now, for a phone to simply call and text, an entry level phone works best.
And I will be sticking with the 1100 for some time now, simply because I already have a complementary trio of E51, iPod Nano and Canon IXUS 860 digicam to take care of my other entertainment needs.
