Value for Money. Review on Nokia 3530

Nokia 3530 is Nokia's first colour screen phones to entry level market. Considering the features and usability, its a good phone to have.

3530 has 4096-colour display which spices up software menus and icons. The passive matrix display is dimmer than one will like, but its sharpness makes up for it. The other feature is the screen supports upto seven lines of text during SMS.

The only blemish to the 3530's usability is the strange arrangement of its keypad. This makes some time to get used to the keypad. Apart from colour display, the phone also supports MMS, GPRS, polyphonic rings and wireless Java. But what is missing is Bluetooth and Infrared which has become so common now-a-days.

The 3530 doesn't offer a WYSIWYG editor for creating MMS messages, so it's necessary to enter a preview screen to see your multimedia messages before despatching them. Onboard are four good but not great games, including Sky Diver where you have to navigate a parachutist to the landing area safely.

According to the Nokia official Web site, the 3530 measures 0.69W/kg on Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) tests. Based on the recommendations of the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP), this is well below the limit of 2.0W/kg.

Reception performed up to expectations. Thanks to the 1000mAh Lithium-ion battery, the 3530 had an exceptionally long life. Rated at up to 4.5 hours of talktime and 312 hours on standby, the phone lasted a good five days of normal usage.

In summary, Nokia 3530 is recommended for its features and usability.

Product specifications:

Phone type:Dual band

Networkds :EGSM, GSM 1800, GSM 900

Wireless Technology: GPRS, HSCSD, WAP, Java

LCD Display size :7 lines of text

Colour LCD : Yes

No. of colours : 12 bit

Dimensions : 118 x 49.6 x 17.1 mm

Weight w/battery : 106 g

Included accessories: Travel charger

Message waiting indicator : Yes

Phonebook capacity : Nil

Battery type supported : Lithium-ion

Max. Talktime : 4 hours 30 minutes

Max. Standbytime : 13 days

SAR value : .69 W/Kg

Additional functions : 4096-colour screen

EMS/MMS : Yes

Predictive text input : Yes

Ringtone composer : Yes

Polyphonic : Yes

Ringtone options : 34 ringtones, including 15 polyphonic

Built-in vibrate alert : Yes

Built-in digital camera: No