Which brand of mobile phones has won the hearts of millions of people worldwide?Which brand of mobile phones comes up with winner phone models one after the other?If you want a user-friendly mobile phone,what is the best brand to opt for?Yeah,you guessed it right,its Nokia.
Nokia has done it again,by coming up with another state of the art,value for money,good lookin' cell phone,Nokia 3530.
Previously the owner of a 3350(did ya notice,thats 3530 jumbled up!),it was sheer boredom with the same piece that made me look for a newer and more modern phone.Was all set to buy a Samsung N 620 when I cast my eyes upon 3530 and the thought of paying a bomb for the color screen discouraged me..till I actually saw the price of 3530..and to my greatest surprise,it was just a wee-bit more costly than the Samsung N 620.And the phone...what can I say,its a sheer beauty!
Now something about the features.
Color screen
3530 has a 4096 color display with a resolution of 96* 65 .For the common man,this means that the features like web browsing,viewing of pictures,games etc just got enhanced.No doubt,the resolution is much inferior compared to the more expensive and higher-end Nokia phones like 3650 or 7650,but then at these prices,no one's complaining.
MMS and Java
3530 is one of the few Nokia models that has MMS facility(remember the TV ad ''Can you MMS?'')
MMS is Multimedia Messaging Service,which simply explained is the feature of sending pictures,sound as a part of SMS or on their own.Makes messaging fun.Also,the received pictures or sounds can be saved and set as screensavers and ringtones respectively
The Java application part comes in handy while playing games on the phone.The Java enabled games are a big attraction in itself(details later)and more stuff can be downloaded using Java and WAP.
Phonebook
The capacity of the phonebook is 500,in addition to the extra SIM memory storage.While storing names,multiple numbers can be stored in each name,based on the type of number i.e.home,mobile,general,fax or office numbers.This makes it easy to organise and categorise
the numbers.
The no.of recent calls displayed is as follows:
Dialed:20,Received:10,Missed:10.
Also,it has upto 10 names that can be stored for voice dial and speed dial.
SMS
The basic SMS feature allows the maximum length of messages to be 160 characters(Predictive text input possible).At least 20 messages can be stored in the inbox itself.And to add to that,there folders like Archive and others(to be created by the user itself)that can store additional messages transferred from the inbox.
Tones
3530 supports polyphonic ringtones.It has 35 in-built ringtones with more downloadable using Tone Services(which allows user to connect to Club Nokia and download more tones)It has a vibrating alert feature,message alert feature where a ring tone can be set as message alert tone.
Settings
The time and date settings allow the time and date to be display on screen. Call settings includes call divert,anykey answer,automatic redial,call waiting,summary after call(where the duration of each call is displayed after the call).Display settings lets you select the wallpaper image,personalise the color schemes(from a choice of red,blue,green,violet),choose a time for screensaver timeout.
Accessory settings helps in adjusting the settings of phone accessories.
Gallery
This feature contains folders like Graphics(containing in- built pictures),Tones(where downloaded tones can be stored) and Logos.
Games
The Java games on the phone are mind blowing,especially Bowling.There are three other games Sky Diver,Air Glide,Backgammon.More can be downloaded using Java.Its enough to say that the games are to be seen to be believed.
Miscellaneous
There are other standard features like Calendar,Calculator,Currency Converter,Alarm Clock,Countdown Timer,Stopwatch and a Wallet where one can store personal and confidential information.
Web browsing
3530 supports WAP over GPRS,that makes web browsing enhanced and the color screen makes it even better.
Dimensions
Volume: 98 cc Weight: 106g Length: 118 mm Width : 49.6 mm (max) Thickness : 17.1mm (max)
Backlight and Covers
The phone has a BRILLIANT white backlight,and it seems that the phone almost glows in the dark.Simply amazing light,combined with the color display makes it an eye catcher in dark places.
There are various covers available.However these are difficult to find,at least in Mumbai.
Negative Aspects
Like every product,this phone comes with its cons.Like,the MMS feature is useful only if there's someone with an MMS enabled phone on the other side.The phone is somewhat bulky and not-so-slim compared to slim n cute Nokia phones like 8310 and 6510.There's no FM radio or infra red port.The shape of the keypad is somewhat weird and it might take some time to get used to the keys,especially while typing messages.The resolution could have been somewhat better.And just once,the phone
screen froze while browsing the web.Also,finding downloadable polyphonic tones can be quite a harrowing experience(there's only Club Nokia).
Verdict
The pros and cons weighed,this phone definitely scores when it comes to value for money.For a decent price of Rs.9100/-(with bill)this phone isn't a bad buy at all.And just see the envious stares and glances you will get after you are in possession of 3530!Something you surely can show off(I know I did,still do!).Not to mention the looks on people faces when they hear the price.All in all,a funky phone at a sober price.Three Cheers for Nokia for coming up with yet another winner!
P.S. The excessive length of the review is merely because I hope I can help people to make a decision about 3530 by enlisting the main features of the phone.Comments are always welcome.
