The budget novelty of Finnish company with the built-in Nokia Comes With Music service is on sale.
Nokia X3 became one of the first devices available with an annual subscription to the service of Nokia Comes With Music. With the acquisition of light and a nice slider, the device recently appeared in the market. Its owners will be able to download music for a whole year in unlimited quantities and totally free. But this is perhaps the only thing that makes the X3 competitive.
X3 has already become one of the most affordable music phones. Products of Sony Ericsson called Walkman and even Entertainment Unlimited can be considered as competitors of X3. However, it is now clear that the X3 benefits due to a more affordable price.
Appearance
The device is typical for this class of devices, without any striking features. Plastic slider of small size with color inserts on the perimeter of the front panel and keyboard, is performed under the metal surface. The ribs, the edges and the battery cover are of frosted plastic with the effect of soft-touch. Nokia X3 is convenient to hold in hands due to the materials used in the shell and small size. The phone is so light, and plastic is so thin that it seems as if the device is like a toy. In the hands it does not squeak, even if you properly compress the case, but the slider is very weak and quickly “loosens”.
The screen is of modest dimensions. It is 2.2-inch of diagonal – this is not much, but enough for the device in this price category. The display is more disappointing: colors are conveyed badly; just turn round phone and the image becomes illegible.
The digital keypad of X3 is small but quite comfortable. There are no problems with its use.
The camera, unfortunately, is very mediocre. It is 3.2 megapixels, which is not too little for a budget model, but because of the lack of autofocus images come out to be very inexpressive. Maximum resolution for photos is 2048 x 1536, and for video it is 176 x 144 pixels. Maximum fps is limited to fifteen. For comparison, in the new line, provided by Sony Ericsson, even on smaller models there are 5-megapixel sensors.
Memory
The phone has only 70 MB of its own memory. It can be increased due to microSDHC slot. It supports the “hot shift” and memory cards of up to 16 GB. And initially in a box with the phone a card is enclosed of 2 gigabytes.
A nice feature in this phone is its built-in stereo speaker. Ringtones and audio files in its performance sound very well, that certainly adds points to X3 when compared with competitors. However, for listening to music in a box with a new phone there is also a stereo headset which connects via a standard 3.5-mm jack.
Technical specifications
Form Factor: vertical slider
Mobile communication / data transfer: GSM 850/900/1800/1900, GPRS / EDGE
Memory: 70 MB internal memory, microSDHC slot (memory card support up to 16 GB) + 2 GB card included
Display: TFT, diagonal – 2,2 inch, 320 x 240, 262 thousand colors
Interfaces: Bluetooth 2.0, USB 2.0
Camera: 3.2 megapixels, no autofocus, LED flash, video
Battery: removable, Lithium Ion, 860 mAh (BL-4CT)
Other: FM-radio
Dimensions: 96 x 49.3 x 14.1 mm
Weight: 103 g
Reported operating time: up to 24 hours when listening to music
Conclusion
The disadvantages of the phone, in my opinion, are poorly transmitting color display, flimsy slider and a weak camera. An unexpected problem was the installation of the sim-card: it took about an hour to figure out how to insert SIM card and various items had to be used, ranging from the subtle knife, ending with a toothpick. Instructions in this regard were slurred. But you can be confident – even if the phone falls and breaks apart, sim-card will not fall out of it. By the way, a couple of weak falls the phone survived without serious injuries in any case there were no scratches left on the screen. A definite plus of X3 can be considered light weight of the device and ease of use. In terms of management the model is extremely simple.
Nokia X3 is a device which fully corresponds to its price. This is one of the most affordable solutions with 3,5-mm audio jack and other music facilities. As the earlier model of X-series, X3 is fully compatible with Ovi Store and Comes With Music services and assess the “budget” is solely in conjunction with these services. The device may be an attractive purchase for those who are interested in the possibility to download music without restriction for a whole year round.
FInd more Nokia X3 reviews at TestFreaks
