Nokia expanded its line of middle ranged mobile phones at the beginning of this year with the launch of the 3110 Classic model. They brought it out for the world to see in February at the 3GSM World Congress show in Barcelona, although it stirred little or no waves at all. No surprise in that, as the phone brings only standard performances, making it an average device.

From the line of Nokia mobile phones that look almost identical, with the same plain, basic design and not the least impressive specifications, here comes the new 3110 handset. The "Classic" title is most suitable for Nokia's 3110 phone. The producer actually had to use it because this device shares the same name with one of their older ones, from the mid '90s. The new one is a true display of conservatory features, all packed in a handset that holds not one single feature capable of making it stand out. It is actually a medium ranged device, which means that it only targets average performances and staying out of the lower end line of mobile phones.

The Nokia 3110 Classic is available only in black, although a touch of color might have made it look more cheerful. The price for this phone stands around USD 260, but it might vary, depending on the location.



Design

Nokia made no extra effort in adding any special lines in the design of their 3110 Classic phone. The candybar looks more like a practical cellular, one that has no interest in being fashionable, but rather useful for getting things done. Black is both elegant and less ostentatious and is the perfect color to use for this specific handset. The simple lines and only slightly rounded corners make the device look robust and mature.


At 108.5 x 45.7 x 15.6 mm, the mobile phone can be considered too large, by many standards. It's long, but its slimness makes up for this drawback, making it feel comfortable in the user's hand, but certainly not in a smaller pocket. The phone weighs only 87 grams, but feels somewhat heavier, probably due to its length. All these features make Nokia 3110 Classic a device suitable especially for those who are not very fond of the tiny handsets that cram technology in some unbelievably small cases. The handset is entirely built from plastic, which surely fails in adding class to it. Still, the back cover is made of a slightly rubbery compound that gives the user chances for a perfect grip.


One advantage that the phone's design offers is the large buttons. They are certainly unappealing and ruin its chance of having a more stylish look. Going past this drawback, they are a true blessing for those who rely mostly on text messaging for communication. They prove to be great for writing emails, with record breaking speed. The same goes for the main navigation buttons, as they make browsing through the phone's menu a breeze. Due to this, even the largest thumbs will stop looking clumsy and handle the cellular just as easy as the smaller ones.



Display and Camera

One of the most disappointing features on Nokia 3110 Classic is surely its display. The feature to blame for this is the small resolution of 128 x 160 pixels that makes images look too sharp and very low-end. The 2.2 inch screen is too large for the resolution, which makes every single pixel visible and a terrible combination for good quality display, although it supports 262k colors.



The 1.3 megapixel camera is meant only to make sure that the user can pride with having a mobile phone equipped with this feature.


It has no focus and only few elements to improve the quality of the captures. For this reason, the quality of its images depends on how good the lighting is. They look great outdoors, on a sunny day, but incredibly poor when indoors. The phone also includes a Night shot mode, but that is bound to fail right from the start in being satisfactory, as there is no flash for providing some needed extra lighting.


The camera also has 8x zoom, although this brings only foggy images at a lower resolution than the normal ones. It is capable of shooting images at a maximum resolution of 1280 x 1024 pixels and also includes a self-timer that will surely prove to be handy at some times. This is where the phone's shape proves to be useful, as it is capable of standing all by itself on straight surfaces according to how the user places it to take a capture after the set period. There are also some effects, including false colors, Greyscale, Sepia, Negative and Solarize to make the personal captures look more artistic and hide their poor quality. Interestingly enough, the effects can be used in the Video mode too, which also leaves the option of shooting mute or with sound. Unfortunately, the maximum video resolution provided by this phone is of 176 x 144 pixels, a fairly low one by any standards.


The sample below has been executed under 360 watts of continuous tungsten light, especially created to test the quality of the camera module.



Menu and Software

Nokia 3110 Classic works on S40 user interface, as an operating system was out of the question right from the start, considering the handset's capabilities. The phone's menu allows the user to apply a few themes, as to make it more cheerful and feel more personalized. It still remains a dusty and old fashioned one, as it manages to take care only of the standard features that the user might need and nothing more. One great advantage that this phone has to bring is the email and instant messaging support.

The user can easily manage its contacts in groups and assign specific ringtones and pictures to each of them. The mobile phone is capable of providing all the basic features that are available even on the most low end devices. This includes an Alarm Clock, Calendar, To-do List, Calculator, Timer, Stopwatch, which will prove to be useful, as common as they might be.


The menu also includes some easy access keys that enable the user to instantly go to sound settings, the camera, calendar, keypad lock and many others. Nokia 3110 Classic comes with a built in recorder that enables the user to make voice reminders and voice recordings. Another appealing feature is that the user can place a call using the loud speakers without having to hold the handset near the ear. The phone is also Java enabled, which makes it possible to add many evolved mobile games for entertainment. Right from the start, it comes with three preinstalled games: Snake III, Soccer 3D and Sudoku 2.



Communication

This phone proves to be a pleasant surprise (the first one so far) when it comes to communication solutions. It provides GPRS Class 10, which is capable of reaching speeds of up to 32-48 kbps and EDGE Class 10 too, which should enable it to go up to 236.8 kbps in transfers. Data transmission is also available through HSCSD that goes up only to 14.4 kbit/s only in best conditions. This is not a 3G enabled phone, but being a mid-level handset might imply this lack of high-end technology. Nevertheless EDGE data transfer works within the parameters with speeds up to 118 Kbit/s download and 72 Kbit/s upload.


The phone makes up for this by providing less evolved, but reliable connectivity solutions, such as Bluetooth 2.0 (132 KB/s test speed), Infrared and a miniUSB too. Moreover, the user can get information and entertainment through the 3GPP streaming technology.


The most appealing feature about this mobile phone is that it also supports emails, although no instant messaging is available. This will prove useful, especially as the handset comes with the easy to use keypad that makes typing quite comfortable. The tri-band GSM phone has a good signal reception and a fairly acceptable sound quality. It might not include background noise canceling, but the volume reaches levels high enough for making conversations clear enough.


Processor and memory

The classic handset embeds a powerful ARM9 family processor running at speeds of up to 245 MHz. Furthermore, it features Jazelle technology which enables the phone to execute Java bytecode directly in the hardware of the ARM microprocessor. As a result the handset needs little amount of memory footprint to achieve high speed performances when executing various applications. Even if it's a mid-level handset, the lack of an operating system and the fast CPU combined has a positive result: lower loading times and faster startups.


Nokia 3110 Classic features around 9 MB internal memory, which is available for the users to simply storage personal data. That's next to nothing, when compared to the microSD cards of up to 2GB that the phone supports. The extra space has high chances of being just the thing to upgrade the phone to a more evolved level, as it gives its user considerably more freedom in handling his personal files.



Multimedia

The phone has no talent, as it manages to bring a bundle made of all the average performances that users might need. None of them prevail in quality, although the large data storage space that the additional microSD card provides could very well make Nokia 3110 Classic sound like a good music phone. Surprise, surprise! The unpleasant one, again. The package of this mobile phone includes a HS-40 headset, which allows only one ear to enjoy music. In fact it's pretty obvious that the headset is meant to be used as a simply handsfree for call purposes. Still, this ruins everything, although the sound quality was pretty low anyway.


Nokia has packed only the cheapest solutions in this mobile phone, which basically stands as the main reason for its failure in reaching top quality in any field. The phone also includes an FM radio, although it's of a rather poor quality as well. There is one advantage in the fact that the user can listen to his favorite stations while also writing messages and working in the background, although it stops running when the camera is used and continues when the user closes it.

The phone acts like a regular MP3 player and also includes an equalizer for setting the sound mode to pop, rock, jazz, classical. This brings it nowhere closer to what we are used to receiving from a music rendering device, no matter how hard Nokia 3110 Classic tries.



Battery

Nokia 3110 Classic uses the battery type that has become famous until now, the BL-5C. No less than 46 million BL-5C batteries have been considered a potential threat, as some of these with specific serial numbers have experienced heating problems and have been replaced by Nokia until now. Of course, this doesn't necessarily mean that the same goes for the one in this phone as well. The battery allows up to 3.5 hours of use and is supposed to last up to 16 days in standby mode. Indeed, the battery discharges quite fast if the phone is intensely used, but can hold on through a long period of time if the owner needs it only scantly. In truth, the lack of high-tech features will preserve the life energy of the battery to almost 3 hours of talking, but no more.



Impressions

The name "Classic" suits this phone perfectly, as it has a rather traditional approach towards providing communication services. There is nothing outstanding and not even impressive about it. It's all standard, starting with the design and down to the features that it manages to provide. Still, there is a strong audience out there for Nokia 3110 Classic too. Those people that have got tired of using tiny buttons for typing messages with their large buttons will surely love the huge ones that the phone offers, although it takes away from its elegance. When this is combined with the possibility of adjusting the font's size, it looks like the perfect handset for older people, as it is practical more than anything else.


The Good

There are only a few features that the user can get excited over. Some might consider it to be the large buttons that will make a huge difference in typing, while others might dislike exactly this specific feature. Another great thing is the fact that the phone supports microSD cards of up to 2GB that will allow the user to store a huge amount of personal information.


The Bad

The design, the camera, the terrible display, the sizes, the sound, even the price and the list could go on. In fact, the number of drawbacks that Nokia 3110 Classic brings is much bigger than its advantages. The phone is large, although the smooth straight lines prevent it from looking bulky. This still means that it will feel huge in some pockets, especially for those who are rather keen on more slender handsets. The screen will disappoint just about anyone, as it has a poor quality and ruins displayed images. The camera is no better and the lack of a flash makes itself felt, as captures look really bad especially when indoors. Last, but not least, for the price that Nokia 3110 Classic comes at, the user could have the chance of enjoying a more evolved mobile phone capable of higher performances and with a lot more personality, but as always we pay for the name rather than for capabilities.


Sales package

Nokia 3110 classic
Nokia Battery Li-Ion 1020 mAh (BL-5C)
Nokia Compact Charger AC-3
miniUSB cable
Nokia HS-40 headset
User guide


Photo: Tudor Raiciu for Softpedia.com