Big features - Tiny price
Written: Jul 03 '03
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Pros: Great features for the money.
Cons: Dwindling battery life.
The Bottom Line: Well worth the dough.
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| search66's Full Review: Nokia 3560 |
If you are looking for a cheap alternative to get into the next generation of cell phones, look no further.
My previous Nokia (a 3360) started to feel a bit outdated, and I wanted to get the “cool new features” that many phones have been advertising. This includes polyphonic ringtones, WAP and color display. However, when I did some research these phones cost upwards of $200. That was a bit pricey for my budget, so I checked out Nokia’s website.
The 3560 is a rather new model, yet it has some standard features that no other phones in the price range can match. The first thing you’ll notice once you turn the phone on, is the brilliantly colored display. This inexpensive Nokia (about $100) has the ability to display a full colored background image. There are a handful of photos included, yet you can download more (usually at a small price) from the internet or your cell phone provider. The 3560 also sports eight different color schemes. While that concept seems great, the effect seems a bit washed out for my liking. In essence, the contrast between the eight colors isn’t as dramatic as I anticipated. Regardless, it’s a quick and fun way to customize your phone.
Being a kid at heart, the biggest lure for me was the use of polyphonic ringtones. For those of you not familiar with polyphonic ringtones, the difference is amazing. Instead of the bland monotone rings, polyphonic is based off of MIDI technology (technology?). Nevertheless, the end results are awesome. The Nokia includes 30 of these ringtones, but you can “download” more just like the backgrounds.
Aside from having the nice color display and cool ringtones, the Nokia is quite practical as well. It has a great calendar option that you can set to remind you of events. Most cell providers provide an interactive website that allows you to communicate from the website to the phone nicely. Cingular has a great set up for members. You can synchronize your email (Outlook) calendar with the website, and then in turn with your phone. This keeps me quite organized, including keeping me up to date with my contacts.
Setting up reminders and alerts is also easily done. You can customize these alerts to remind you of important tasks as well as a host of personal items. This includes weather, sports and stock updates that match your criteria.
The 3560 also sports a nice text messaging feature that can also support picture messages that are sent from other compliant phones. Responding and creating messages has also never been easier. With “predictive text input” makes typing messages (including emails) much easier than before.
If you choose to pay extra for mobile internet (WAP), navigation and display looks fabulous and browsing is much easier than in the past.
Other features include a well laid out voice command center. This allows you to add contacts (up to 250) and add a voice tag command to that listing. By pressing and holding a button you are prompted to “speak”, so simply speak the name you assigned and it will automatically dial the number.
The last “big feature” this low-priced phone offers is the ability to hold java games that can be downloaded. I rarely play these games even though five are included. Still, this is just another feature that many phones twice the price include.
Once you get past all of the great features and functionalities, the phone still just oozes with Nokia quality. I’ve always chosen Nokia over any other brand, simply because their quality is top-notch. Weighing in at under four ounces, the lightweight phone has a solid, well constructed feel about it. Fitting comfortably in your hands, the 3560 still has a great weighty feel to it.
The performance has also increased slightly over my 3360, giving me on average an extra bar at most places. This was my biggest complaint with the 3360 and it just didn’t have the range that other phones had. This was solved with the 3560, and was impressed with the sound quality and reception that it introduced. A small “feature” that I also noticed was a small rubber “logo” on the back of the phone. Sure it looks cool, but it serves a purpose as well. When holding the phone, it rests comfortably (and securely) on your index figure. This not only makes using the phone more comfortable, but it also keeps the phone securely resting while you are talking.
In regards to battery life, I noticed little difference from the 3360 to the 3560. At first, however, I thought it was amazing. The first weekend I had the phone I was out of town and had it on for the entire weekend, and used about five hours of talk time. When returning home, I still had a bar or two left on the battery. But after a few weeks of use, I noticed the battery life dwindled as time went on. Now, I get a good two days before it needs charging with only maybe an hours worth of talk time and the rest standby.
Overall I am quite satisified with the phone, especially at the price. Cingular now is offering the phone for $30 if you sign up with them. And Nokia is running a special where you can return any cell phone and they will send you a check for $50.
The Nokia 3560 is without a doubt, the best phone for the money. The reason being, is because no other phone in this price range can match the features that the 3560 offers. Tying that in with the quality of Nokia makes this a sure thing.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 100
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search66
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Location: Maryland
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