Many features for an Entry Phone
Written: Mar 25 '03 (Updated Sep 27 '03)
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Pros: wireless web capable, download ringtones & graphics capable, voice activated dialing, customized profiles for environments
Cons: power on/off button, very soft ringtone, takes few seconds before phone shuts off
The Bottom Line: For an entry phone, it has a lot of features. The excellent battery life, customizable profile, wireless web, downloadable multimedia capabilities make this an enticing choice
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| maceyr's Full Review: Nokia 3590 |
As I hinted with my Motorola V2397 TDMA cell phone review that I really wanted wireless web, well, I took the plunge and got a GSM phone that I can surf the web. It may sound funny to those who aren't a news junkie like I am that web browsing on a cell phone seems stupid. Well, for me, I've always wanted to be informed on the latest news and getting it text messaged to me just wasn't enough. So, I ended up getting a GSM/GPRS cell phone that I can look up the latest news, find out whether my flight got delayed, find out the latest weather forecast, etc. Also, I've heard rumors that Rogers AT&T is considering providing the mMode, pretty much a marketing glitz on the GPRS that's currently offered on the AT&T's GSM network. This is similar service to DoCoMo's iMode in Japan. And checking AT&T's mMode site, the mMode service is offered on the Nokia 3590. For more info, check out AT&T's mMode website:
http://www.attwireless.com/mmode/
I've added more details of my search and research which may not be relevant to the 3590 so to skip down to the actual review of the phone please go down to the area that starts with "======="
Before I even began doing research on the phones, I had to first narrow down which cellular carrier I wanted. There is only four main national providers in Canada: Bell Mobility, Fido, Rogers AT&T and Telusmobility. Both Bell Mobility and Telusmobility operate on the CDMA network while Fido and Rogers AT&T operate on GSM. Rogers AT&T also operate on the TDMA network. Since I already got a phone from Rogers AT&T and was really interested in getting a GSM phone rather than a CDMA phone, it wasn't hard to narrow it down to Rogers AT&T. And, after doing and weighing the comparisions between all four providers, I still stuck with Rogers AT&T. Fido, although it didn't really require much of a contract (3 months), has very limited coverage in only metropolitan cities across Canada but it is cheap if you only need it within the big cities. Bell Mobility's phones weren't very appealing to me and I didn't like signing a 2 year contract. Telusmobility has great coverage in BC and Alberta but I really didn't want to sign a crazy 3 year contract. Rogers AT&T also requires a 2 year contract. But, I was able to take advantage of a promotion at Rogers Video where I can apply a $30 promotional "check" towards a cell phone and get a phone for free on a 1 year contract. That was appealing because I really don't like contracts mainly because I was really looking to get the phone and a year later, put it on the prepaid plan. If you want more information on comparing the four Canadian cellular carriers, please check out my website, via a link on my profile page. There, I've described in detail the pros and cons of prepaid cellular on Rogers AT&T compared to other carriers as well as tips on saving money on your bills.
Before I took the plunge into the Nokia 3590, I was considering other phones from other manufacturers. I browsed the web, logged into cellular phone forums and did a bit of research. Nokia, it seems in North America is very popular. I've read tons of reviews and info and almost all of them how Nokia makes quality products and great features. Motorola, it seems sometimes come out with a less than stellar performer. Many people absolutely find the C33x series a piece of trash. And, for Ericsson, there wasn't much support (technical or repair wise in Canada) that would justify my consideration of getting one, although their phones always look so cool. And Samsung seems to come out with some good and some not so good products and their software was buggy. So, with the selection narrowed down to Nokia, I looked at my budget and what features I really need and want and what I'd like to have. I was pretty limited to whatever phones that Rogers AT&T offered since I wanted the GSM coverage and didn't want to complicate my life further by buying a phone off Ebay or a store in the US and trying to configure it to work on the Rogers AT&T network. Since I don't travel beyond Canada and the US, I didn't need a "world" GSM phone with 900/1800/1900Mhz band operation and wasn't willing to pay extra for that. With Rogers AT&T planning to implement the 850Mhz GSM band across Canada (and the US is following suit), I wanted to take advantage of that and narrowed my phone choices down to the Nokia 3590 and Nokia 6590i (the "i" refers to the enabling of the 850Mhz operation on the 6590 phone, which otherwise would only operate on the 1900Mhz band.) Price and size finally persuaded me to go with the 3590 since with the current Rogers Video promotion. They offer a promotional $30 check towards the purchase of a cell phone. For me, with the Nokia 3590, I ended up not paying anything when using the promo check but have to sign a 1 year contract. The other good thing I liked was that I didn't need to mail in any rebates and wait for the credit to arrive months later. So, for signing only a one year contract and no mail in rebates, I couldn't refuse. And, I also get four free 7 day Rogers Video rental coupons.
That is one little known fact about Rogers Videos, that they can offer a relatively cheap price for a phone ($20 and up) with a ONE year contract, compared to the usual 2 years at most dealers. Sure, you pay for the phone but if it means that I have a shorter contract, I'd go for that. $20 x 12 months is $240. Once the contract is over, I can opt to put it on a Pay As You Go plan and pay whenever I need it or go on a cheap $10 retention plan (you have to call the Retention department).
Now, back to the other choice, the 6590i. As for the 6590i, I would still have to pay about $99 with a two year contract. Since I don't like signing contracts, that's a major deterrant and I still have to pay $99. And, I am one of those people who like cell phones to be a certain set size. I don't like fighting to press the small buttons and feeling like I'm talking to a matchbox. I'm sure a lot of people disagree with me. The 6590i is much smaller than the 3590, which in turn is a smaller size than my previous Motorola v2397. For me, I guess, it's much easier for me to adapt to a slight size decrease than an immediate size decrease, which I would otherwise have if I went for the 6590i. So, after all those considerations, I went with the 3590.
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Rather than go through all the features of the phone, I've decided to concentrate on my opinion of features that I liked. Here's the specs of the phone:
Dimensions: 11.8 x 5 x 2.28 cm (4.68 inches long x 1.97 inches wide x .9 inch thick)
Weight: 111 g (3.92 oz)
Standby time: Up to 12.5 days
Talk Time: Up to 6.5 hours
Battery: Lithium Ion 825MAh (BLC-1)
Vibrate Mode: Built in
Web Browser: Yes
Calculator: Yes
Calendar: Yes
Changeable Faceplate & buttons: Yes
Download Ringtones Capable: Yes
Ringtone: 10 Polyphonic and 15 Monophonic (25 total)
Pictures: 10 pictures and graphics
Games: Space Impact 11, Bumper, Nokia Sugar Bowl
Voice Activated Dialing: Yes for 10 numbers
Keypad lock: Yes
Number of Lines in Display: 5 lines
Predictive text capable: Yes
ICQ chat capable: Yes
Mode: GSM/GPRS 850, 1900 Mhz
Phonebook capacity: 500 names and numbers
Java support for downloadable applications: Yes
I have to admit, at first glance, I found the buttons were very ugly and I didn't like the arrangements. But then, it didn't take me that long to get used to it and I stopped getting distracted. The phone is much lighter and thinner than the Motorola. And, there's no external antenna. That could be a good or a bad thing, depending on how you view it. With an internal antenna, there is less chance of physically damaging it. But, with an internal antenna, there is the potential problem that you may not be getting as good a reception that you would otherwise get if you got an external antenna. And, with the internal antenna located near the top at the back of the phone, it may pose a problem for those people who put their phones in their pockets with the display facing out. An alternative is to face the display towards you so that the antenna wouldn't be blocked. And Nokia's manual advises not to place your fingers or block the internal antenna as it could damage the antenna. They even have a triangular rubber-like attachment to the back of the phone, supposedly for your index finger for those who hold the phone that way. I always hold my phone on its side, thumb on one side and the other fingers on the other side. Enough about that.
The display is much bigger than my Motorola and even the number buttons were slightly bigger, although they weren't the usual oval or rectangular shape. But the feel of the button isn't as nice comparatively speaking. The buttons on the Motorola felt softer and had sort of a rubbery feel to it. The buttons on the Nokia were just plastic and felt rigid like any plastic button would. When I press on a button on the the Nokia, all the buttons lit up and you could see the light behind the plastic buttons. With the Motorola, the light would show up on the edge of the button, but bright enough to see the buttons. As well, the bottom and the side of the phone would also light up since the side and part of the bottom had a translucent white colored piece of plastic.
As discussed, the display, was a bit bigger than the Motorola but it seems that I can see more with this phone than with the Motorola. I think it's because with the Motorola, there are more indicators and symbols located near the bottom of the display than Nokia. The Motorola display indicators take up part of the top and bottom and thus crowding the message area. With Nokia, the displaying of the size of letters change depending on which area you are on. For instance, when entering an email address, the font can be quite large. When you're composing the message, it shrinks down to a smaller size so that it can maximize the amount of what you can read while composing your message. Also, when I press the scroll down button, rather than scrolling one line at a time, like the Motorola, I get to view the next page. This saves on having to keep pressing the scroll button to read the entire message.
When entering address book entries, I like the automatic jump down to the next line when I'm entering a name rather than leaving the word cut of somewhere in the middle. As well, address book entries could have additional details and number under the same name. That means, for an entry, say for Dad, I can have his home phone number, work number, fax number, e-mail address, web address, home address, notes, etc. This can make finding someone a little easier rather than settling for a one entry, one number address book.
The 3590 has a screensaver, which acts very much like your computer screensaver, coming on when not in use. For me, I've set up the basic digital clock with date rather than some picture or graphic. I actually prefer it that way because the time is very big and can be seen quite well from afar.
There are message folders that you can create and move messages around to sort them in any way you want. This can make the messages filed based on your preferences and requirements. For me, I've entered and saved a few messages in my Templates folder for when I need to send a quick email or SMS out. That can be quite handy, especially at times when the person you're calling is busy on another line and you can't get through (if they don't have call waiting). In those cases, I just send them a quick text message to call me back.
And the calendar, although it isn't anything like a PDA or a daytimer, can be useful for reminders. You can put in a note as a reminder, put in a specific time and it will remind you with an alarm at the time you specify. But of course, if your phone is turned off during the time you've indicated as the reminder, it won't go off and turn on your phone, but will sound when you do turn it on. And, you can move the reminder with alarm to another date, edit it or erase it. I am currently using this calendar reminder as a little portable daytimer where I would enter shopping list items or errands and set an alarm time to remind myself. You don't have to set an alarm if you don't want to. If I forget it, I just move it to the next day. And I make a point of erasing all past and completed reminders so that it doesn't take up storage space on my SIM card. Sure, I can store 500 addresses, but every character or reminder counts so if I don't need it anymore, I'd just delete it to free up any space.
Although reminders set in the calendar don't turn on your phone and the alarm if the phone is off, there is a feature where you can set a one time alarm on which will ring even if the phone is off and turn it on for you. This is handy if you're traveling or whatever and need a alarm to wake you up or something. But it is a one time alarm and if you want it to ring every day, you'll have to set it each time. For those who wants to know how to set it, here's the instructions:
Go to Menu, scroll down to Settings, scroll down to Time and date settings, and set up your Alarm clock at the time you want but make sure you indicate the current am or pm. And you're done! It will sound an alarm even if your phone is off.
The 3590 is a GSM phone and with the 1900Mhz GSM coverage in the US being very sparse and unpredictable, you can't blame people for complaining about the reception. But, since the 3590 does support the 850Mhz, when North America rolls out the 850Mhz, I think people won't be complaining as much about the horrible reception and dropped calls. That should be a consideration when you're getting a GSM phone: the coverage in your area. So far, I've had no problems with the reception or the clarity.
One thing about the phone that a lot of people complain about is the soft ringtones. A lot of people complain how soft the ringtones can be, even at max volume. Even I found it a bit soft but got used to it because I realized that it might actually be less annoying when I'm out in public and it rings. I get less mean stares when answering my phone in public. And the even softer message alert ring is a welcome sound when I receive message alerts (such as news alerts which I subscribe to). With my old Motorola, it would ring very loudly until it rings enough to annoy everyone around me or when I press my toggle button. I ended up muting the alert rings on the Motorola. With the Nokia, since the alerts are quite soft and brief and it creates a soft vibration when the phone receives a message, it is very calming. And, if I didn't want to hear it, I could also mute the alert and just settle for the vibrate mode.
If you get an earpiece (which is essentially an earbud and a mic attached to your phone jack at the bottom), you can answer the phone while you're driving. There is a button near the mic where you can press to answer the call and end the call. That makes it easier than fumbling with the phone and looking for your Send and End button. And with the earpiece, you can hear the call much clearer and louder, for those who complain about the soft volume.
The polyphonic ringtones really separate the phone from a lot of others. Rather than listening to the usual one note at a time, you can hear multiple notes and sounds at the same time. And most times, the polyphonic ringtones actually sound pretty good, more vibrant than the usual midi tones on most phones. If you haven't heard the polyphonic ringtones, I think you should check them out. It could really stand out from other phones in that respect. And, you can download some polyphonic ringtones off the web, usually at a price. There are lots of free monophonic ringtone web sites out there but since I've listened to the polyphonic ringtones, I only want the polyphonic ones. One bad thing is that it doesn't support a data cable so that you can't download the polyphonic ringtones from your computer to it. That seems weird considering that the 3390 (which this phone is based on) had the data cable capability. So, to get the ringtones, you'll have to download via WAP or via the wireless internet browser or receiving it via SMS.
One main thing I don't like about the phone is the difficulty I have in turning the phone off. The on/off button on the Nokia 3590 is located at the very top of the phone. Its size is even smaller than the round tip of a pen's eraser butt and it's set inwards so you'll probably have to use your fingernails. And, I find that I have to press very hard and long, usually using my finger nail to press on the button before it turns itself on or off. Usually I don't have a problem turning it on. I press long enough for the phone's display to light up with the soft "on" alert ring. And when turning it off, it takes a few seconds for the phone to turn off. Once the phone registers that you're shutting it down, it takes a few seconds before the lighted display shuts off and turns off the phone.
I've heard that some people have problems dialing to retrieve voicemail. It would come up with an error saying that the number is invalid. Some people say that they remove the SIM card and replace it back in to correct the problem. Others say turn the phone off and then back on. And even someone mentioned putting the voicemail number as an address book entry and dialing it from there. This might be a buggy software but I don't use voice mail so I can't comment on that.
The backlight of the 3590 comes on when a button is pressed (like most cell phones) and it fades out when it detects no action for a short while.
The battery life is excellent. Since it's Lithium Ion, it's very light weight and last a lot longer than NiMh or AAA batteries. I've had the phone for over a week now and I still haven't re-charged it yet. I have to say I'm amazed at the battery life. And it takes only about 3 hours to fully charge.
The 3590, being a entry level phone geared towards the young generation, has the option of changeable faceplate and buttons. There is currently the "Dragonwish" faceplate and buttons which when the phone is ringing, would flash in different patterns. I guess that would be "cool" for the younger crowd but I'm way beyond that.
Since it is an entry level phone, it's not packed with lots of features but still has some. It has extras such as voice dialing for up to 10 numbers, calendar, alarm, calculator, 3 games, downloading capability for ringtones, graphics and other multimedia applications, customizable profiles for different environments (ie.outdoors, indoors, etc) and maybe different users (if you share the phone), SMS capability to send and receive, wireless internet capable and vibrate and ring. For those who require TTY capability, you can purchase an accessory (TTY/TDD adapter) to attach to the phone. Some extra features that I would have liked in this phone would be: voice recorder, infrared and/or Bluetooth capability, data transfer capability to use the phone as a modem for my laptop, camera, FM radio. But then, this is after all, an entry level phone so I really can't complain.
As well, I have purchased a magnetic snap on phone case (holster) that clips on my belt or pants. I find it very handy. The phone rests in the case horizontally, making it parallel to your belt so that it doesn't get in the way, like when you're bending down to tie your shoelaces. Since the case is securely attached to your belt and you unsnap the case to remove the phone, I always find it is very convenient to remove and replace the phone back into the case. I find that because the case is always attached to my belt and that the phone doesn't have a wrap around it (like most phone cases), I find that I always replace the phone back into the case when I'm not using it. This helps prevent me from forgetting about leaving my phone behind (a big reason why many people lose their phones). The phone case was bought at the Rogers Video stores, the only place where I found those cases. Everywhere else, the cases are like the generic Nokia cases where it wraps around the entire phone and it clips on vertically.
And with it being a Rogers AT&T phone, provided that you buy the phone from an official Rogers AT&T wireless store or a Rogers Video store, there is a 30 day return policy. Provided that you don't use more than 30 minutes of airtime and 150kbytes of wireless data (GPRS) and return the phone within 30 days, you can cancel out of the contract without any penalties. Just pay for whatever airtime, long distance and data usage during the time you owned it and you can walk away from the contract. Otherwise, you have to pay $20 for each month remaining in your contract to a maximum of $200. So, if you find out that you're not happy with the phone, the network coverage and reception, you can always get out. But remember that this is a Rogers AT&T wireless policy. If you purchase the phone from Radioshack, Futureshop, Staples, etc, they may have a different return policy in place. You may be subject to a re-stocking fee or other fees or maybe even not be able to return it. Please take the time to ask the dealer what their returns policy is before you buy the phone and sign the contract because you might be stuck with a 2 year contract and a phone you don't want.
There's also a cell phone forum called Howards Forums which has a vast selection of handset reviews by Howard Chiu and also has forums devoted to cell phones and cell phone providers, including Rogers AT&T. Check it out at: http://www.howardforums.com
I must say, after getting the Nokia 3590, I am very happy with it. It provides me with almost all the features I would want although I wouldn't mind if I got more features but then the extra price was the deterrant. I would have preferred the 6590i but I didn't like the size and paying for the extra. Maybe in a year I'll get used to the smaller size (when everything is that size or smaller) and the price will be much cheaper. For the price of free with a one year contract, I really can't complain. The 3590 provides the dual band 850/1900 GSM Mhz that I would want to take advantage of the rollout of the 850Mhz band in North America. It provides voice dialing for 10 numbers, GPRS "always on" internet access and web browsing, is SMS capable for receiving and sending, 3 games (for those who want to play games), downloadable polyphonic ringtones, MMS capable for receiving and sending, vibrating and ringing option, support for call forwarding, call waiting, caller id/display (carrier dependent). The slim, light weight and the decent size (not too big or too small) make this a very good selection of a phone for someone who might want a dependable phone with extra features but won't break the bank to get it.
Thanks for taking the time to read and rate my review.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 0.00
Recommended for: Adventurous Technophiles - Tough and Durable
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Epinions.com ID:
maceyr
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Location: Canada
Reviews written: 129
Trusted by: 150 members
About Me:
I hardly have time for Epinions anymore but do try to read and rate.
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