THE NEW KID ON THE BLOCK:
Okay, that was corny. Sorry. To AT&T Wireless, the Nokia 3360 is the newest addition (as of October 2001) to their line of wireless phones. I’ve been waiting for this model for over a year. Voicestream Wireless carries the Nokia 3390 and it has been available for a few months. In Europe, this phone has been out for more than a year. Go figure. To summarize, the 3360 is a combination of the 6100 series and the 8200 series. For me, the 8200 series phone is too small. It fits nicely in your pocket or bag, but when you have to talk for more than 5 minutes, it feels awkward to hold. The 6100 series is very nice, but pretty bulky. The 3360 is perfect… for me, at least, and it features bells and whistles to boot.

THE CANDY BAR:
Where do I start? It measures a little over 4 inches long and 2 inches wide. It’s about 1 inch thick. With interchangeable cases, it’s tagged the name ‘Candy Bar’. The display is large and crisp with the typical, green backlighting. If you already own a Nokia phone or are familiar with using one, it’ll be a snap to get used to this one. There are two menu buttons (left and right) along with the up and down arrows and the call and end/cancel buttons. The number pad is perfectly spaced out and the buttons have very good feedback (although the menu buttons you need to press a little harder). The buttons are rubbery compared to the metallic buttons on the 8200 series phones. I like the rubbery buttons. Like the 8200 series, the 3360’s battery is housed internally (not like the 5100 and 6100 series phones where the battery is external). To access the battery, you need to slide off the rear case and then push up the release bar. Since I don’t plan on changing the battery much, I like the fact that the battery is housed internally.

NOKIA 3360 MENU:

Names/Contacts:
200 slots are available for storing names and numbers. In each of the 200 slots, you’re allowed to store 2 separate contact information such as phone numbers (home, work, mobile, general) and text (email address, mailing address, notes). It’s nice because the IR functionality of the phone allows you to beam this information back and forth from other IR devices.

Messages:
The 3360 gives you the ability to send messages to other wireless users with SMS capabilities. It also gives you the ability to send and receive email messages. There’s also a chatting feature which I haven’t tried yet. To sort your messages, there’s an inbox and outbox along with an archive section and an area with templates (preconstructed messages ready to send… i.e. Hi! How are you doing?).

Call Log:
It’s the same as the other Nokia phones. It gives you a list of call data such as missed calls, received calls, dialed calls, and call timers. Of course, this is dependent on whether your service provides caller-ID.

Profiles:
The 3360 gives you the option of configuring the ringtones for the different profiles such as silent, meeting, pager, outside, etc. The 3360 has a vibrating function built in along with the ability to store 10 downloadable ringtones from the Internet.

Settings:
This menu item is the heart of the phone. It allows you to set the time and date, various call settings, phone settings, security settings, and network services.

System:
The systems setting allows you to set the phone to automatically search for service, initiate a new search, or even let you manually search for service.

Games:
There are three games on the 3360. I hear that the 3390 has four. The three games are Space Impact (sort of like space invaders), Pairs II (like a card matching game), and Snake II (the new version of the famous Snake game). All of these games are addicting, especially when you’re stuck in a really boring meeting.

Calculator:
It’s good to know that you have a calculator at all times. Not only does it give you the basic mathematic functions, it also gives you a currency converter that allows you to set the exchange rate. This is very handy if you frequently travel to foreign countries.

Reminders:
This function allows you to jot down reminders or notes. You can also tag them with an alarm to remind you. This can serve as your dayrunner or PDA calendar for those important reminders.

Infrared:
The ability to send and receive data wirelessly has got to be the best invention since sliced bread. I’m able to beam my addresses to the 3360 from my Sony Clie PDA. I can also beam it back to the Clie. I love this feature. Just this morning, I was walking into work and bumped into an old high school buddy. He had his Palm Vx and I had my Nokia 3360. Instead of fumbling over a pen and scratch paper, we were able to exchange our contact info via infrared. I am also able to sync my information with my Compaq Armada M700 notebook computer since it also has infrared capabilities.

FIELD TEST:
Out of all the dual-band phones that I’ve previously owned throughout the years (Motorola StarTAC, Samsung SCH 3000, Ericsson R289LX, and the Nokia 5165) I’d have to say I’m very satisfied with the Nokia 3360. It has all the features I need and more. There are three tests I put this phone through. I’m happy to say that it passed all of them with flying colors.

TEST #1: PASS
Reception quality test. I have service through AT&T Wireless and I’m perfectly happy with the service I get with them. I’ve gone through three phones over the period of two years because I was very unhappy with the reception I was getting with them. At first I thought it was AT&T’s fault, but found that it was actually the phone itself. With my Motorola StarTAC, reception in buildings was terrible at best. With my Ericsson, it wasn’t all that bad, but the conversations sounded very ‘tingy’, like I was talking into a tin cup. I was then very satisfied with the reception I got with the Nokia 5165. The only thing I didn’t like about the 5165 was that it was too bulky. I had the phone for about four months until I decided to purchase the Nokia 3360. I love it and I mainly bought it for its features. Based on my history of cell phone use, the phones with thick, external antennas got the best reception. I was anxiously waiting to find out how well the 3360 compared to all the phones I previously owned. I was thrilled to find out that the reception was awesome both in buildings and out.

TEST #2: PASS
The durability test. Okay, this test is only done accidentally and never on purpose. The toughest phone I’ve ever owned was the Nokia 5165. That phone took a beating and then asked for more. I’m hoping that the same goes for the 3360. It was unfortunate that as I was getting out of my car, the phone flipped out of my hand and slammed into the concrete, face down. I was horrified. But to my surprise, there wasn’t even a scratch on it. And it still works fine.

TEST #3: PASS
Endurance test. The standard battery is average at best. I use my phone anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes per day and find myself recharging the phone every three days. I ordered the BLC-2 (850 mAh) Lithium-ion battery and it’s said to have 30% more capacity than the original battery that came with it. Not sure how long the standard charger takes to recharge the battery, but I use my Nokia rapid charger (ACP-9U) and it takes a little less than an hour. The Nokia car charger (LCH-9) gets the job done in about 1.5 to 2 hours. Again, not bad at all.

ACCESSORIES:
Although there aren’t many accessories out for the 3360, there are quite a few 3390 accessories (since it has been out longer than the 3360) and they’re compatible (except for faceplates) such as batteries, chargers, hands-free kits, and cases. Leave it to Nokia and other manufacturers to come out with millions of add-ons and accessories for the 3360 in the near future. I picked up a really nice Bodyglove Ion case which fits amazingly tight and it doesn’t add any more bulk or weight while it protects the keys and screen. It also has a low-profile belt clip.

OVERALL… I LIKE IT!
Out of all the wireless phones I’ve owned, the Nokia 3360 is one of my favorites. When the Nokia 8200 series phones were available, I rushed to the stores to purchase it, but when I spent some time testing it at the stores, I found that it was actually too small. Small is good, but when you use a phone as often as I do, you want it to feel comfortable in your hands, as well as feel comfortable next to your ear. I was really close to purchasing one, but the price was a bit too steep at the time. I’m glad I waited. The 3360 is the perfect size and it adds to it the functions of the 8200 series. I would highly recommend this phone to Nokia 6100 series phone users. The functionality is almost exactly the same but it adds to it some useful features and small form factor. The only thing I’d complain about the 3360 is that the standard battery does not last long enough. I’d suggest purchasing the lithium-ion battery or the extended NiMH battery. This isn’t really a complaint about the 3360, but more of something to get used to… the buttons need to be pressed a little harder to get a response. The keypad for the numbers are fine, but for the menu buttons, it seems like I have to press it harder than I did on my 5165.

As you can see, I don’t have any major complaints. I adore this phone and plan on keeping it for a long, long time.


Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 99