Nokia 5160 a decent buy
Written: Feb 19 '01
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Pros: Small, changeable face plate, good reception
Cons: heavy, battery life gets shorter and shorter over time.
The Bottom Line: Now that the 5160 is one of the cheapest phones on the market, it's the best buy. You get tons of features on a cool looking phone.
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| jenningspaige's Full Review: Nokia 5160 Cell Phone |
I got this phone about a year and a half ago. I paid $249 for it at full price. When my contract ended I traded it in to Pac Bell and got a new one for free with activation. If it weren't for the new Nokia 8290, I'd still have the 5160.
I like the 5160 because it looks the best of the cell phones. You can change the face plate to any color you want, and the choices of colors and designs are getting better every day. It is small enough to fit in a decent-sized pocket, so it's easy to carry around.
I do think it's too heavy for the size of the phone. I've left it at home plenty of times because I didn't want the extra weight. Compared to most other phones though, it's pretty light.
One major problem I have is the main button in the middle. This button is used for everything, from calling and hanging up to choosing menu items. Whenever you make a call where you have to dial extra numbers after the main number, for instance if you call voice mail and have to punch in your password, the phone won't hang up the call until all those numbers are cleared off the screen. So you say goodbye to the person you are talking to, and then you have to sit there and erase any numbers you pushed during the call before you can hang up. I get embarrassed doing this, because the person on the other line might be waiting for me to hang up so they can make another call. On the other hand, one button is easy to remember, so you always know which button to push when you want to do something.
A bonus to this phone is the games and calculator built into it. I use the calculator all the time to balance my check book and I've come to depend on it. The snake game is the best. I play it when I get bored in doctor's offices or places like that. I also replaced my phone book with the built in phone book on this phone. You can program tons of numbers into it (probably more than you'll ever need) and if you want to dial a number from a real phone, you can just browse the phone list and get the phone number from there.
The buttons are plenty big enough if you have normal eyesight. I know my mom has trouble dialing sometimes because she can't see the numbers. The phone is easy to see in a dark place because it lights up when it rings or when you push any button. That's a very handy feature when you're digging in your purse to find a ringing phone.
One thing I really don't like about it is the fact that it does not have any kind of alert if you put the phone on silent. Say you're waiting for a call but you're in a place where you can't let it ring, like the movie theaters or a meeting. You have to put the phone in front of you and watch it to see if it lights up. I wish it had some kind of vibrator alert on it to show when it is ringing. The 8290 and 8260 both have this feature, by the way.
I think the battery could use more talk time. While it's better than a lot of phones, it doesn't seem to last long enough. Mine gets worse and worse over time. By the end of a year the fully charged battery only lasted an hour or so. Maybe they all do that, but it's annoying. They're also expensive to replace. Sometimes the service provider will give you a new battery if it starts to die like mine did.
One more thing I like about it is the antenna. It sticks up just a little bit from the top and it never gets bent or has to pull out like most other phones. It also gets great reception. The only time I can't get reception is when there is no service. I've been able to get calls when my friends with other phones couldn't. It's still top of the line in that area.
Overall, this is one of the best phones on the market, even though the technology is a few years old. It still has the best reception or at least equivalent reception. It looks really great, it's a good size for everything, and it's now one of the cheapest phones out there. It's well worth the money.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 12.00
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Epinions.com ID:
jenningspaige
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Member: Jennings Paige
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Reviews written: 52
Trusted by: 7 members
About Me:
Just trying to help you make educated decisions. Please remember to rate my opinions. Thanks!
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