Nokia 8265 - Fits in the palm of your hand.
Written: Aug 23 '02
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Pros: Small and Lightweight, Great Clarity and Sound, Excellent backlight.
Cons: May be too small for some people.
The Bottom Line: Looking for a small phone brimming with features? The Nokia 8265 is for you.
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| rice75's Full Review: Nokia 8265 Cell Phone |
In the world of microelectronics, smaller is better. The same has been true, for a while, with mobile communications, and with cell phones in particular. Cellular phones are getting smaller, which for most people, is a good thing. I remember the first “car phone” my Dad got for his work truck. It was contained in a black zippered case and was the size of a small car battery. It weighed about 3-4 pounds. Mobile it was not. Sure, that was fifteen years ago, but it goes to show how far we’ve come. My Nokia 8265 cell phone measures four inches long, 1¾ inches wide, ¾ of an inch thick, and weighs in at a paltry 3.8 ounces. Now that’s small. There is a limit, of course. Cell phones can get too small. That is unless you live in South Korea, where smaller will always be better. But for now, the Nokia 8265 is just the right size.
I recently ended my contract with Verizon Wireless, so I was pumped to not only get a new service provider but also a new phone. I went with Cingular Wireless and I went with the Nokia 8265 phone. I’ve been using it for a few months now and I really like it. I wanted a phone that would fit nicely in my pocket, didn’t have an extendable (and therefore bendable) antenna, and I could play games on it. The Nokia 8265 can do all this, and so much more.
Features - 10/10
I could go on for pages with a long list of features, but I will limit this section to the features I use. I will mention a few cool features that I don’t use but are worth mentioning. The others can be found elsewhere.
Many people depend on there phones to keep track of the phone numbers (and email addresses) of many important people and contacts. The Nokia 8265 has a phone book that can store 250 names, phone numbers and email addresses. That is a lot of people. I think I have ten numbers stored. I still think 250 slots will be plenty for most everyone. You can also set up caller groups (such as family, business, etc) within your stored phone numbers and then associate a distinct ring tone with each group. There are also seven slots for “one-touch dialing”.
The call log feature is very nice. This keeps track of all received, dialed, and missed calls along with their associated time and date. This is makes keeping track of your call minutes a cinch.
The Profiles option is another cool feature. Here you can customize all your ringing options (volume, tone, vibration) and other settings. There are six different profiles but I only use two: Normal and Silent. More options would be helpful to others but two are plenty for me. My Nokia 8265 has 45 different ring tones, with the ability to download more. Are 45 ring tones too many? Probably, but I have Merry Christmas on there, so I’m set for the holiday season.
There are a couple built in games, Snake II, Pairs II, and Space impact. They are fun to play for the first couple of seconds but aren’t worth the time. But it is comforting to know that if I ever become so bored that I risk losing my sanity I always have Space impact to reel me back to reality.
There are many other features, too many maybe. There is a scaled down version of a PDA with a calendar, business card organizer, alarm clock and calculator (complete with currency converter). I won’t go into any detail with these features since I don’t use any of them.
Use and Feel - 8/10
The Nokia 8265 is the ideal size for a cell phone. It fits comfortably in the palm of your hand but is big enough to make it hard to lose. The keypad buttons are small but are efficiently shaped and strategically shaped in such a way that you don’t inadvertently hit two buttons at once. The menu buttons used to navigate through the menus, on the other hand, are a little too close together. It’s not enough to be frustrating but it is a flaw nonetheless.
Battery life, reception, and sound - 9/10
The Nokia 8265 has a rechargeable Li-ion Battery that performs admirably. My phone usage is small, about 10-15 minutes a day. With this amount of usage, a full battery charge lasts me about one week. I’m sure with heavier usage the phone would use up its battery juice a lot faster. The phone has a very bright backlight but this doesn't seem to put too much of a strain on the battery.
The reception on this phone is superb. While reception strength is a function of both the service provider and the phone, I am hardly ever with out a strong signal. When I go into the lab in the basement of my building at school the reception goes down but never out. I haven’t made a call down there but don’t doubt I could.
The sound and clarity of the Nokia 8265 is also noteworthy. With a good digital signal my calls sound better than some of my cordless phones at home. The clarity is equally good on the other end of the line as well. Often people don’t know I’m calling from a cell phone.
Customization – 10/10
The amount of customization of the phone has already been mentioned, but the aesthetics are also customizable. The face plate, back cover and key pad are all interchangeable. So with the replacement of the face plate or key pad you’ve got yourself a brand new phone.
The Nokia 8265 is a great phone for both on-the-go professionals and the casual user alike. The wealth of features will make a gadget junkie like me busy for months. I haven’t even scratched the surface of all this phone is capable. This is simply a great phone.
*Note the list price for this phone is $200 but coupled with the right rebates I got mine for $30.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 30.00
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Epinions.com ID:
rice75
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Member: Tony Rice
Location: Columbus, OH
Reviews written: 73
Trusted by: 66 members
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Resident Evil 4 will own your soul. Do not resist.
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