Make all the calls you want with the Nokia 5165
Written: May 21 '01 (Updated May 21 '01)
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Pros: Excellent phone with tons of features.
Cons: The 5100 series faceplates don't fit the 5165 without buying new keypads.
The Bottom Line: If you want a quality and proven design in a cell phone, go with the Nokia 5165.
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| poseidon's Full Review: Nokia 5165 Cell Phone |
My Nokia 5160 died recently. All the electronics worked fine, but it was losing its ability to tie into the closest cellular tower. Messages would get dropped, or gargled, or static-filled. I thought the problem was AT&T Wireless Services, my cellular provider, but other people who had it in my area had no complaints.
I took my Nokia 5160 into a store, and they determined that the antenna had separated from the circuit board, and that there was no way to repair the problem.
My Nokia 5160 survived almost two years. In discussions with several companies that sold cellular phones, that’s a pretty long lifespan, especially for someone who uses his phone several times a day, every day.
My next inclination was to go ahead and purchase another Nokia 5160. The problem is that Nokia stopped manufacturing this telephone in 2000.
They replaced the 5160 with the 5165.
At a glance, there isn’t much difference between the 5160 and the 5165. However, upon closer inspection, this isn’t the same phone as the 5160.
Features of the Nokia 5165
In constructing the 5165, Nokia improved the phone’s microphone and speaker. The sound quality is much improved, and people at the other end are asking me to repeat myself less often. So, my hat goes off to Nokia for improving these two all-important features.
The 5165 can also send and receive text messages and send e-mail. It has a built-in dictionary and can help prevent spelling errors. I’ll admit that I’ve not yet used the e-mail feature, mostly because typing an e-mail message seems to be more trouble than its worth (especially since I can just call someone and leave them a message instead at half the time).
The idea of sending messages seems difficult because unlike a typewriter, where you have 54 keys. On a telephone, you only have twelve. This means that you have to have keys doing triple or even quadruple time.
But the one thing I do like about this feature is that I can store e-mail addresses in the Address Book feature of the telephone. This means that if I travel, I don’t need to carry around paper telling me everyone’s address. I simply flip to the right entry in the Address Book, and I’m able to have someone’s e-mail address and telephone number available any time I need it.
Putting a new entry into the Address Book is a cinch. You simply dial the number that you want, but instead of hitting the Send button, you push on either the Up or Down button and click “Save.” You are then able to add in the person’s name, and it will then place that number in the memory of the phone. You can save up to 100 telephone numbers and addresses in the Address Book.
Finding that person’s name is also easy. The phone lists the numbers in alphabetical order. You simply scroll up and down the window until you come to the right person, and then you click the Send button, and that person is automatically dialed.
When you’re driving in the car, this is an excellent feature. Even if you have several numbers memorized, it’s a lot easier to just click on their Address Book entry than dialing in the ten (or eleven if it’s long distance) digits.
But dialing can get even easier than that. The Nokia 5165 has Speed Dialing (One Button Dialing). This is even a safer feature.
If you need to check your Voicemail, you simply hold on to the number One button, and after two seconds it will automatically dial into your voice mailbox. If you have an emergency, you simply hold onto the number Nine button, and it automatically dials 911. Any other buttons are fair game for programming in the Speed Dial feature.
You can also program the phone to carry a few credit card numbers if you are going to make credit card calls.
Another nifty feature of the 5165 over the 5160 is Automatic Redial. The wireless world is not yet perfected, and unfortunately there are many holes where service is still unavailable. If you try to dial a number and you’re in one of those holes, the phone will continue to dial the number and when you’re finally in a service area, you’ll be dialing into your intended party.
The Automatic Redial feature does not redial busy signals.
The 5165 will also dial into one of the various Atomic Clocks and check the time of the phone and make automatic adjustments every time you turn on the phone. If exact time is important to you, this is an invaluable feature. You do have the option of simply shutting this feature off. You can even shut down the whole clock if that isn’t important to you.
The 5165 will, if you are interested in privacy, scramble your voice so that no outside sources can pick up on it. The major downside to this feature is that it taxes the battery.
This phone keeps a log of all incoming calls, all outgoing calls, and all missed calls. It will also keep a running timer on all calls made, helping you to control your monthly minutes and preventing excess minute charges.
The Nokia 5165 has a variety of ringing tones. I’ve found this to be a good feature because there is nothing worse than being in a crowded grocery store, having the phone ring, and having everyone digging into their pockets or purses (I don’t have a purse, thank you!) hunting down their cellular phones to see if it is their phone ringing or not. I’ve picked a tone that I don’t hear other people use, and when my phone rings, I know it is mine and not someone else’s.
You can also play a few games on your cellular phone to help pass time. There are three games: Snake, Memory and Logic.
Snake is a lot like an old Atari game Serpentine. You steer the snake around various mazes, picking up bonus points and making your snake grow. If your snake hits itself as it is circling around the maze or hits a wall, the game ends.
Memory is a game that involves matching pictures. I believe the game from which this came from was called Concentration. One picture is shown, and you must find the pair. The object is to reveal all the pairs of pictures.
Logic is a game that I’ve not tried to play. The instructions in the user’s guide are confusing and I’ve not tried to play the game to figure them out.
Again, playing these games will tax the battery.
The 5165 will work on all three types of cellular service: Digital, Analog and PCS. This means that if cellular service is available in your area, this phone will hone in on a signal and let you use whatever system you’re being serviced by.
Finally, for safety reasons, the phone comes with a hands-free kit. This is also an excellent safety feature for the car. Instead of holding the phone up to your ear, there is an earpiece and a microphone that hang from your ear. You can use two hands to operate the vehicle and this is one less distraction.
There are a variety of accessories that you can purchase with your Nokia 5165, including a better hands-free kit, a belt holder, different faceplates, a car lighter adapter, etc.
The only thing that I do want to mention is difficulty in changing the faceplate of the Nokia 5165. When you go to a dealer and look at the packages. Those faceplates state that they fit all Nokia 5100 models. You have to look at the faceplate very carefully. There is one miniscule difference between the 5165 and the other 5100 series phones, and that’s in the up/down arrows on the keypad. The 5165 has no spacer between the up/down arrows, while the other models do. That spacer prevents those nifty faceplates from fitting the 5165.
The good news is that some of the more expensive faceplates come with a new keypad, and you can just change that out into a new one so that any 5100 series faceplate fits the 5165.
Conclusion
I would definitely recommend the Nokia 5165. It is constructed in the same quality manner as the 5160, yet has a lot of updated features. It offers nearly every option short of having true wireless Web access.
I will give the 5165 five out of five stars. I hope to get another few great years out of my Nokia telephone.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 60
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Epinions.com ID:
poseidon
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Member: Jeffrey Schwartz
Location: Sunrise, FL, USA
Reviews written: 511
Trusted by: 1098 members
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