Nokia 5165 Cell Phone - Cost-Cutting Shows...
Written: Sep 04 '01
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Pros: Excellent sound and battery, price (mine was free), reception
Cons: Not as easy to use as some other phones, evident cost cutting
The Bottom Line: Performance wise this phone is great, but I find it not as easy to use as some other phones. As usual, cost-cutting shows.
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| dkozin's Full Review: Nokia 5165 Cell Phone |
Ease Of Use
And I thought my Samsung was complicated...
My mom recently got Nokia 5165. The phone was free with a $29 a month plan, it looks nice and unsophisticated.
Maybe, if you used Nokia phones in the past, you will have no problems operating this one. But I have Samsung SCH-411, which is much easier to use.
My main concern is the way the buttons are used to place a call, end a call and navigate menus. With my Samsung, the keys are “fixed” – there is a designated “Send” button, separate “End”, “Menu”, “OK” and “Clear” buttons.
With this Nokia, one button has no inscription and is used for “Send”, “Menu”, “End”, “OK” and other functions, based on what’s written on the screen above the button. For example, if the lower portion of the screen says “Send”, this “main button” is currently “Send” button. After you initiate the call, it turns into “End” button.
Another, rather annoying feature, is the fact that if you go at least one level deep into a menu, after very short period of inactivity, the description of the chosen menu item appears and the almighty “master button” described above changes from “Select” into “More info”, so to select that menu item you have to press “C” (clear) and then “Select”.
I understand that this system allows Nokia to have less buttons and save space and money, but for me it’s too cumbersome, at least after having used my Samsung.
Also, the display fits only one high-level menu item at a time (i.e. “Phone Book”). My [smaller] Samsung fits 4 menu items and seems to have higher display resolution.
Overall, I am not impressed with the ease of use here.
Performance
The 5165 shines here – the sound quality is excellent, unlike my Samsung, which suffers from reception problems (although it might be caused by different coverage maps in my area). The battery life seems to also be longer. Manual recommends to wait until the battery is fully discharged before recharging though.
Size And Stuff
The phone has a fixed antenna, which you cannot extend. My Samsung has extendable antenna, but extending it bring nothing. The phone is larger that Nokia 8260, which can be considered good and bad. It’s bad because it takes more space in your pocket, but I find it easier to use than small 8260, where you always have doubts if the other party hears what you are saying, since the microphone is so far from your mouth.
The phone has replaceable faceplate, so you can buy a differently-colored faceplate and replace them all the time. This is the feature I couldn’t care less about.
Bottom Line
Performance wise this phone is great, but I find it not as easy to use as some other phones. As usual, cost-cutting shows.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): free
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Epinions.com ID:
dkozin
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 in Electronics |
 - Top 10 |
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Location: California
Reviews written: 845
Trusted by: 521 members
About Me:
I love to push buttons on electronic (audio and video) equipment. It makes me happy.
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