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Nokia C3 Review

When Nokia announced that they will release a new qwerty phone early this year, I said meh. A full qwerty phone with an old OS (Symbian 40), no 3G and a 2MP camera, what could go right? My view changed when Nokia announced the price. See our full review of the Nokia C3 after the jump.

Hardware & Design

The first thing you’ll notice when you hold a Nokia C3 is how solid it feels. It’s somewhat heavy but not that too heavy for its size. It’s very sleek and very comfy to hold.

The keyboard is superb. You get enough tactile feedback when you type on it, which I really miss from using a touchscreen phone for several years. I can easily hit 40-45 words per minute. Navigation is what you expect from a Symbian 40 series — utilitarian and straight forward. Navigational keypad can be set as shortcut keys and a maximum of 8 shortcut keys you can configure.

The screen is pretty bright and clear. The resolution of the screen is simply perfect for it size (2.4 inches @ 320×240 pixels).

The phone is as thin as most BlackBerrys. The phone doesn’t feel cheap at all. I’d even say that C3 looks more expensive than the Nokia E63. The phone has WiFi and Bluetooth for connectivity but the lack of 3G is something to consider about (only does GPRS/EDGE).

Features and Multimedia

This phone is packed with lots of new features that are comparable to a more high-end phone like Blackberrys and even the other Nokia smartphones.

The phone comes with a new feature called Communities that will allow you to add your Facebook and Twitter accounts which run in your home screen. The Twitter app is pretty simple — you can post a tweet, retweet, reply and send DMs but that’s about it. It’s really basic.

On the other hand, the Facebook app is pretty robust for a feature phone. You can do almost everything you can do on Facebook mobile. You can post, send messages, check events, see notifications and upload pictures taken from the phone’s camera. You can even consider this as a Facebook phone.

Another feature that I really find compelling for this uber cheap phone is the built-in Chat app. You can connect to YM, Google Talk, MSN Messenger and its own OVI messenger.  It’s not a full-fledge IM app but it works. You can also set up your personal email too.

The phone has a 2MP camera. It takes decent to mediocre pictures and awful video. It’s there if you need one but it is not something you’ll print and put in an album. The phone can also play videos and music. The speaker is loud and clear, and you can even use your phone as a mobile player.

The Nokia C3 uses Opera Mini as a default browser. You can view websites in mobile view or standard view. The browser is more than decent.

And finally, a threaded SMS on a Symbian 40 phone! This is a must have feature on any phone. Nokia phones never had that feature. One great thing Nokia did to this version is that you still have the option of reading your SMS in the regular Inbox/Sent items view and in threaded “conversation” view.

Battery Life and Performance

Battery life of this thing is amazing. A full charge can last for 5 days of normal usage (yep, 5 days!). The phone is pretty snappy when you navigate the UI. I didn’t encounter any lags or bugs.

When making calls, the line is okay — not bad but not great either. I haven’t dropped a single call unless I’m in a dead spot. When on loudspeaker mode, the phone volume is great and even usable for a conference call.

Nokia C3 may not be a smartphone but all the features listed above can run in the background. Its basically a limited smartphone and it does it effortlessly.

Nokia C3 specs:
2.4″ QVGA display @ 320×240 pixels
WiFi 802.11b/g
GPRS/EDGE
2MP fixed-focus camera
QVGA video recording @ 15fps
Series 40 UI, 6th edition
FM Radio with RDS
Bluetooth 2.0 w/ A2DP
microSD card slot (8GB supported, 2GB included)

Conclusion

After using this phone for several weeks, I simply fell in love with this phone. Not because it’s the best phone around but I’m amazed with all the things it can do for its price. With WiFi on, you now have a mini computer that can do Facebook, surf the net, post tweets, chat on IM and send emails.

Now selling between Php6,000 to Php6,500, this is one of the best featurephone you can get at that price point. With great built and excellent battery life, this is the smartest dumbphone around. With all these features, who needs a smartphone?

Editor’s Note: Dale is a reviews & special assignments contributor for YugaTech. The review had some minor revisions from me. You can follow him on Twitter @dalekins. – Yuga

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127 Responses

  1. Avatar for le reina le reina says:

    i have pink c3 qood condition 2months pa lanq wanna buy??? :)

  2. Avatar for wahid wahid says:

    comment je puisse debloquer mon nokiac3

  3. Avatar for cristy bernales cristy bernales says:

    hello po..panu po ba mag openline ng nokia c3 kase naka lock xa sa sun eh..tnx!

  4. Avatar for Ms Ms says:

    Looking at buying one of these phones. I want to know if the keypad is easy to use or are the buttons really small??

  5. Avatar for momen saif aldeen momen saif aldeen says:

    im am selling my iphone for this unit ;D am i stupid? i am tired of typing the wrong letters and not having a video. i cant even forward and save messages.

  6. Avatar for reynold reynold says:

    bigyan nyo ng maraming cp

  7. Avatar for techihunt techihunt says:

    i finally bought this phone, the phone is perfect. Those complaining, they don’t know how to use the phone. I love it. Perfect phone for my needs.

  8. Avatar for gedion gedion says:

    loptop for sale….3,000 lang///aceer po….kailangan lang….pamasahi lang papuntan g japan kulang lang talaga peras ko..094736*****….murang mura na….. text m e asap

  9. Avatar for Vito Meloche Vito Meloche says:

    Sam I know what your mean. In todays economy its difficult to find a job that pays good enough to live on and is stable . I have discovered that if you just work hard and are consistent you can go places . Look at the author of this page , the

  10. Avatar for Adam Adam says:


    hello please tell me the final price of your item and where you live

  11. Avatar for Dave Dave says:

    i purchased one last june, the silver paint on the navigation button (the central square button) easily peels off, i’m not that harsh pressing on it, still it’s a good phone, i just can’t believe that the battery can last up to 5 days mine only lasts for a maximum of 3 days.

  12. Avatar for paulo paulo says:

    Nokia C3 For Sale
    original charger
    earphone
    plus 1gb memory
    .5 motnhs plang ngamit
    1 year warranty
    no damages
    php 3,800
    txt me if u want 092615*****

  13. Avatar for Useless Wifi Useless Wifi says:

    This unit is impossible to connect to a PLDT modem router. Check the Nokia webpage, 10 pages long of people complaining all over the world who cannot connect to their wifi. Unit’s wifi is very problematic. If you need a unit with a fully functional wifi, DO NOT GET THIS UNIT. The carrier already took all steps necessary, to no avail. The Nokia center said they are doing all things possible, but look to the release date, it’s been a year and still no improvement.

  14. Avatar for African Dating African Dating says:

    While seeking for sites related to web host and specifically comparison hosting linux plan web, your blog came up.

  15. Avatar for pam pam says:

    can this unit upload videos thru wifi?

  16. Avatar for Ry Ry says:

    I bought this last January, and I still love it the same!

  17. Avatar for Can Ersoz Can Ersoz says:

    This phones are good but we cant use them in turkish most of them are’not been turkey or they dont have turkish language. thanks

  18. Avatar for Nokia C3 man Nokia C3 man says:

    I just picked up a Nokia C3 today and love the keyboard and the wi-fi feature

  19. Avatar for Harley Son Harley Son says:

    well, c3 dont want to read only a 4gb memory card! it wants my old 8gb! hmmmm! fishy!

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