As a phone the Nokia 3300 is average, largely because the number pad looks good but is troublesome to use. As a games console it isn't a patch on dedicated devices either, and there are plenty of dedicated digital audio players which offer higher-quality output. But as a three-in-one offering it's small, light and fun to use.

Pros: Small and light; good audio features; supports MMC
Cons: Gaming is a relatively poor experience; fiddly keyboard; inaccessible MMC


The Nokia 3300 is a mobile phone with messaging, audio and gaming features. In addition to Instant Messaging (OMA), e-mail (POP3, IMAP4), and both SMS and MMS support, the phone can playback stereo AAC and MP3 files, as well as FM broadcasts. You can record from the radio or make voice notes, as well as set polyphonic (MIDI) tunes as ring tones.

When the first pictures of the Nokia 3330 became available it looked as though it would be a rather large device, but in fact it's impressively small. Measuring just 114x63x20, it's smaller than most competing mobile phone and digital music player combo devices. At 125g, it's lighter too.

The ability to play music is a key selling point of the Nokia 3300, but it won't appeal to business travellers who require a tri-band phone. It copes relatively well with both MP3 and AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) formats, grabbing tunes from your PC via the supplied USB 1.1 cable. Support for the AAC data format is important because it's fast becoming the accepted standard for distribution of music by major labels interested in digital rights management.

But there is much more to the Nokia 3300, not least its integrated FM radio with channel search and 20 station memory, and support for Java games. Four games are provided and you can download more as required. The N-Gage-like orientation of the phone, with the display positioned in the centre and a directional cursor to the left, complete the pocket-sized multimedia centre. A single mono speaker on the hardware itself outputs to a fairly high volume without losing too much definition. This is complemented by a pair of headphones that deliver stereo output and are usable for voice calls.

To make life easy, a button on the upper left edge of the phone cuts through menus and takes you straight to the music player and radio selector. A volume rocker sits on the phone's upper-right edge too, so you can quickly adjust playback levels. Music, along with ringtones, applications, voice recordings and data are stored on the supplied 64MB MMC card. It's a pity the card sits underneath the battery next to the SIM card, as this makes swapping cards inconvenient.

The battery offers, says Nokia, around 11 hours of music playback, 130-220 minutes talktime and 180-230 minutes standby.

Specifications:
Size: 114x63x20mm
Weight: 125g
Display: 128x128 pixels (colour)
Networks: GSM 900/1,800
Interfaces: Four-way scroll key, keyboard, shortcut key
Audio formats: AAC, MP3
Storage: MMC
Ports: Stereo line-in, USB 1.1, headphone
Features: Stereo FM radio, digital music player
Included: Travel charger (ACP-7), stereo headset (HDS-3H), recording cable (ADE-2), USB cable (DKU-2), quick guide, 64MB memory card

Links:
Nokia 3300 Web site

BIOS, Aug 28, 03 | Print | Send | Comments (0) | Posted In Mobile phone