Nokia C1-01 budget voicephone
Talk is cheap
Review Though you wouldn't guess as much from the raucous clamour about the as-yet-unforeseeable outcome of Nokia’s adoption of Windows Phone 7 as its smartphone OS of choice, the Finnish phone giant continues to run a very decent business selling basic handsets to World+Dog.
Nokia's C1-01: basic, but bloody good
Case in point: the new C1 and C2 phones, designed to be first rungs on the ladder of mobile ownership for customers in parts of the world where the latest over-spec'd soggy-jamas dream of a smartphone is just a waste of six months' salary combined with lousy battery life.
For those of us in developed markets, they represent the opportunity to buy cheap, well made voice- and text-oriented handsets with a surprisingly comprehensive spec.
Low cost shouldn't mean low expectations. The first thing that will strike you is how attractive the C1-01 looks and feels. Most of the bargain basement phones I looked at in my recent voicephone round-up looked and felt exactly as cheap as they were, if not cheaper. The 01, however, is every bit as solid and well made as the other candybars in Nokia’s C-series line-up.
Special mention has to be made of the keypad and five-way nav key combination, which gives little away to that fitted to the far more expensive Nokia C5. The keys themselves are large, well spaced, and have a positive and pleasing action that makes texting a joy.
Bottom'n'top
The screen above isn’t bad either. At only 1.8in corner-to-corner and 128 x 160 in resolution, it’s no ground breaker but it’s bright and colourful and works well in direct sunlight.
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COMMENTS
This is what phones look like.
I think what you are referring to are the current "media consumption devices" which include a radio for data access and a speaker/mic pair for access to a telco subsidy. These can be recognised by the sound of "look Mom, I can push things 'round with my finger".
Good
I've got a Nokia 3110 Classic which is a basic brick of a phone. I've only just replaced it with a Samsung Galaxy Europa. The Nokia is about 4yr old and basic as it can be but is a better phone than the Samsung. Better reception, better voice clarity, two weeks from a single charge and robust enough to have been dropped many times without a problem.
There is something to be said for a solid phone that just works as a phone.
@David Pottage
U dont need 3G support on a basic voice phone. 3G puts more strain on the battery so u are better of without it. Yes the camera and screen are lower res. but as far as camera quality goes its still crap v crap. As far as price goes the PC world website is selling the C1 for less than 30 quid. Thats a lot less money than u paid for the 2730.
I would not hold your breath on dual SIMs
If nothing else Nokia do like to pander to their customers (the telcos) and if there is one thing the telcos in so called developed countries don't want you to have it is the ability to pick and choose who you make calls with on a whim.
They want you signed up and locked in, end of story.
David Pottage your 2730C was subsidised from CPW.
The unsubsidised price for a 2730C is around £80, the C1-01 isn't the replacement for the 2730C the C2-01 is.
Nokia 1xxx becomes C1-xx
Nokia 2xxx becomes C2-xx
Etc.
