Nokia 3390

Nokia is the world's number one cellular handset Manufacturer. Based in Finland, Nokia took the cellular market by storm.
Holding 26.6% of total worldwide handset sales by the end of 1999 and increasing its share to approximately 35% by the end of year 2000, it managed to double the market share of its closest competitor. But today, at a time of great difficulties for the industry, which is lacking growth due to the U.S.-led economic slowdown, for the first time in several years Motorola and Ericsson may have gained market share in mobile phones at the expense of industry leader Nokia. Even though Nokia registered no market share gain in Q2 2001, volume deliveries have ensured profits which are undisputedly the industry's highest - in fact, it is the only major mobile phone maker that is currently profitable.

The 3390 is a phone Nokia introduced early in 2001, aiming to replace the aging 51xx and 61xx series. Most will consider the 3390 to be a low-end phone - it lacks high-end features, connectivity options and is essentially a low-priced, single mode phone. At the same time, it offers an attractive combination of price, appearance and features. The 3390 uses 1900MHz GSM technology and is offered by various carriers in the US and Canada. I have been using this phone on a daily basis for almost 4 months and have come to appreciate some features while others never cease to annoy me.

The Nokia 3390 is, in my opinion, a very aesthetically pleasing handset. Its design accentuates Nokia 's determination to cater to the style-conscious WIRELESS customer. The phone 's overall dimensions are 10.9 x 4.8 x 2.0 cm (4.3 " x 1.9 " x 0.8 ") and with the included standard NiMH battery (BMC-2), the phone weighs in at 119 g (4.2 oz). While not the lightest handset around, its Weight is comfortable and gives it a very cozy and sturdy feel. If you, like me thought that the 88xx and 82xx series were too small, this is the right phone for you in respect to size/Weight. 3390 's display is nothing to brag about, with the ability to only display 4 lines of text and graphics.

Nokia 3390

Nokia 3390

It would have been nice if Nokia had included a backlit display, but alas, this phone is poorly lit by 4 LEDs on the bottom of the screen. The keypad is lazily based on the 51xx series models and while this ensures easy transition for existing users, the design inherits all of the flaws of the old 51xx keypad. There is a central softkey under the LCD screen, a Clear key on the left, and a combination up/down key on the right. In comparison, the high-end series like the old 61xx or 82xx models have moved away from the Navi-key design, which is rather limiting for the power user.
Unlike the 51xx and 61xx models, which only had changeable front covers, the 3390 features changeable front and back covers. Nokia currently offers seven unique and very stylish colors - Arctic Silver, Himalaya White, Iceberg Grey, Mica Pearl VoiceStream only), Polar Blue, Sahara Yellow and Vesuvious Red. While opinions will definitely vary, my personal favorites are the Himalaya White and Sahara Yellow. A quick search on ebay (www.ebay.com) reveals that many 3rd party manufacturers also offer face/back plates for the Nokia 3390. Beware though, I have found many of those to be of inferior quality to those offered by Nokia.

As I mentioned earlier, the Nokia 3390 is a low end phone by all, but the least demanding of standards. While it concentrates on ease of use and availability of daily-used features, its arsenal lacks the weapons many competitors carry. Its connectivity options are almost non-existent, limited only to phonebook synchronization. This phone does not have a MODEM, WAP support, GPRS capability or IR port. To do Nokia justice, they have included some nice features as well. The phone has several nice games, the standard Nokia calculator and some extra features like calendar, notes and alarm clock. It supports long SMS messages and the Nokia-proprietary picture messaging ability. The built-in Vibra Alert and the option to send/receive ring tones were definitely nice touches. As with most Nokia phones, in my opinion, the 3390's menus are easy to navigate around. Users migrating from some Ericsson phones will certainly appreciate the speed with which the menus open and close. The menus resemble those of the 61xx models and sport features previously reserved for high-end phones, like animated menus, presence of calculator, profiles and calendar.
Unlike most new phones, the 3390 does not have any extra phone numbers memory, in addition to that of the SIM card. Thus, the total phone number capacity of your phone will be limited to the memory of your SIM card. The 3390 features the usual array of Nokia tones with a few new ones added, 35 in total. Like some Ericsson handsets, the Nokia 3390 now offers custom ring tones. Those can be created using the built-in composer or downloaded from another phone. You can now exchange ring tones with your friends.
The 3390 caters to the heavy SMS users. In addition to the ability to send and receive short messages, you can transfer business cards, smiley faces, ring tones
and pictures. The phone offers pre-defined and customizable SMS templates. When entering a text message the phone uses the predictive T9 input to essentially 'guess ' at the word you are trying to enter. While this feature can be very helpful, when mastered, it can be annoying at first. A criticism towards Nokia in respect to SMS is the lack of "erase all " messages from your inbox.
Another nice feature of the 3390 is support for long SMS messages. Messages on other phones are limited by the SMS protocol to 160 characters, but now you can compose SMS 's that are almost three times the size. When sent from one 3390 to another 3390, a long SMS comes in as one message. If the phone on the other end does not support long SMS, these long messages are sent split.
The phone features all new Nokia games. There 's Snake II, Space Impact (similar to Space Invaders), Bantumi, and Pairs II. While a bigger screen would
have been nice, Nokia has tried to improve the feedback during gameplay by including vibrations, in addition to sounds.

» Data capabilities

If you travel often and would like an internet capable phone, you are out of luck with this one. Not only has the phone no MODEM, it has no IR port or any
other means of connectivity, but the standard serial interface to your computer. This can only be used for PIM synchronization, incl. ring tones, but not for "data connection ". According to Nokia 's web site, there is another Model, the Nokia 3395, which is almost identical to 3390, but includes WAP capabilities. While the 3395 also uses the 1900Mhz GSM standard, I have not seen it on sale anywhere. A search on ebay (www.ebay.com) shows only accessories, which are compatible with those for the 3390.

» Battery Performance

Some would argue that the included BMC-2 Nokia battery is insufficient, but in my experience, without the heavy use of SMS and games, the phone lasts for two days on a single charge. Daily recharge would be necessary if you are a serious SMS user. If you do so much gaming that you drain your battery, I suggest getting a game boy. Nokia stocks both an extended NiMH (BMC-3) and extended Li-Ion (BLC-2) batteries. The battery life of the Nokia 3390 is similar to those of the competition. As a reference, the T28w achieves a Standby time of 50hrs with its standard battery, where the 3390 does 55hrs.

 

» RF Performance

When the 82xx/88xx series came out they were harshly criticized for their poor RF performance, which was a result of their built-in antenna and small footprint. Despite all criticism, the design of the 82xx/88xx series has proved that there is future for the built-in antenna solution. Even though the design was still immature, those phones were completely useable and had one major advantage - they were more likely not to miss a call while in your purse or pocket, when compared to other phones. The engineers at Nokia have worked hard to improve this setup and the result is apparent - the Nokia 3390 with its built-in antenna performs just as well as other, standard antenna setups I compared it to - the Motorola P280 and the Ericsson T28. If your friends tell you they have been trying to call you, but your phone was off, when in fact it was in your handbag or pocket, you might consider purchasing this phone. Beware though, the RF performance degrades if you hold the phone towards the top, where the internal antenna is located.

 

» Availability

The 3390 is widely available throughout the US and Canada. Some carriers that offer it in the US are Powertel, Cingular and VoiceStream.
Often resellers will offer great deals with the purchase of a contract for this phone. I have seen it for free after rebate, which makes it an unbeatable deal for the average user. On ebay, the phone is available for around $100.

» Conclusion

The Nokia 3390 is a great beginners handset from Nokia, which sports stylish design and great SMS features.