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Nokia 3250
3.3 out of 5Average user rating :
NokiaManufacturer :
October, 2006Date :
-Price :
2047Hits :
3User opinions :
Major featuresThe phone itself...
Connectivity
Media capture
Multimedia
PIM (personal information management)
Problems/Issues
Dedicated music playback capabilitiesThe 3250 is, without a doubt, one of Nokia's most well-featured, music-enabled phone to date – following closely behind the N91, which is currently (at the time of writing) their flagship music product. Both the 3250 and N91 are well-equipped to handle the general music needs expected by the many of us, specifically users of portable digital music player devices. To make the experience as similar, and as simple, Nokia has included the following features: - Driverless, USB mass storage support mode – allows access to the inserted memory card on the 3250 by simply hooking up the included data cable to a USB 2.0 compatible port; - Included software (Nokia Audio Manager) to make the transferral of songs, between PC and the 3250, as simple as possible; - Dedicated music control buttons to easily navigate between tracks, stop/start playback, as well as seeking through a song; - Quick-and-easy activation of the on-board “Music Player” application – simply by twisting the keypad section of the 3250 around 180 degrees to reveal the dedicated music control buttons to the front of the handset; and - The inclusion of a remote controller (for music playback control) that also has a 3.5mm audio jack socket built into it, so that you could use your favourite pair of headsets with the 3250 – or just simply go with the in-ear, dual-bud pair included as standard. And if you're worried about your current music not working with the 3250, then don't – because Nokia has made sure it has covered almost every digital audio format that's out there. On top of basic support for MP3 and AAC, this latest music phone will also cover audio codecs including: AAC+, eAAC+, AMR-NB, AMR-WB, M4A/MP4, RealAudio, and WMA. Clearly, the 3250 is very music-ready. But its performance will be the other key factor in determining its overall viability – and will be looked into more in the “Multimedia” section of this review. Imaging: 2.0-megapixel camera with twistable camera lens moduleAnother application of the “twist” design was to allow for the on-board camera to freely move between standard and self-portrait modes – simply by turning the phone's bottom section in the respective direction. And if you were wondering how this is possible, it was by integrating the camera lens into the lower side of the phone – thereby, giving it the freedom of movement that it now has. Its “twist” design is something like what was given to the Carl Zeiss enabled N90 model, but with the difference that it can only (officially) be set into a point-towards or point-away position. On the N90, the lens barrel has a 315-degree complete freedom-of-movement. The camera's 2.0-megapixel imaging capability isn't really something to brag about. But it is the first S60 smartphone in the “affordable” category to receive such hi-res imaging support – with the last being the rather-pathetic 3230 model, which could do shots at up to 1.2-megapixels. UI: first handset to feature the S60 Third Edition smartphone platformThe time has finally come for Nokia to release their third major upgrade to their well-renowned smartphone platform, S60. Also known as Series 60, this Third Edition release aims to improve various aspects of certain features, as well as bettering the overall usability of the user interface (UI) as a whole. Version 2.0 implementations provided Nokia smartphone users with a mixed bag of experiences – and in most cases, I would say they were more negative than positive. The 3250 is the very first product to include Nokia's latest S60 platform release, as well as the first device to run Symbian OS 9.1, the latest operating system version to come from Symbian. And interestingly enough, it is also the 100th Symbian OS phone model to ship – which kind of makes this particular Nokia somewhat special, I suppose… From my 2-3 weeks spent with the product, I have to say that it does work and perform better than its Second Edition siblings. But there are still various aspects of the S60 platform that I would've liked to see improved, or even overhauled, to accommodate for the greater functionalities of today's smartphones. Nevertheless, my thoughts on this latest S60 release are still quite positive – which I hope will improve over time as I get to make out with more of their kind. General to-knows…* The Nokia 3250 comes in a thicker-than-usual candy bar form factor or design, and is made up of two separate parts held together by an integrated swivel mechanism; * The incorporated “twist” design of the 3250 allows the lower section of the handset, housing the 3-by-4 numeric keypad on one side and dedicated audio player control buttons on the other, to be rotated around accordingly to show the required set of keys for use; * Throughout the review period, reliability of the 3250's integrated swivel mechanism was extremely high – where it showed virtually no signs of any “loosening” even after extended “stress tests” (or casual, and repeated, turning actions at periodic times); * Additionally, a pair of hard metal panels have been used to line the left and right sides of the 3250 – giving the handset a greater level of durability than normally expected; * A lanyard/strap hole can be found just above the left battery cover latch, which also requires the thin cord portion to be threaded through and properly attached to the small notch located beneath the battery cover; and * A removable rubber cover encloses the 3250's Pop-Port socket, which can be removed and replaced as required. Point of interest: the “twist” methodOver the times, we've seen quite a number of different variations of how the typical mobile phone design can be spiced up, either to make it more aesthetically appealing and/or practical in a usability sense. And in most cases, it is this particular aspect of a product that helps attract the sales required – rather than the core offerings, which becomes less important. Many people have complained to me about the thickness of the 3250's candy bar profile, being something that I, myself, also believe to be quite so. But once I do the twist thing with the phone's keypad portion, the looks on the faces of those overseeing my demonstration changes almost immediately – to one of surprise and being impressed. Even those who've seen pictures of the 3250 prior to its release didn't expect the final product to be as-so. The mechanism that supports this “twist” method is rock solid! No matter what you do to try and make it give in to the stress and torture, it simply won't. And up to this very moment, after having spent a couple of weeks giving the 3250 a good run for its money, the handset is still holding itself together extremely well. So what are the applications of having such a design? As many of you readers may have learnt before reading up on this, a row of four buttons situated on the reverse side of the 3250's numerical keypad provides dedicated music player functionality whenever it gets turned round and sitting directly beneath the display. And at the same time, the music player application launches and closes automatically (thanks to the active nature of the integrated swivel mechanism) upon detecting the current position of the keypad. But that's not where it all ends though. When the keypad portion is twisted to a halfway position, or when it sits between the two possible setups, the 3250's camera function will automatically activate and quickly becomes ready for its user to snap images or shoot video clips – and similarly close when turned back to either the standard keypad or music player control mode. By implementing the camera lens into the side of the phone, it proves that the “twist” method isn't just something that'll make people go WOW – but also a design element that greatly improves the experience of handling a smartphone, a type of mobile phone that many people still have trouble in making full use of. General to-knows…* The Nokia 3250 comes fitted with a TFT LCD panel that supports up to 262,144 colours (18-bit), has a 176x208-pixel screen resolution, and comes with a physical viewable diagonal of 2.1 inches; * Whenever the phone is not used after a period of inactivity, a low-power screen saver mode is activated – which shows the current date/time, the current phone profile, and any missed calls or received messages during this time; and * In most usage situations, the 3250's display can be viewed comfortably and effortlessly – whether it's under direct lighting (e.g. sunlight, under overhead fluorescent lighting, etc) or in a pitch-dark environment. General to-knows… * The Nokia 3250 utilises the Series 60 Third Edition (v3.0) platform for its smartphone user interface (UI), which runs off the “Symbian OS v9.1” operating system for mobile devices; * The 3250 is also the very first handset to host both the aforementioned platform and operating system releases; * The overall look-and-feel of the 3250's UI is virtually identical to the menu layouts used on models such as the N70 and 6680 – but differing somewhat to the 3230 model, which is probably considered as its direct predecessor; * When compared to other S60-based models (i.e. 6670/7610, 6260 and 3230), being those based on the Second Edition (v2.x) release of the smartphone platform (and renowned for being quite laggy in overall performance), the 3250 was certainly much quicker and more responsive in virtually any usage situations; * The 3250 operates primarily with a portrait display orientation – with the on-board camera function being the only feature that requires the smartphone to function in landscape mode; * By default, the phone menus are laid out in a 3-by-4 grid format and are quite easy to decipher and navigate around – although it is possible to alter the view to a “list” format, if preferred, and re-organise the location of any menu item should its user wish to do so; * An “active standby” feature is available, and enabled by default, which displays the following items on the 3250's standby screen: up to six customisable shortcuts to various phone functions; upcoming calendar and any outstanding to-do list items; and the current status of the Music Player feature; * Navigation is provided through the 5-way joystick controller, the two soft keys (left and right), and the dedicated “menu” button (which provides one-touch access to the 3250's main menu and active tasks list); and * The 3250 comes with an updated “Data Transfer” application, previously made available to later S60 Second Edition smartphone models, which allows the backup and/or synchronisation of the following data from another compatible S60 handset: contacts, calendar entries, Gallery files, notes, recent calls lists, text messages, web bookmarks, and any content in the “Nokia” folder on the other phone. Point-of-interest: new S60 versus old S60So how does this new Series 60 platform release compare to the now-outgoing version – which can still be found on many of Nokia's present models? For starters, the 3250 feels as quick as the latter S60 Second Edition models – specifically those running v2.6 and v2.8 of the platform (e.g. 6630, 6680, N70). Overall responsiveness of phone menus and functions is an important usability aspect to consider, and Nokia – for the first time – neglected to maintain this on various S60 models (i.e. 6600, 6260, 6670, 7610), which resulted in a slight “lag” that became an annoyance to many users previously familiar with the then-very-successful smartphone platform. Next, there were those slight aesthetical changes in the overall look-and-feel of the UI itself. The different typeface used, and the choice of size and/or weighting (standard or bold effect), made it slightly easier for users of the 3250 to read. And the addition of an additional row of icons in the grid menu layout (from 3-by-3 to 3-by-4) gave it a less cluttered effect, being especially felt with menu folders that had a more-than-preferred number of items or icons. But there was, however, a slight downside to this. Because this latest S60 platform release has been designed primarily for use by a 352-by-416-pixel resolution interface, which quadruples the number of overall pixels supported by the standard 176-by-208-pixel interface found on virtually all S60 phones so far (with the exception of the N90), the ability for the 3250 to properly display certain graphical items – such as the Bluetooth icon at standby, and the antenna and battery meter bars inside the menu display – seemed a bit iffy. Although nothing that would affect the actual performance of the handset itself, I felt it was something that should at least be mentioned. As for other things, which may seem new to those considering the 3250 as their next phone, many of the seemingly-new capabilities can actually be found on Nokia's Nseries models – being features that can provide greater practicality to the product as a whole. Things like the Active Standby feature (lists current calendar and task list entries, and providing access to six menu shortcuts), an improved screen saver mode (that's more readable), and a help system and tutorial application to help users get the most out of the handset were positive things to have included than not. MessagingGeneral to-knows…* The following messaging standards are supported by the Nokia 3250: SMS (text), Nokia Picture Messaging, MMS (multimedia), Internet-based email via POP3/SMTP/IMAP4 mail protocols, and the IMPS (Instant Messaging and Presence Service) standard for instant messaging; * The 3250 utilises T9 (Tegic) as its predictive text input system, with the following key mappings used – shown in brackets: capitalisation (#), space bar (0), word choices (cycles throughs a list by pressing star / *), punctuation (1), symbols list (long hold on star / *), input mode change (hash / # - several presses to cycle between T9 and multi-tap, long hold for number mode); * When adding symbols, Nokia has added what I'd call a “frequenly-used row” to the grid, which lists up to seven of the most recently-used symbols for quick-and-easy access – doing away with the routine of having to search through the 40-or-so symbols throughout the 7-by-6 grid; * Ease of use of the 3250's predictive text input system was considered high thanks to a well mapped out set of function keys (Nokia's T9 implementation is considered to be one of the best since its introduction); * While the keypad may take up a lower-than-expected location on the 3250's candy bar, as well as smaller-looking buttons, the overall usability of the setup and user experience of punching in numbers and composing messages was actually more positive than I had hoped – all thanks to the slim-but-bulgy shaped buttons, the 3250's thicker form factor, and the slightly heavier bottom-end of the handset that provided good balance when used for this very purpose; and * The 3250's messaging function can be configured to save all messages onto the inserted memory (microSD/TransFlash) card, instead of making use of the phone's internal memory area for the same purpose. Point-of-interest: further improvements in the email client…The task of setting up email access on a S60 smartphone has never been easy. Even for the technically competent person, like myself, I would still find it somewhat confusing to properly enter all the settings and getting it to work on the very first attempt. But eventually, all becomes well – until you realise the various feature limitations of the built-in client… Since email support was included, Nokia has made progressive additions and improvements to the S60's messaging client. Things like support for security protocols for sending and receiving emails, the ability to open and process a broad range of attachments (e.g. images, documents, spreadsheets, PDFs), and the ability to actually put your name in the “from” field (don't ask me why this was never included at the very start) were just some of these newer features and options. With the 3250 and its latest S60 platform release, the email client receives another makeover – this time, in hopes to making it a far less strenuous experience for its user to set up. And Nokia has done this by offering a “mailbox setup wizard”, which takes its user through a series of steps requiring the entry of data including mailbox type, email address, incoming and outgoing server addresses, and the appropriate access point to use. Once this information is entered, all that is then required is a name for this “mailbox” account, and the profile will then be saved. Subsequent to this, a user can immediately start using the email service. Upon connecting to the mail servers, the 3250 would ask for the mailbox username and password, which is required for the retrieval of your personal email. This login information can either be saved into the mailbox profile or entered each time email is checked. The above process pretty much satisfies the setup needs for most people with IMAP4 and POP3 email accounts. For email servers that may have different port settings, or require further authentication for the sending and receiving of email, manual configuration is possible by accessing the various settings in the respective mailbox profile. Making and receiving callsGeneral to-knows…* The Nokia 3250 is a GSM-only (2G) handset that supports access to the 900/1800/1900MHz frequencies; * Calls can be taken through either through the handset itself (i.e. earpiece-microphone setup), handsfree through the in-built speakerphone feature, via a wired headset accessory, or through a wireless Bluetooth audio device supporting either the ‘Handsfree' or ‘Headset' profile; * Overall audio performance for calls with the 3250 was considered good, relative to the method of call handling used (e.g. via the handset, headset, etc); * Whilst using the provided in-ear plug type headsets for calls, users may find the experience somewhat different because of the lesser sound entering the ear (as compared to when using a standard type headset for calls). Wearing just a single earbud during calls should improve the situation greatly; * The following call alert types are supported by the 3250: MIDI-based polyphonic tones (of up to 64 simultaneous chords), and the playback of digital audio clips. Audio formats supported are the same as those playable by the integrated media application – including: AAC/AAC+; eAAC+; MP3; MP4/M4A; NB-AMR and WB-AMR; RealAudio; WAV; and WMA; * For incoming calls, the 3250 supports the reading-out of a caller's name upon the matching of the caller ID with the respective phone book entry (the name-saying is repeated on each playback cycle of the selected ringing tone). This is a profile dependent option, and can be enabled or disabled from within each phone profile; and * The 3250 supports the Push-to-Talk over Cellular (PoC/PTT) capability where available. ConnectivityGeneral to-knows…* The Nokia 3250 supports the following local (device-to-device) connectivity methods: Bluetooth wireless; and via a USB data cable; * Open transfers of content is supported by the 3250 through Bluetooth only; * For Bluetooth-based open transfers, the 3250 supports both object push and file transfer methods – with data transfer speeds averaging around 50-70kB/s (this can decrease when the handset is handling other tasks); * The 3250 supports the USB mass storage device mode for accessing the inserted microSD / TransFlash memory card. By using the provided Pop-Port to USB data cable, it allows a user to hook up the handset to a Mac or Windows-based PC to freely access and transfer data between the two (the 3250 will appear as a removable disk drive once it has been successfully connected); * A PC suite software is included with the 3250, which allows users to perform tasks such as synchronising organiser-based data with a PIM-based software, manage on-board data and files, Internet connectivity (from a PC), and the backup and restore of phone files; * For remote data connections with the mobile network, the 3250 supports the following methods: dial-up (CSD/GSM Data), HSCSD, GPRS (2.5G), and EDGE (2.75G). In most cases, the handset would be operating with the two latter, faster options; * Connectivity with an external computing device for the purpose of Internet access is possible through the aforementioned local connectivity method, and subsequent to the installation of the provided software CD-ROM; and * A full-screen WAP/xHTML browser, with full Web capability, is provided for access to a variety of online-based content – and comes with the following capabilities: auto-history list (or auto bookmarks), bookmarking, file download and upload over HTTP, Java support, offline viewing support (after a page has been saved or archived), and Web Feeds (RSS) support. PIM-based featuresSupported features:* Active Standby: lists the most current calendar and task entries on the standby screen, along with up to six individual shortcuts to selected phone functions; * Calendar: day/week/month view options and capable of entering meetings (with alarms), memos, tasks (to-dos) and anniversaries; * Calculator: standard operations only * Clock: local plus custom world city times display. Also provides once-only alarm capabilities; * Contacts: equivalent to an address book application of a PDA, it has the ability to store addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, PoC/PTT details, URLs and birthdays. It also has the new ability to list entries sorted by either surname or first name; * Converter: supports the conversion of currency, area, energy, length, mass, power, pressure, temperature, time, velocity and volume units; * Email: ability to send or receive emails via the IMAP4/POP3/SMTP email protocols (also supports security and APOP logins) via a data connection with the Internet (dial-up or GPRS/EDGE). Multiple accounts supported. Accessible from the phone's “Messaging” application; * Notes: application where write-ups are stored and sorted; * Recorder: voice recording capability; and * Synchronisation: supports both local (phone to PC) and remote (phone to remote Internet server) synchronisation of PIM-based data – including calendar, contacts and notes entries. Build qualityThe physical build of this particular model was probably closest to being the best I've seen from Nokia for quite some time. Trying to find a fault with its design and any quality issues was a close-to-impossible exercise – and, therefore, I'm happy to say that people need not worry about the 3250's ability to look after itself should it ever end up in many of those careless user mishaps situations… If I really had to find something to talk about, it would probably be the design of the back cover. I suppose this isn't exactly a quality issue – but the difficulty in trying to remove and replace the shiny black Nokia-branded panel can really become quite annoying. Apart from the press-down latches being slightly difficult to hold down (whilst trying to lift up the panel at the same time), the whole process can get quite clumsy if one isn't all that familiar with its workings. But after several weeks, this task has certainly gotten easier – and it is no longer a headache to try and perform this remove-and-replace task. At the same time, it seems that the side latches and the actual back panel have undergone their “run-in” period, which is probably also why they aren't as hard to utilise now than when the 3250 was still brand spanking new. Battery lifeGeneral to-knows…* The Nokia 3250 includes one internal lithium-polymer battery with a 1100mAh cell capacity, which can be charged via the handset only (Nokia does not offer accessories for battery-only charging for this particular battery model); * Battery charging is available via the supplied AC charger only; * On average use, the 3250 managed to offer talk and standby times of up to 2-2.5 hours and 2-3 days respectively (these figures are based on use primarily with a 2G/GSM network running at 900 and 1800MHz frequencies); and * A “power saver” screen saver feature is available, which – when activated – shows the current date and time, selected profile, keylock status, and missed call and received message indicators (where applicable). MultimediaThe Hardware – general to-knows…* The Nokia 3250 comes with a dedicated music player interface, which can be accessed by simply twisting the lower keypad portion of the smartphone anti-clockwise to reveal the four-button control (at this time, the standard 3-by-4 keypad would be located on the back side of the phone); * On revealing the music control buttons at the front of the phone, the 3250 will automatically launch the “Music Player” application (this is all thanks to the active nature of the in-built swivel mechanism); * For audio playback, a user can either make use of the provided dual-bud (in-ear) stereo, the stereo-enabled loudspeaker (single speaker – located at the bottom of the phone), or via a Bluetooth audio accessory in mono output only; * The entire headset component is made up of two parts: the in-ear stereo earplugs, and the remote control with microphone portion; * With the remote control, which connects directly to the 3250's Pop-Port socket, it offers call control and voice command capabilities via the multifunctional button, full playback (play/pause, track seek/skip, stop) and volume control for the on-board audio player, and a keylock switch to enable/disable use of the music playback and volume controls. The microphone component is also located within the remote control itself; * The remote control component can be used independent of a headset or any 3.5mm-based audio accessory. In this scenario, audio is played through the 3250's integrated loudspeaker instead; * A 3.5mm jack interface connects the in-ear stereo earplugs component to the remote control accessory. Therefore, this makes it possible for its user to possibly use their favourite headphones or hook the handset up to their hi-fi / audio system via this socket, if so desired; * Three differently-sized earbud pairs are provided as standard for the in-ear headsets to accommodate for the different earhole size of users (the most proper fit out of the three pairs should provide the best audio quality output when used); * Storage-wise, the 3250 relies heavily on the use of an inserted miniSD memory card for accessing multimedia-based content (since there's just over 8MB of memory available on the handset internally, which is far from adequate); and * Nokia has included a microSD card with the 3250 to get things started (size of the card varies from 128MB to 512MB, and may differ between markets) – possibly sufficient for starters, but not ideal for those who plan on making full use of the handset's multimedia and imaging capabilities. The Software – general to-knows…* A dedicated Music Player application is included with the 3250, offering numerous complements including: dedicated and virtual (on-screen) playback controls, preset (most played tracks, recent tracks, recent additions) and custom track lists support with album art display, the browsing of music by artist/album/genre/composer and track lists, and direct access to over-the-air music downloads (via online services); * The following audio controls are available for the 3250's music player feature only: equaliser (4 preset profiles + one dedicated for use with the included in-ear headset + default mode), balance control, reverb (or environmental sound effects), stereo widening, and bass boost; * Nokia has included their Audio Manager software, along with their software CD-ROM, to enable the easy transferral of music from a Windows-compatible PC to the 3250. Alternatively, it is also possible to directly copy music to the 3250 via USB mass storage transfer mode; * An integrated FM stereo radio function, also supporting the Visual Radio service, is available with the 3250. The remote control portion of the overall headset cable (which acts as an antenna for signal reception) is required for this feature to work, with audio output possible via either a connected headset or the integrated loudspeaker; * Other features of the radio function include: station memory (up to 20 presets possible), manual tuning (or the input of the frequency via the numeric keypad), and quick access to station memory entries via the remote control's multifunctional button (i.e. the button used to answer/end calls); * Both the music player and radio functions can operate in either foreground (on-screen) or background mode. With the 3250's active standby feature activated, it is possible to access any of these applications immediately, as well as adjust the current output volume – or, alternatively, control playback and volume settings immediately at any time via the remote control; * The in-built RealPlayer application is responsible for the playback of all other media types, as well as audio and video streaming operations; * Audio formats supported by the 3250 include: AAC/AAC+, eAAC+, WB-AMR / WB-AMR, MP3, MP4/M4A, RealAudio, WAV, WMA; and * Video formats supported by the 3250 include: 3GPP, MPEG4, RealVideo. Point-of-interest: audio performanceIt is clear that Nokia is trying to convey the message that its 3250 model is a serious music phone – not just any S60-based smartphone that comes with a simple media player function to play back your favourite tracks with. The inclusion of the in-ear headphones with remote control and the specialised music control buttons were the two things that caught my attention, leading me to believe that Nokia could have finally come up with THE music smartphone. And after personally taking the 3250 for its exhaustive test-run, my thoughts for Nokia as a phone maker is no different than how I felt after reviewing the 6280 – that is, of disappointment. Okay… so what am I complaining about now? Well, it's audio performance that we're looking at here – so that's what I'm going to look into now. It wasn't all bad news though… The first thing I did was giving the integrated loudspeaker a go – and my first reaction to hearing music being played through the single-speaker, located at the base of the unit, was “wow!” Wow in a good way, of course – because it managed to produce some of the best-sounding audio that I've ever experienced with a built-in speaker on any phone. Not even any of Sony Ericsson's Walkman phones managed to pump out such good audio quality with their integrated speakers. The speaker wasn't just loud enough, but they also provided well for the low, mid and high end ranges. But when playing back music that demanded a bit more than usual, it was only then that the speaker started to give in a bit – something that I was expecting to be so anyway. Next to try out was the in-ear headphones – and because they weren't the standard type of headsets we'd find included with the typical mobile phone, I was expecting a relative improvement in overall audio quality here. But sadly, what my eardrums got was audio that sounded rather flat and lacked what was expected from such a headphone design. Even after trying on the other two pairs of different earplug sizes, to make sure that I wasn't using the wrong ones, I was still very disappointed with what I was hearing. To put it simply, the audio sounded nothing like CD quality – even when it was MP3 files encoded at the maximum 320kbps bitrate! To make sure it wasn't my ears that were the problem, I replaced the headphone portion (HS-20) with a similar in-ear set included with Sony Ericsson's Walkman phones. And almost immediately, I could hear (and feel) the improved audio quality – proving that it wasn't an issue with the 3250's audio output (a relief), but instead the device that outputs the sound. Apart from not sounding well, the earplugs were also quite difficult and uncomfortable to put on. Sticking them into the ear was one thing, but trying to properly position the rubber earbud portion wasn't something that I enjoyed doing at all. Again, when compared with the ones included with Sony Ericsson's Walkman phones, which I could fit on and remove without any effort whatsoever, the HS-20 is literally rubbish! I think many people would be disappointed to learn that Nokia failed only on the part of providing a good headphone accessory for a music phone that came so close to being “the one”. Fortunately, it is possible to swap it with your own personal earplugs, which would solve the aforementioned problems. But, ultimately, this should not have been the case if Nokia was serious about getting a quality music phone product out into the market – which many would blindly believe to be so... Camera performance and qualityHardware – general to-knows…* The Nokia 3250 comes with a 2.0-megapixel (1.92-megapixel effective resolution) CMOS-based camera, capable of producing images at up to 1600x1200 pixels and capturing video clips at 176x144 pixels (QCIF resolution) respectively; * The camera lens is uniquely located on the bottom left-hand corner of the unit, where it takes advantage of the 3250's twist design by offering a unique and comfortable point-and-shoot holding posture (when the keypad portion is twisted at a +90 or -90 degree position); * Another advantage of the twist design is the possibility of having the camera lens pointing away from (standard shooting mode) or towards (self-portrait shooting mode) its user – whilst the virtual viewfinder screen is facing its user at all times; * An digital zoom of up to 4X is supported by the 3250's camera; * The 3250 utilises the four-button music control interface to work the on-board camera functionality. The ‘play/pause' button, which has a camera silhouette printed above it, is the dedicated shutter key for pictures and starts/pauses a video recording – while the ‘forward' and ‘backward' buttons control the digital zoom feature, and the ‘stop' button ends a video recording only; and * The 5-way joystick can also be used to control various capabilities of the 3250's camera – including the digital zoom feature (up/down), snapping a shot or starting/pausing a video clip (pressing “in”), and swapping between photo and video modes (left/right). Software and UI – general to-knows…* The 3250 supports two different viewfinder modes: full-screen landscape orientation (enabled when the phone's keypad section is in a “twisted” state), and portrait orientation (enabled upon the manual launch of the camera function when the keypad is in a normal position); * Apart from the aforementioned control keys, a user can access the camera's other options or preferences by choosing the “options” context menu (accessible by pressing the left (or bottom) soft key; * Just like shooting pictures, where it is possible to change the size/resolution and quality of images, the 3250's video function also support two different resolution settings (subQCIF and QCIF) and recording lengths (“short” and “maximum”); * The following complementary camera options are available: colour tone overlay, image preview option (immediately after shoot), low-light enhancement (night mode) feature, self-timer presets, and white balance adjustment; * It is possible to choose the default location of where new images and video clips are saved – either to the phone's internal memory or inserted memory card; * By default, the camera function activates whenever the keypad portion of the 3250 is twisted to a +90 or -90 degree position; and * Although the 3250 doesn't come with image-editing capabilities, it does however include a simple video editor application that allows both the editing of existing video as well as the creation of new ones by allowing the insertion and combining of text, images, sound clips and video clips. Road-testingAs per usual, lighting was the single underlying factor in determining whether a picture would end up looking good or bad. Surprisingly, the 3250's two-megapixel camera managed to pull off some surprising results – that is, when there was sufficient environmental lighting. Even where there were dark patches in shots with enough surrounding light, only very little picture noise was present. But on the other hand, when using the 3250 to take pictures in locations that lack either sufficient or natural lighting, picture noise becomes the user's biggest enemy of all. Indoor shots, taken mainly at night, presented some of the worst results. Even with mediocre lighting, the camera would have trouble producing a clear picture – especially when it tries to boost the overall brightness levels within an image. Considering that the 3250 is a music-concentric smartphone, I would probably rate its camera capabilities as above-average to good. The results should make most of its users happy – but just bearing in mind that good lighting is the key to a good picture. Problems/issuesCamera: viewfinder image slightly blurred when compared to image previewFor some reason, the 3250's camera viewfinder image takes on a rather blurry look as compared to the preview image shown subsequent to a photo shoot. The distinction is clearly unquestionable – but why is this so? My guess is that it has something to do with the lower resolution display being used by the 3250 (i.e. 176x208px), with a version of the S60 platform that has been designed for use with a 352-by-416-pixel setup. But whatever the reason may be, as much as anyone may find it strange or annoying, the resulting image captured by the 2.0-megapixel camera won't end up as blurred as what you would see in the viewfinder – so be rest assured. Connectivity: Bluetooth file transfer issues at high data ratesAt times when I was just too lazy to go pulling out the microSD card and stick it in my USB card reader, I went for the Bluetooth option instead – using either the File Exchange or Object Push features to transfer files. In most cases, there were little to no issues with exchanging files with the 3250 – which usually including the sending or receiving of images, video clips and music files. But whenever I used it with a Mac or PC that offered Bluetooth 2.0+EDR support, wireless file transfers would end up “hanging” whenever it reached a speed of close to 90kB/s – which was only possible within these circumstances. No matter what I tried to make it “not hang”, such as deleting the Bluetooth device profile from both the Mac/PC and 3250 and trying to send a completely different file, I would end up with exactly the same problem without fail. But should the transfer speed never exceed around 85kB/s, the process would complete successfully without the slightest hitch. Strange huh? Something that a newer firmware or software upgrade should fix, hopefully. Design: back cover can get somewhat tricky to removeIt may be true that it all works out with practice. But on initially receiving the 3250 for review, I found the task of removing the back cover somewhat tricky – simply because of how the two catches (which holds the panel in place) are positioned on the two sides of the handset. When the handset was still brand spanking new, pressing down on the two catches can be a bit difficult – while at the same time, most users may not want to exert too much pressure here simply because the phone is still in near-mint condition. But eventually, slight force becomes mandatory – so that you could actually put a battery into the back and get things rolling along… Over time, with more practice and remove-and-replace actions, this very process will become just as simple as how it is done on most other handsets. Design: joystick a bit too stiffI must say that Nokia has done a good job in making the 3250's 5-way joystick rock solid, which makes it almost impossible to break or malfunction. But because of this, it became extremely difficult for users to properly manoeuvre for the purpose of navigating the smartphone's many menus and functions. For up and down actions, the stiffness in the joystick was still somewhat acceptable – simply because these two actions were the easiest to apply with the thumb. But come left or right, trying to properly apply the proper pressure to the joystick so that it would register a single movement was slightly more difficult. For those people who may have slightly-more sensitive thumbs, using the 3250's joystick may even hurt a little. And the worst time to use this 5-way controller was when the keypad portion of the 3250 is twisted into camera mode. It was the posture of holding the smartphone in this orientation and trying to get at the stiff joystick that made the experience of using it somewhat daunting. I may have been happy with the overall feel of the phone's other controls – but its joystick was certainly not my favourite! Multimedia: still no Bluetooth stereo audio (A2DP) supportIt's not as if stereo support for Bluetooth wireless audio devices only got introduced yesterday. So why hasn't Nokia gone and added this capability to their latest music phone? Your guess is as good as mine! I personally was expecting support for A2DP (or “Advanced Audio Distribution Profile”) to be added to this newest S60 platform release, which meant the 3250 should've gotten it. But instead, users get the option of possibly channelling audio from the Music Player application to a Bluetooth-based headset – but in mono output only. Now, isn't that just great?! And the 3250 won't be the one and only S60 Third Edition (or Symbian v9.1 phone, for that matter) smartphone to not get Bluetooth A2DP support. Expect more Nokia phones to do without this capability until further notice… Productivity: phonebook does not support different name sorting methodsThis has been an ongoing issue for S60 smartphones with firmware that includes any form of Chinese support (i.e. Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese) – one that Nokia should have been aware of and rectified a long time ago, but have ignored ever since. While it may be true that most users in markets where Chinese is the primary written language used, where a person is addressed by his/her surname followed by their first name, there are also many cases where names in English (as well as others written with Latin-based characters) will also be used within a phonebook. Depending on whether its user is of Chinese origin or not is one question – but permanently having the contacts (or phone book) sorting order as “by last name” is just not right at all. Question: how hard is it to add an option in the contacts/phonebook application that would allow a user to choose between sorting entries by either first name or last name? My answer to this would be “not hard at all”. I may not completely understand just how difficult (or even simple) it may be to implement such a feature – but I do know that almost all other smartphone and PDA phone platforms, such as UIQ and Windows Mobile, do offer this capability in their contacts/phonebook apps. So now the question is “why hasn't Nokia done the same?” Unfortunately, even after all this time (ever since the introduction of the first S60 Second Edition model, the 6600), I still don't have a solid answer as to why this is so. But it is one thing that really gets to me – simply because I synchronise my smartphones with my address book, and – to me – sorting by surname makes the 3250's phonebook seem really messed up (since all my entries are in English!) UI: improper display of certain graphical and text itemsIt probably wasn't the wrong decision to use the traditional 176-by-208-pixel display setup for the 3250, where this would've lowered the cost of acquisition for the end-user – as opposed to introducing the new higher-resolution display found on upcoming models, such as the N80. And besides, there's really no need for such a high-res display on a music-concentric smartphone – even though it would certainly be eye candy for its user… But in keeping the lower-resolution setup, Nokia seemed to have forgotten the need to maintain a proper display of graphical and text-based items even though their latest S60 smartphone platform release is based on the newer, higher-res display. These may all look good with a 352-by-416-pixel setup, but it doesn't necessarily mean they'll work on one that has four times less pixels! Probably the most noticeable items that don't look very right were the smaller versions of the signal and battery meter bars whenever the 3250's menu or landscape camera viewfinder displays were shown. It's almost impossible to make out whether there are actually six or seven horizontal bars that make up the entire vertical meter – simply because the overall pixels that make up the bars have different shades of “whites”, and this ultimately led to the issue at hand. The Bluetooth silhouette displayed at the standby screen was another graphic that looked more like a white blob than the official logo for the wireless standard. This issue is probably more of a complaint regarding aesthetics, which – in my opinion – is also very important towards the creation of a well-designed and very-usable user interface. The examples I discussed above is further proof of Nokia being the careless phone maker – one who no longer pay the required attention to detail and only care about getting as many handset models out there as possible – that they've been in more recent times. UI: still no auto-keylock function – why?!Another one of those mystery questions that I believe many people want an answer to… And that is, why doesn't ANY of the S60 smartphones come with an auto-keylock feature? Yes, it is true that many of the newer models come with an auto-lock feature – but this is one for the purpose of securing the smartphone with a “lock code” after a pre-defined period of inactivity. Unfortunately, we're after something simpler – something to just disable the phone's keypad after a specific idle time. Why is it so difficult for Nokia to just add this so-basic feature onto their smartphones? Or should I ask, “why are they so reluctant to do so?” I am curious to know whether the people who design the platform (or the phones) are either too smart to realise something all so simple, or if they're just too stupid to understand what users want from such advanced phone products. Either way, there's no sense in how Nokia design their products sometimes… In summary...With the 3250, Nokia has managed to come up with a design that's both interesting to use as well as innovative. It's been a while since the Finnish phone maker has come up with a product that I actually want to try out – rather than a phone that I need to review because it's deemed as a “hot model” thanks to some rather misleading marketing messages, and a belief that Nokia phones are still the world's easiest phones to use! The 3250 was provided with many “firsts”. Its twistable keypad and camera portion was certainly a unique design and idea that gave the handset a greater level of practicality than any other music-orientated smartphone design currently available. And being the first smartphone to include the new S60 Third Edition platform and Symbian OS v9.1 operating system were certainly reasons for the more knowledgeable user to give this product a greater deal of consideration. In many regards, I have to say that the 3250 managed to keep me satisfied throughout my times spent with it – but not a handset that I was entirely happy with. Its failure to perform where it needed to was the biggest letdown – and it was those rather pathetic in-ear headphones that turned the overall experience all sour. What was Nokia trying to prove when they decided to include a set of in-ear type headphones, which many people would perceive as providing good-quality audio, that actually performed almost identically – or even slightly worse – than their other standard headsets models? There's simply no reason for them to do so – since the 3250 performs well in the music department… but Nokia just had to get all cheapo when deciding on what level of quality headset they should bundle with their smartphone. The problem with Nokia is that they're the world's number-one phone maker. And why is this a problem? Simply because they uphold the belief of having the best product offerings around that most people can't refuse – which isn't exactly the case when you look at what some of the other phone makers have come up with in more recent times. Don't let routine stop you from discovering better and far greater phone products. While the 3250 may certainly be a choice, there are also other similar models out there (and coming) that would do just as good – or even better.
Reviewed by Rakesh on 14-9-2007 Rating:
I picked up the new nokia 3250 and after 2 month's i had software problem's I went back to the nokia showroom to check up on the phone and they said will will let me know after two week When i called them they said i will take a month to get it fix so i said fine when i went to collect the phone it had the same problem If the people in nokia cared they would have done some thing about but they did not and now am stuck with the phone and also had to buy a new One Thank you nokia for your HELP
Reviewed by aleereza on 24-1-2008 Rating:
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