Why mess with perfection?- The Nokia 3390
Written: Nov 14 '01
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Pros: Reasonably priced, great quality and sound.
Cons: Break up occasionally.
The Bottom Line: If you are looking for a reasonably priced, sturdy and high quality sound phone, I would say to search no further. You will have that with the Nokia 3390.
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| patch3boys's Full Review: Nokia 3390 |
After half a season of bad communication (or lack of communication I should say) from my son's Basketball Coach, we decided the time had come to purchase a second cellphone. Although we had talked about doing this in the future as our children got older, we decided that it would be beneficial for our whole family to go ahead and move forward with this decision at this time.
I have been a very happy owner of the Nokia 5190 for over a year now. I love that phone. Through good times and bad, my Nokia lived well above my expectations. Our preference for Nokia was even taken a step further when my husbands company switched cell phones 3 times this past year. Out of all the 3 cellphones that he used (Motorola, GTE and Nokia) he found the best quality in the Nokia. So we unanimously decided before hand that we would purchase another Nokia phone.
At the cell phone retailer, we managed to walk into a pretty good deal. Don't they always have some kind of deal to rope you in? Anyway, after declining their BIG deal of the day (where we would have ended up spending twice as much on a bunch of stuff that we didn't need), we ended up with a pretty good deal where we got a Nokia cellphone for half off under the terms that we would sign up for the Family Talk Plan. This worked out perfect for us because this was the plan we were already coming in for in the first place. Along with that, we go a newer model Nokia, the 3390.
This review is going to be a comparison between the 5190 and the 3390 since these are the two that I have had the most experience with.
Looks
The Nokia 3390 is a lot more modern looking the older, 5190. The phone is slimmer and less bulky. Where the 5190 had a short antenna on top, this model has no antenna. At first I couldn't place my finger on what made this phone look so different and I later realized that this was why. It looks more high tech without the antenna. Also with the more compact sleeker design, it is even easier to store your Nokia in your purse, glove box or other convenient place.
You are also able to purchase Xpress-on Color Covers for this model phone. Unlike the color covers that you were able to purchase for the 5190, these covers enwrap the entire phone. They have a front and a back piece. You are able to either choose one color for your front or back or you have the option to mix and match the front and back pieces. The two plastic covers just snap on to your phone. These are neat, I was almost tempted to get myself the Silver and Black case in honor of my favorite football team, but..... for the additional $25.00, I decided I would just have to skip the "team spirit" at this time. I decided to take mine as is. It came with the standard dark blue color, which looks fine.
The phone is set up very similar to the older model with a few new upgrades. Instead of the big square soft LED buttons, the 3390 has silver plastic buttons and only the number, letter and symbols are illuminated with the LED. This looks a little more high tech. I like this change.
Options
As with most cell phones you are able to choose between a variety of options when you set up for you service plan. All options are readily available by scrolling through the menu till you find what you need. I decided not to go into detail about the options since that all has to do with the service plan you purchase and not the actual phone. But no matter which extra options (call waiting, voice mail, etc...) your sign up for, this phone is very user friendly to take you to any of these options.
You also have all the familiar options of choosing a ring sound and personalizing your settings. These all work in the same way as my previous Nokia.
Games
There is a whole new set of Games on this phone and they are much more advanced than those that came with the 5190 model. I almost felt like I had bought a video game system, well.... almost! ; ) As someone who loves to play with these little games, this was a cool addition for me. Along with the new games, your phone also comes with a cool vibration system. This makes playing your games that much more fun. An example would be a game that I frequently play on the phone called SNAKE. I played this all year long on my older Nokia, and was thrilled to see that the upgraded SNAKE 2 was on my new phone. You maneuver your little snake around and he eats little dots that appear on the screen. The snake gets longer with each dot it eats, etc... Well, on The Nokia 3390 you phone will vibrate in your hands as you gobble up each dot. There is also sound effects on the games with this phone as well. Cool! Maybe not the most important feature, but a fun one anyway.
***The phone also vibrates in the same manner when it rings. So, if you want to turn off all ringing sounds, you could still know when someone is calling by the vibrating. Just like with a pager.
Compose
Yes, you can compose music on this phone! What is the purpose of this you ask? Good question, I have no idea, LOL. The only use I can find for it is to help keep my kids busy when we are driving. But, you are able to do this nonetheless. After composing a song (using the number keys) you can save it and then play the entire song back.
Parts, how well it is made
Very well. The Nokia phones are put together fairly well. Never have I had a piece break off or crack with neither of my Nokia phones. My husband had one phone that the antenna broke, the flip door popped off and the back cracked. I don't know if that was the quality of craftsmanship in the brand of phone he had or if it is just because he is a little harder on his phones than I am on mine (it is probably a bit of both), but I haven't had anything go wrong with either one of my Nokia phones from day one.
Clarity and Reception
Although this is by the far the most important thing to know about any cell phone, I wanted to talk about this last because it is the one thing that I can't say is better than the Nokia 5190.
By no means am I saying that the 3390 is not a very clear phone, because it is. After witnessing first hand the clarity/reception in some of the phones that my husband has used, the Nokia 3390 is still by far more clear and has a much better reception quality. But I have to be honest and say that my Nokia 5190 was even more clear. With both model of phones, never have I experienced being cut off while using it. (Expect for the times when you drive into an area where there is no response signal at all.) But I have noticed, even though it is very rarely, that the 3390 with break up a bit. I never had this problem with the 5190. That was the one thing that I could tell and recommend to everyone I spoke with about the Nokia, was that it had a great reception. So, when I started using the 3390 and experienced the occasional break up, I wasn't ready for it. However, even though it does this from time to time, I don't feel it happens enough or as often to call it a problem. It just does occur from time to time.
As far as the sound, the Nokia 3390 still has the same great quality of sound. There is hardly no static at all and I never have a problem hearing the person on the other end perfectly clear. As a matter of fact on both phones (the 5190 as well as the 3390) I have had people tell me that they couldn't even tell I was on a cell phone because it was so clear. That quality still exists in the 3390.
Battery Life
The standard battery that comes with the phone gives you approximately 2 1/2 hours of talk time before needing to be charged. You are also able to purchase (as an option) batteries that have a longer, extended time. But with the stationary charger at home and the Cigarette lighter charger, I have found that the standard battery works just fine.
Overall
I have found the Nokia 3390 to be a 4 star phone all the way. I liked it so much that even though initially, this was going to be the phone that I would have my son take, I have since done a "micro chip" switch and changed phones with him. I have grown to love this phone more.
So, if you are looking for a reasonably priced, sturdy and high quality sound phone, I would say to search no further. You will have that and much more with the Nokia 3390.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 50.00
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patch3boys
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Location: California
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