Review: Nokia 3120 Classic

Nokia 3120 Classic Review

Phone rating:

In a nutshell: This is a great entry-level 3G phone with a classic user-friendly design. Features include a 2 megapixel camera with flash, MP3 player and FM radio. With the capacity to expand its memory to 4 GB, and with excellent battery life, this is a recommended phone for those who don't need to have the latest gadget-laden fashion phone.
Best buy: *Free* with half-price line rental from Dialaphone; or £69.99 on PAYG from Three.

The Nokia 3120 Classic is an entry-level 3G phone, and follows Nokia's tradition of producing classic no-nonsense phones. There isn't too much to go wrong with the 3120 Classic, and indeed it seems to be pretty much problem-free.

It's a very lightweight slim phone that will slot into any pocket. Although plasticky in look and feel, it seems to be sturdy enough to withstand everyday abuse. The keypad is a good size and is very easy to use, with sensibly shaped buttons and good, positive feedback. The display is a good size at 2.0 inches across, and over-delivers when it comes to colours (16 million!) and resolution (QVGA, i.e. 320 x 240 pixels - as good as most high-end phones costing much more.) Gone are the days when Nokia produced sub-standard LCD screens in its entry level phones.

As mentioned, this is a 3G phone that also supports quadband GSM, so you can literally use it wherever you travel. It's equipped with a decent enough 2 megapixel camera with flash, and can record videos and make 2-way video calls. It's certainly not the best camera phone around, and it can't match the Sony Ericsson K770i that costs only a little more, but it holds its own against many similarly priced competitors. As well as taking pictures the 3120 Classic will also play your music collection or let you listen to its FM radio. If you buy a 3.5mm headphone adapter you can plug in your own stereo headphones, or you can use a stereo Bluetooth headset if you prefer. With an onboard memory of just 24 Mbytes, you'll only be able to store a handful of MP3 tracks, but you can expand the memory to 4GB with a microSD card, giving you enough room to store around 1,000 MP3's.

You'll also find a good range of other features such as Java downloads, wallpaper, ringtones & themes, an Opera mini browser for mobile web surfing, and a good organiser.

Battery life is pretty good, but don't believe Nokia's official figures of 12.5 days' standby. Most users should get around 5 days' usage, which is far more than most phones can deliver these days.

The Nokia 3120 may not be the phone to buy if you want all the latest gadgets, or if you plan to wow your mates in the pub, but for a good no-nonsense usable phone, this one does the job very well indeed.

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Features of the Nokia 3110 Classic include:

• 2 megapixel camera with flash
• Video recorder & 3G video calling
• Display: TFT, 16 million colours, 240 x 320 pixels (2.0 inches)
• Stereo MP3 player (MP3, MP4, AAC, eAAC+ and Windows Media Player formats & OMA DRM 2.0)
• Stereo FM radio with Visual Radio
• MP3 ringtones / 128-voice polyphonic ringtones
• Integrated handsfree speaker
• Voice features: Push to talk, Enhanced voice dialing, Voice commands, Voice recording
• Messaging: SMS, MMS, and email with attachments, Instant messaging, Nokia Xpress Audio Messaging
• Java games
• Wallpaper, animated screensavers, themes
• Organizer with calendar, to-do list, and notes
• Internet: GPRS, EDGE, web browser, Opera Mini browser
• Connectivity: Bluetooth 2.0, micro USB 2.0, 2.5 mm AV and 2.0 mm charger connectors
• Memory: 24 Mbytes plus microSD memory card slot (up to 4 GB)
• Quad-band GSM (850, 900, 1800, 1900) plus dual-band WCDMA (850,2100 / 900,2100 / 850,1900)
• Size: 111 x 45 x 13 mm
• Weight: 85g
• Talktime: 2.75 hours (3G) - 3.33 hours (2G)
• Battery standby: 300 hours

Nokia 3120 Classic Consumer Reviews

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Average rating from 18 reviews:

Reviewed by ashraf from bangladesh on 30th Sep 2008
i just bought the phone. only complain i have is about the loudspeaker. it sounds very rubbish. other than this, the phone is very nice. great display, cool mp3 player, 4 gb memory, camera with flash, video calling are the important things of the phone. in this price range one of the best phone
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Reviewed by Isaac from India on 30th Sep 2008
mp3 player sound very low
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Reviewed by adrian from malta on 22nd Sep 2008
a great phone. nice design and software. the only thing i find is that video is in vga quality which could be a bit disapointing. Great mp3 player and great radio reception. the things that should be improved are the memroy card slot place and the video camera
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Reviewed by JEAN from uk on 19th Sep 2008
very poor keypad, had phone 3 weeks and paint is already comming off k/pad, "3 " DON"T WANT TO KNOW
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Reviewed by Jat from UK on 17th Sep 2008
Surprised it did not come with a Data Cable - rang up my supplier as I thought it had beenb left out. It is cheap, therefore for the cost it is acceptable.
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Reviewed by 55brianb from UK on 26th Aug 2008
Bought this to replace my 3110 Classic as it had 3G and a bigger screen. Not impressed. Tacky, and the case started creaking after less than 20 minutes. Poor keypad, or as Nokia call it, a keymat, which actually is more accurate. Such good potential but let down by Nokia again being cheap and using poor materials. Have just been online and bought a new 3110 Classic instead, so I am sending the 3120 Classic back to it's supplier. Shame.
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Reviewed by Babu from India on 18th Aug 2008
Phone is good but is having some demerits, are MP3 player sound is low and not given UDS DATA cable and PC suite cd and ear phones are not good only one ear, ear phone is given. If they improve the MP3 Player sound and given all the above features it will be good. Price is also little higher while comparing all this features.
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Reviewed by Tariq Abbas Shah from Pakistan on 15th Aug 2008
The fone grabs all the stars. A wonderful product by the Nokia, once again putting their flag high. The fone is superb in functions and provides best call receptionand call quality. Great looks, trendy design, spacious key pad, extensive phone book, and latest pre installed applications like widsets, mini opera, yahoo search and many others are surely a big catch to buy the fone. The camera quality is also very good and puts many contemporaries on shame. In short, get it THEN COMMNET ON IT.
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Reviewed by Zoul from France on 15th Aug 2008
Very nice phone. I love it.
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Reviewed by shanmuga from india on 14th Aug 2008
katrina from uk u talking what can u stop talking nancens.this phone is better than yours ok.i know your phone don't even a phone mind your words.this is my favourite phone it has classic music .
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Reviewed by David S.H. from Scotland, UK on 13th Aug 2008
I had to replace my Nokia 6300 because 3 are updating their network, so I needed a 3G phone. I bought the 3120 Classic as it was one of the cheaper phones available. Its a great little phone, very lightweight, great resolution bright screen, easy to navigate and has a great 2MP camera with flash. The flash makes all the difference, my old 6300 simply could not perform in lower light conditions. The flash removes the dither(picture noise), the 1600x1200 images look great. The 3120 records video at up to 640x480 and is of a very high quality, it easily outshines the 6300s 176x144 recording. One thing I highly recommend is buying a decent size microSD card for the phone, if you want to record video, store videos, MP3s, pictures etc. According to Nokia's website the 3120 takes cards up to 4GB in size, although that seems a little unnecessary unless you plan on recording a lot of videos, 1GB or 2GB would be sufficient in most cases. With a 3.5mm to 2.5mm adapter any headphones can be used with the phone, these can be bought very cheap online. Playing videos on the screen is great, especially in fullscreen mode which fills the screen nicely(the 6300 had an odd fullscreen mode). The phone came with a few games but the only one of any worth is Sudoku, 100 easy, 100 medium and 100 hard puzzles and only 78KB, amazing. The 3120 has a lot of multimedia functionality but works just as well just as a phone, in making calls its nice and clear, the ringing tone is loud and the ringtone can be any MP3 stored on the phone or memory card(I'm currently using the Sopranos theme). I highly recommend the Nokia 3120 Classic, its a great little handset and is a steal at £69.99
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Reviewed by nai from england on 11th Aug 2008
its rubbish
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Reviewed by Ed from Malaysia on 28th Jul 2008
To Lisa Irsaj(Australia), For your kind information, the 3120 classic has speakerphone function.
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Reviewed by Katrina from UK on 26th Jul 2008
This is the worse phone i have ever had. I got it free from3 on an upgrade. It is not compatable with many games, its not very loud ringing or alarms. It is a good size and easy to use, so would suit an parent or grand parent
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Reviewed by jessica from uk on 25th Jul 2008
this phone is well good but the looks are a little left to be desired
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Reviewed by Sam Gibson from England on 9th Jul 2008
Just had the phone on the 3 network. First thoughts were not too keen on the looks but then saw how slim the phone was and more important how light. Brilliant, and very user friendly when holding, due to the curved lower half. Also the keys on the front are a good size and very well spaced. Nice simple to use classic looking Nokia.
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Reviewed by Devi Kusbandi from Indonesia on 9th Jul 2008
Just bought it yesterday, and I love it!
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Reviewed by Lisa Irsaj from australia on 4th Jul 2008
Great litle phone for the price. has good quality 2mp pics, great sound quality and with a large micro memory card inserted can carry heaps of music and pics. Not the best looking phone around and made of only plastic, but they had to keep the price down in some way. Would easily match other phones of up to double the price range in features. So if your not fussed about the design this is a great phone with heaps of features for a fraction of the price. One small letdown is it hasn't got speakerphone, thats about the only fault.
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You can read more Nokia 3120 Classic reviews at RecommendedBuys UK.

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