Nokia C3-00 Sim Free Mobile Phone - Dark Grey

I am reviewing my original review here; First I do like the Phone. It is new and looks and feels good in the hand. My one problem with it is that the phone was advertised and had a written description, plus a photo of it, showing a QWERTY keypad. The one I received had an AZERTY keypad. Maybe not a deal breaker for some, but when I contacted the seller I was told that they just sold the phones and that the keypad was not their concern. Surely this is false and misleading advertising. Also the phone was originally locked to Orange which would lead me to believe that the phone was flashed to unlock it, hence the AZERTY keypad. I would have given it 5 stars, but I have subtracted one for the misleading description, one for the wrong keypad, and one for the unhelpful attitude of this seller. If the attitude of the seller changes I will update this review....ANOTHER UPDATE>>Using this phone now for almost six years now, i have grown used to the keyboard long ago and have to say it is the best phone i have ever owned, and was a great buy. Great signal, battery life and call quality. Now it has finally started to miss calls sometimes but after almost 6 years use i cant complain. An update to this review; The seller has since contacted me, and is trying to get me a C3 Mobile phone with the QWERTY keypad, and I will give him the benefit of the doubt in the meantime, and am adding another star while I am waiting.

The phone is solid and still looks nice and shiny after 18 months. The battery life is excellent and doesn't seem to have declined. The battery tops itself up fairly quickly too. The keyboard is comfortable and easy to use - much better than standard mobile keys. Won't sync with Mac OS. Nokia didn't develop cross-platform software and, AFAIK their software will only work with Windows (not sure about Linux). Nokia used to rely on Apple's iSync, which used to work but is now incompatible with Mac OS. Nokia's Discussion forums are full of questions about this but Nokia have left things stagnating and merely recommend using iSync (which is fine if you use Snow Leopard, or older). Bluetooth is a similar story. It used to connect to my iMac but now won't saying 'Service not supported by other device'. USB connection/flash removal only works on my iMac as a Mass Storage. This is the only way that I can transfer photos + music. Contacts & text messages won't sync. The photo quality is quite poor. I've taken some passable pictures on sunny days but in anything less than good conditions people look like they've been caught on a CCTV camera. So with these incompatibilities with Mac OS, it's impossible to sync contacts, text messages, etc. The Wifi won't connect to my wireless router and claims that my security key is wrong. (It's not). The display is quite blocky but easy enough to read. All in all, I have a basic phone (call and text) with a nice keyboard and a good battery.

I only need a mobile phone for calls and a text every now and again. Tried an LG smart phone but it didn't like to sense my finger swipes and also packed up a week outside it's guarantee. Always had a Nokia dumb-phone prior to the LG so went back to Nokia (C3-00 this time. my Wiafe has the forerunner the Asha 201. It's lasted very well indeed so I decided to get the almost indentical replacement). Always found Nokia battery life to be excellent, and the C3-00 seems to follow the trend. Also speaker-phone volume is good (can hear it ok in a noisy environment). Nice compact size and the querty keypad is good to use. However, beware when handling as it is very smooth with rounded corners, so can easily slip thro' one's fingers. Wanted to get a flip-case for it but unable to locate one on the internet and had to settle for a pouch, which doesn't solve the issue of dropping it when using it out and about. If I marmalized this new phone, I don't think I'd find a better replacement, although there is a similar style Blackberry available (I prefer the Nokia querty pad layout, but personal taste obviously).

Bought this as a first phone for my daughter (age 11) who wanted a blackberry style phone with keyboard. This is a good value, well made, quite sturdy feeling phone with good features - ideal as a first time phone. Good camera, web access, simple to use interface, clear speaker and good screen size and resolution. For the price, I can't fault it and my daughter loves it.