The Bottom Line
Not a bad phone but Nokia can do much better than that and the navigation key is a serious annoyance. Before buying this one, look at your other possibilities.
Pros
- Good set of features, including camera despite a low price
Cons
- Speakerphone is nice but why such a low output volume?
- Navigation key is not easy to use
Description
- Technology support: GSM/GPRS
- Translucid white grip sides light up
- built-in VGA camera
Guide Review – Nokia 3220 Review
I’d like to start on the Nokia 3220 by saying that I’m surprised that this phone doesn’t include, like most Nokia phones, an infrared connection. There is no Bluetooth either so that leaves only WAP as a way to update the phone without having to buy a data cable. The design and the side sticky grips are good but there is a significant problem with the navigation key: It’s the kind that has left, right, up and down on the same key and you need to press it straight in the middle for “select”, but that’s a challenge. Even after two weeks, I still wasn’t an expert at doing it and I think that makes the Nokia 3220 less interesting. Another problem is that there is a good speakerphone (other parties don’t complain that they hardly hear you) but the output volume is so weak that, as soon as you are in a noisy place, it becomes useless. To be used only in the best conditions. No infrared nor Bluetooth is also a deception.
Of course, the Nokia 3220 is not a high-end phone and therefore we must not be so demanding, yet, some other low-cost Nokias offer more features for the price. The 3220 is not a bad phone: it performs well, holds well in your hand and has an ok camera but the small annoyances outlined above make me think that, perhaps, you would be better off with another Nokia phone such as the 3205, for instance. Sold by Rogers AT&T in Canada.