{"id":535,"date":"2009-12-20T00:05:41","date_gmt":"2009-12-20T04:05:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lowtek.ca\/roo\/?p=535"},"modified":"2009-12-20T00:06:57","modified_gmt":"2009-12-20T04:06:57","slug":"nokia-5310-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lowtek.ca\/roo\/2009\/nokia-5310-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Nokia 5310 Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Well way back in March of this year I got myself a new cell phone, the Nokia 5310<\/a>. \u00a0Now that I’ve had it for a good part of the year, it is overdue for a review posting. Many of my friends have iPhones<\/a>, BlackBerries<\/a>, or Android (HTC)<\/a> phones – giving me some serious gadget lust. \u00a0I’ve read other reviews of the 5310 which put it in the smartphone category, and while it is a good phone and has reasonable performance and functionality – it isn’t in the same league as an iPhone.<\/p>\n

Let’s start with what I like a lot about the Nokia 5310: Battery life – I charge my phone once a week<\/strong>, Sunday night. Granted I’m not a heavy user of the phone: I’ll log 15mins of calls during a given week, a few text messages, and this week I listened to MP3’s on it for an hour – all on one charge. \u00a0My number two feature is the form factor, this phone is small. \u00a0Many do not like the candybar style – but for me, I find it works. \u00a0Up third is voice \/ call quality. \u00a0My experience with Nokia phones is that they deliver great voice quality, and the 5310 has not let me down.<\/p>\n

Ok, on to a few negatives. \u00a0The camera is pretty poor, it feel slow and needs bright well lit scenes to take pictures that don’t totally stink. \u00a0The display while nice and readable, even in full sun – seems to have two small dust leaks in the bottom corners. \u00a0The result of the dust leak is visible in the photos of the phone, it doesn’t impair day to day use but it is sort of annoying. \u00a0That’s it for the negatives really, I might complain a little about the buttons not being very positive feeling but I’ve gotten use to them.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The pictures above shows my iPod Touch and the Nokia 5310, it really puts into perspective how small this phone is.<\/p>\n

Other features that I’ve found useful: Bluetooth support, both headsets and data connectivity over bluetooth. \u00a0This allows me to synchronize the address book with my computer and move pictures, music, or MIDP (java) to and from the phone. \u00a0There is also a USB cable interface (good for firmware updates). \u00a0It has a standard 3.5mm headphone jack, and it does support MP3 playback (the quality of the music playback was very good). \u00a0There is a speaker on the back, and it is quite loud (great for speaker phone calls). \u00a0It has a micro SD<\/a> slot, and I’ve got a 1Gb card in there but it will support up to 16Gb. \u00a0The screen resolution is 320×240 and as I mentioned above, it is quite readable in even full daylight.<\/p>\n

In summary<\/strong> – it a great little phone. \u00a0The battery life is awesome and let’s me taunt my iPhone friends. \u00a0I don’t think any of the carriers are offering these anymore, but you can find them used for $120-$175 quite easily (in fact, I purchased mine used).<\/p>\n

Now you might have noticed the Apple logo on the screen in the first picture, there is a story behind that. \u00a0This specific Nokia 5310 is unlocked, and unbranded (some say debranded). \u00a0Read on for the gory details..<\/p>\n

For various reasons the carriers want the ability to lock a given handset to their network. \u00a0With an unlocked handset you can swap SIM<\/a> cards and effectively change providers, this can be very useful if you travel abroad. \u00a0Some carriers will allow you to unlock a handset after you’ve been a paying customer of theirs for a given period of time. \u00a0There are also many folks who offer unlocking services for reasonable fees. \u00a0In my case the Nokia 5310 I purchased was unlocked, allowing me to use it on Fido who didn’t offer this model of phone.<\/p>\n

An unbranded phone is one that is running the generic firmware. \u00a0Many of the carriers customize the handsets to have applications that are specific to their network services. More often the customized firmware prevents the use of custom ring tones except those purchased through the carrier. \u00a0Unbranding and unlocking are completely independent concepts, you can have an unbranded and locked phone (or an unlocked, but branded phone).<\/p>\n

My Nokia 5310 while unlocked, was not unbranded. \u00a0Thus it still had the software customization (and limitations) of the carrier that sold the phone initially. \u00a0A lot of great cell phone information can be found on the HowardForums<\/a>. \u00a0There are two relevant threads on unbranding the 5310 – one for T-Mobile<\/a>, and the other for Rogers<\/a>. \u00a0I found this website<\/a> to be a useful overview of the unbranding process and it provided this insight into the product code:<\/p>\n

All Nokia handsets have a Product code. This Product code is specific to:<\/p>\n

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