posted by admin on Sep 14
The Nokia 2630, Nokia’s latest budget handset for the UK market, is currently available for around the £40 to £50 mark. As this is a little more than the last budget handsets that Nokia released to the market (which tended to be in the £30-40 region), I was interested to see what extra (if anything) you get for your money.
Budget phones, by definition, tend to be simple phones with very few features. They are of course not targeted at people who want the latest camera and music player but rather someone looking for a simple, reliable phone mainly for calls and texts.
Frankly, Nokia’s budget handsets tend to be a little uninspiring having boring, “brick-like” designs and a poor quality screens, though they are very strong in the reliability and ease-of-use departments. And for under £50, who can complain at that?
However as soon as I opened up the box for the new Nokia 2630 to review it, I got a feeling that this was something rather different.
The handset is far slimmer than past handsets, yet still has a sensibly sized keypad meaking it’s use quite simple. The screen also, is not just a generous size but also is wonderfully clear for a phone in this price bracket.
Nokia have installed their standard menu-driven software on the handset which makes for easy use.
Interestingly, for such a price-point, Nokia have included a number of additional features. The Nokia 2630 comes as standard with a built-in radio, a basic camera and Bluetooth capability to be able to tranfer your pictures wirelessly to any other Bluetooth enabled phone or computer.
All these features are easily accessed from the simple menu meaning that users looking for a basic phone shouldn’t be concerned about receiving something too complicated. Indeed, I was pleased to note that a button on the side of the phone will instantly open up the camera facility, allowing you to quickly capture an image without having to navigate through the menu if desired.
Besides the simple menu system, decent-sized buttons and screen, the usability of the handset is further boosted in my eyes by the ability to be able to increase the text size on the screen making it easier to read while in a hurry or for older users, and the presence of a very loud ring - something else that is often commented upon by users who work in noisy environments or are harder of hearing.
The battery life seems reasonable, and in comparison to a number of other phones here at the office, the handset does a good job of finding and holding a signal. Indeed, the only weakness I can see is the lack of a simple volume control on the side of the handset for use while on a call.
In short, then, for a simple budget-level handset either for people who don’t want anything too complicated, or don’t want to pay an arm and a leg for a mobile phone, this seems like an excellent option.
