Nokia 3300 Review

In-Depth Nokia 3300 Review

I got this phone about two months ago on eBay unlocked. It's a great phone. It gets great reception on Cingular's "Go phone" service. Using the phone without a headset, people are so loud that it hurts my ears I have to turn the volume down. But the speakerphone doesn't seem loud enough when using it for calls with lots of background noise. The loudspeaker could be louder but I would suggest recording your MP3s louder -- the phone has an equalizer that helps some with hearing in noisy environments.

Yes, the keys don't light up, which is a drawback, but not a major one. I just got a 256-megabyte MMC card for it and it works fine. Storing large amounts of music files is a difficulty, but it should be manageable.

I was disappointed my phone did not come with a paper manual. It came with a PDF format on the CD so I would highly suggest a person buying this phone have access to a PC, as it's essential to fully utilize the phone.

It appears to come standard with an ear headset, and it works great and can usually be put on quickly if you have to make or answer a call. You can also listen to music audio files with the "boom" headset, which has a button to flip tracks and answer hang up calls. I can press one of the number keys and hold it down to call my frequently called numbers. The earbuds that come with it snap around your neck to hold them and they sound good they also come with a microphone and a button to answer calls switch tracks. But I can't skip through an audio file; I can just swap to the next song.

The stereo earbuds seem impossible to stow away and take out quickly and put on as they tangle up, so the other boom headset is the single accessory I would recommend carrying if you have to carry only one.

Both the ear "boom" headset and the stereo headphones can control the radio. The radio has reasonable reception, but not the best -- good enough to get several stations. You can record from the FM radio and the phone comes with an audio inline cable also for recording with another audio source like a PC or another radio, etc.

It also came with a USB cable to transfer files, which can be done from Windows Explorer, that seems much faster than using the Nokia audio manager. You can load 30 applications and 30 games for a total of 60 programs loaded onto the phone. With over 55 programs loaded, the phone still has 4-megabytes on its internal memory. It appears to have approximately 6-megabytes.

The phone can play MP3s on the ringer. It also comes with MP3 files of some popular artists -- and also ringtone versions in some kind of real audio format. The "pop port" is nice multi-function port, so you can't plug in say... a USB and a headset at the same time. It's also difficult to connect if you can't see the "front" marked on the cord, but it's not too bad takes a little practice. It does not appear that the phone is usable at all when connected to the USB cord. I don't know if it can even indicate an incoming call.

It seems sturdily built. Sorry I haven't gotten my phone a good hard drop yet but have dropped it three feet maybe a few times in the case I have for the phone and no problems. I've never had to take the battery out or anything for some phones when they lock up and not work.

I'm very happy with this phone. I think this phone is a great value for the money -- at this time about $60 or $70 or so. It's not top of the line anymore and wasn't a big hit with the general consumer from what I understand. If someone gives me some cash I'll buy another Nokia 3300 and drop it good and let you know.

I hope this review helped anyone considering buying this phone. Included with my phone when I bought it was the over ear headset that fits on one ear left or right. The stereo headphones (earbuds) both with single button to hang up and pick up calls access voice features and both with microphone so can use for phone calls. Audio inline cable for recording. Regular house charger and USB cable. CD with manual and Nokia audio manager a quick start user's guide.

I would not recommend the phone for the business professional, as it does not seem to have much for syncing schedules and other features though the ability to run the Nokia series 40 java based programs. You can find programs that do stuff that a business professional might want or need. I would recommend this phone to people who text message a lot.

You can't set the alarm, for example, on a schedule, but you can set the calendar to alert you like an appointment setting, etc. -- that usually works. It seems like you can't load graphics files from the memory card onto the phone, so you might have to download wallpapers from the Internet connection.

It is larger than most phones, but I would compare it to the size of most men's wallets, it will fit in a pocket. The awkwardness using it as a regular phone and the keys not lighting up, I think, is what possibly made it a less than desirable. Still, I'd rate this phone probably a B+ or 8 or 9 overall.

Few Drawbacks

I have this phone for AT&T, and let me tell you, I love it.

Before the 3300, I owned a Sony Ericsson T306... what a mistake. The 3300 picks up a full signal where the T306 had absolutely none. Call quality is excellent; I can make a clear call on one bar of service. Some people may complain about not being able to use their own headphones with it, but the headphones that came with it have better sound quality than a pair of $25 Sony's that I bought before the phone. Yes, the phone is a bit bulky, but it has a solid feel. The design makes it extremely easy to type two handed on the keyboard. MP3 player and radio are easy to access by the music button, and are easily controlled by the four-way rocker beneath the screen. Games are fun and rather addictive.

There are a few very minor gripes I have about the phone:

1. After sending a text message, the phone does not clear the screen, so the next time you want to write a message, you have to erase the previous one.

2. The data cable only lets you access the memory card, not the internal memory, preventing you from uploading pictures onto the phone.

3. The keyboard is not lit, though once you become acquainted with it, you don't need lighting.

4. This doesn't really have to do with the phone, rather with the Nokia Audio Manager. The program offers no way to compress MP3's or convert them to AAC's, making the 64 MB of memory seem rather small.

Overall, thought it has a few drawbacks, I would buy this phone again, no doubt about it.

Does What It Says

The phone does what it says that it will do. I agree with most of the stories above, but my experience with the headphones and phone speaker have been quite the opposite. The speaker in the loudspeaker mode is angled and designed so that the output sounds best when the phone is lying on its back. Preferably on top of a wooden table top. Any flat surface will do though.

The headphones are great too. You have to plug them into your ear cavities properly. They don't fit like the usual earphones, with the stubs hanging straight downward. Aim the stubs almost parallel to the ground when you're in an upright position. Not only is it more comfortable, you'll notice that the sound is clearer and much louder.

The microphone on the headset is built with auto noise-cancellation. So if you're in a pub or a disc, the thumping sounds are reduced. Your friends will hear you fine. Plug your free ear with a finger or something. That's the reason why you can't hear the voice in the phone properly.

As for those saying you can't pack more than 198 songs in the phone and be able to hear them all, the answer is simple. Make many directories on your phone, copy 99 or fewer songs into each directory. Then create M3U or PLS files. Keep these in the "Music" folder of the phone. The player will automatically pick up the PLS or M3U file and play from the playlist instead of listing each file out separately.

This also avoids the scanning of the directory before each play. It will greatly improve the speed of your phone.

If anyone's having trouble with their Nokia 3300, I'm sure I've done enough research to help you with your problem, feel free to ask.

The earpiece on the phone is designed badly, so that the phone has to be held at an angle to your cheek. Pressing it flat against your face won't give you the most effective output. Experiment with the angle in a quiet room one night, you'll find the best angle easily enough.

One thing about the phone that totally bugs me is the fact that even though the phone can display animated GIFs, it is unable to have them as animated backgrounds. You can't change the screen saver either.

Also, I've searched high and low and read the manual time and again, but there seems to be no way to change the back-light settings to "stay on."

Not Too Shabby

The Nokia 3300 was my first cell phone and I wasn't too disappointed.

Firstly, the user interface is fairly straightforward. The screen is rather small by current standards (Nov 2004) and it is also quite slow to respond (hence "ghosting" is present). However, the music capabilities are fairly decent, and as a music player it is more than adequate. The speaker is very loud for music. You can play your tunes out of the speaker and hear it while the phone is in your coat pocket -- sort of your own portable ghetto-blaster.

The battery lasted a good long while, and the wall charger used a common adapter. SD memory is also fairly cheap nowadays, so it should be no problem to fit many songs in this player. I also really like the fact that you can store many phone numbers for each person in your address book. No need to scroll through each phone number as a separate entry as you do in the Motorola V300.

What I was disappointed in was the speakerphone. It is fairly easy to access it, but the only time I could use it was in a very quiet environment such as the office, or outside when there is little ambient noise. For that reason, I've decided to try out other phones. I know Motorola's iDEN phones have a really loud speakerphone which is fantastic when driving.

I am hoping the 6820 has a louder speakerphone than the 3300. This "blue taco" does look sort of funny; it resembles the N-Gage. Many younger kids (teenagers) thought it was a cool looking toy, but the novelty wears off fairly quickly.

You'll Like This Phone

I've had this phone for about two weeks now and am very happy with it. I only use it so far for the music and PIM features, not the texting or e-mail.

The speaker on the phone is nice and loud, loud enough to play at your desk at work or while you're sitting doing homework or checking e-mail or what have you. The bundled headphones sound fine and the boom headset works great. You can use the FM radio over the speaker unlike it's been said in another review I read, it just has to have one of the headsets attached -- maybe it uses the headset as an antenna? The MIDI ringtones are great -- or you can use MP3s or AACs which is very cool. It does not have a line out, though, which for me is the biggest drawback, so you can't play music through external speakers. Also, you can't play WMA files on this phone.

I've never used a phone with predictive text, except in testing other phones in the store. But compared to that the keyboard makes a huge difference. I use the phone as my PIM now and it works okay. Like all the Series 40 phones, the PIM functions (Contacts, Calendar, To-Do List, and others) are limited compared to a Palm device. The biggest problems for me are the lack of a weekly view for the Calendar and the limited number of lines on the screen for your Contacts. Your caller groups are limited to five, too, which seems unnecessary. But the ability to set up reminders with an alarm is great (and has already saved me one missed appointment this week). Though that's not unique to this phone, the keyboard makes a big difference in using a phone as a PIM.

Overall, I am very happy with it, and I am guessing that if you check e-mail a lot or do a lot of texting, you'll like this phone even better.

Never Breaks

I had this phone for quite some time now and despite there being no lights behind the keys, I found it to be very easy to use and I have no problems with voice quality with or without headset. In fact, I found it to be much better voice quality than the previous Nokias I've had.

I don't download all these ringtones from service providers. I just use some cut up MP3s, which sound better and cost nothing because you can make them yourself. Just copy the MP3s from your PC directly to the MMC and put it back in your phone. They say max only 128-megabyte MMCs but a 512-megabyte card seems to work fine as well.

I also use the email, which is really easy with the QWERTY keyboard, once you get all the email settings set up. The battery life is good too.

I've dropped this phone a lot on hard surfaces and it just doesn't break. I'd buy the 3300 again if ever breaks.

Pros Outweigh Cons

I got the 3300 in November of 2003. I paid $200 for it and was sent the paperwork for a $100 rebate. I forgot to mail it in, but I still don't feel like I was ripped off.

I think the size on it is great -- considering the phone I carried before this one was the old 5165 workhorse. It fits perfectly in my pocket. At work, I can rock out to my favorite tunes and not bother anyone. I can surf the Internet and message my friends. I can play a ton of games. I get to hear "They Might Be Giants" when anyone calls me.

The organizer and calendar on this phone are really cool... I don't know what else I can say, it's really just one of my most awesome possessions, and all my friends try to steal it from me -- I'm not kidding. I like it enough that I just tracked one down on eBay for my husband, and now he'll keep his hands off of mine.

I will agree with many of the gripes about the phone -- low volume on calls, no backlight on the keys -- but I feel the benefits really outweigh these drawbacks.

So-So Phone

If you're a parent and want to get your kids or yourself a cool phone then get the Nokia 3300. I have already parted with mine. I got the Sony Ericsson T630 but I would still like to post a review on the 3300.

First of all, for $30 to $35 you get quite a bit out of this phone that used to cost $200. You get a MP3 player. You also get an FM radio and also a great sounding and great looking phone too. The reception of the phone is awesome. Calls, in my opinion, are very clear to you and to the person you are talking too.

The low memory card that comes with it -- 64-megabytes is too little of memory. The speakerphone feature is okay or average. If you're talking to someone in a quiet room it sounds good, but on a bus, train or in an airport -- forget about it. The keypad doesn't light up so it's hard to text someone or dial a number in a darker room or place. Also, the ringtones aren't that spectacular. It's kind of a clumsy phone to hold if you're talking to someone.

Overall, I would grade this phone a C+.

I would buy it again and again and again

I bought my 3300 a month ago and now I can`t live without it. I always listen to music. First, let me say that I don't have the model that was sold in the U.S., I have the European model. My keys have a backlight, calls are very clear and the loudspeaker is loud. Others complain that it is too weak but it's a phone, not a computer with loudspeakers.

The battery is fine. If I don`t use the phone very much it holds four days, and if I use it a lot, one day. I think it`s great for a phone with MP3 player.

I had some problems with it -- but minor problems like: I listen to the radio and if I switch to the MP3 player very quickly it stops playing and it restarts itself. That`s all.

I love the form of it, the colors of the display are not that great but the phone was built in 2003 and back then the phone industry was not that great. If you want a phone with MP3 player, and a cheap one, you should buy a Nokia 3300.

Nice Phone, But 3 Gripes

The 3300 is best of any of my many Nokia phones. I have awesome reception and I've had AT&T service in northern New Jersey for 11 years. Now that AT&T is Cingular, it's actually even better. I have no volume problems either. The phone is nice and loud with or without the headset.

But I still have three gripes:

1. I don't like the lack of backlight on the keyboard.

2. I have the ability to store more than 200 tunes but the folders can only read 99 songs in each -- 99 in the music folder, 99 songs in the recordings folder. Also I can store 99 tones in the tones folder. Since I use a 1-gigabyte MMC, I can store more than 200 MP3s ripped at 128Mbps to 196Mbps.

3. Nokia should make a headset adapter. I bought one on eBay so I now can use it with regular headphones or my car kit. I'd like an official Nokia one though but my European version works very nicely.

Phone With Zing

- MP3/AAC player and FM radio.
- QWERTY keyboard.
- MMC memory expansion.

Overall, the Nokia 3300 is a great phone if you are looking for a phone with that extra "zing." The phone is eye catching due to it's unique shape and QWERTY keyboard, I constantly get "Is that a phone?"

Of course the phone is quite functional and if you can get by the size and small numbers it's a pretty decent phone. The main feature of this phone is of course the MP3 player, which is not as versatile as the standalone MP3 players in the market, but still great for a phone addition. The MP3's are loud and clear, and they can be set as the ringtone. Calls were good and reception was average.

- Speakerphone is horrible.
- Screen isn't bad but compared to the 65,000 screens of today... lacking.

Two things that Nokia could improve on in the next model is a better color screen (65,000 TFT or better) and a louder, more vibrant speakerphone for calls and music. The coolest accessory Nokia has for music phones -- the Music Stand -- doesn't fit this either.