Nokia 3555 Review: I Can Hear You, but I Can’t See You
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I was recently given the opportunity to try out the Nokia 3555 by the fine folks over at WOM World. Since playing around with free electronics is fun, I took them up on the offer. I’m also incredibly concerned for the consumer, willing to put myself in great danger to provide you with unbiased cell phone reviews.
Yes, danger. You never know when a telemarketer could call.
The good news: The 3555 is compact and has excellent sound quality comparable to a land line (from my experience). It’s slim design makes it nearly unnoticeable in your back pocket. It sports a large directory that I would never fill, a music player, expandable memory and a bunch of other standard features. The 3555 is a great phone for the light user who makes occasional calls.
The bad news: Being a camera phone photo enthusiast, I’m obviously more concerned with the camera aspect of the phone. It is apparent why the camera gets less than a page of information in the user guide - it is an embarrassment to camera phones everywhere. No flash and low resolution makes this camera phone a paper weight. If you want to shoot memorable photos with your phone, look somewhere else.
Usability: The keypad is comfortable and easy to use, with my big hands making few keying errors. The selector buttons present a bit of confusion at first, but I got used to it after a short time. What really gets me, though, is the navigation.
The phone features are displayed on the screen as icons that are somewhat vague in appearance and more vague once you select one. Without going into much detail, let’s just say that getting around this phone is not intuitive at all. Even after a few weeks of use, I still found myself searching for menu items.
When I did shoot some photos, trying to figure out how to send them elicited moments of temporary insanity. The gallery is equally mysterious and aggravating, at least when I remembered how to get there.
One thing that had me excited, albeit briefly, was the glimmer of hope that this thing shot in 1200×1600. Yes, the user guide states on the bottom of page 44, “your device supports an image capture resolution up to 1200×1600 pixels.” I’ll concede that it might be some weak interpretation of digital zoom and image capture resolution, but I’m guessing that a tech writer didn’t get the memo.
The word: The 3555 is a great phone for making calls. If you’re a superior conceptual thinker, you might be able to find your way around the phone menus. The incredible sound quality makes this phone stand out for me, and the slim form factor is a refreshing departure from the usual brick-like design of most entry-level phones. The 3555 is a decent purchase for a casual user. If you’re looking to capture those precious moments, however, be sure to bring a camera.
Disclaimer: No compensation was received for this review nor is there any affiliation between T-Mobile/Nokia and this web site. All reviews are based on a trial usage and the statements herein are based on my current mood and/or my personal preferences.
This post has 7 comments
June 5th, 2008
Good review Pete. I’ll have to reach out to you when I’m looking for my next phone.
Jeremy (Discovering Dad)s last blog post..Premature Doubt - Emotional Overload
I’d be glad to help out if I can. Thanks for visiting!
June 5th, 2008
Well good information you have provided about the Nokia 3555..
The Nokia 3555 is very nice piece, i am interested in buying the good Nokia piece.
Thanks Micheal, I’m glad to help.
June 5th, 2008
I like the review, sadly I have a horrid samsung and no updates in sight.
Dude, shop around when you are going to upgrade. The latest models are freakin’ awesome.
June 5th, 2008
Nice review. My last phone was a Nokia, which I picked out mainly because it was small and had a camera. But, it didn’t have Bluetooth or anything, so no way to get pictures off the phone.
dcrs last blog post..Thoughtless Thursday
My phone doesn’t have bluetooth, so I have to e-mail them or use some crappy software to get them downloaded. I’m hoping to hear that Apple is opening the iPhone to other networks, but I doubt it.
June 6th, 2008
Good review. Given that the camera won’t hold up. I take it you won’t be using it for your photo hunts. ^_^
meemaxs last blog post..Flowers at Noon
Well, thankfully it isn’t mine to keep. I’d never use it. Thanks for your photo submission.
June 6th, 2008
Look at you writing reviews and a great one at that. I’m with you about the iPhone and don’t give up too quickly I’m still hoping they will open it up since AT&T contract was with the old iPhone.
The iPhone is #3 in the smartphone market. Only one ahead od them is Blackberry and RIM; not bad seeing they just entered the game last year. I imagine Blackberry, and RIM is hoping that they don’t open it to other parties.
Regarding your replies to comments. Is that a plug-in you are using and if so please share so I can install it on my blogs.
Opal Tribble - Vegan Mommas last blog post..It’s Friday; WWDC happenings; My little angel
November 20th, 2008
I appreciate your review on this phone. However, you must have gotten lucky not to run into the hardware issues of the phone. For example there are a number of people including myself that has problems with this phone randomly shutting off. Along with the low battery life that it has and the difficulty to charge the phone. You make an amazing point about the camera though. I used to have a Samsung W490 and that took way better pics. Anyway, I also agree that the phone nicely fits in your pocket. However, it does feel like your talking on a childs play phone. Also, many calls have been dropped with this phone.
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