Nokia C1-02 Sim Free Mobile Phone - Black

The Nokia C1-02 is a great little phone with an excellent battery life and a better than usual keypad. If you are looking for a phone that does phone calls and text messages and not much else, then it is just the job.

While handsets like the Nokia 1616 are cheaper, the user interface is much, much better on the C1-02. Particularly useful is the conversation view for text messages, which lets you see all the messages sent or received from someone, threaded together in a chat style. For some strange reason, the conversation view isn't enabled by default, but that is easily fixed.

The keypad is another advantage over the 1616. The C1-02 has nice raised keys and a clickable navigation key, unlike the 1616's clumsy one-piece rubber keypad and stiff, non-clickable navigation key.

The microSD slot works well, and the MP3 player is surprisingly usable. It doesn't do gapless playback, but I can live that for the price. And thank you Nokia for finally putting standard 3.5mm headphone jacks on your phones. No headphones are included, but that is no loss given that the standard Nokia set isn't great.

The C1-02 doesn't have a camera, but again that is no bad thing at this price. The C1-01 has one, but it is only a low quality 640 by 480 thing, so what is the point? I'd rather my money was spent on a decent keypad - which the C1-01 lacks - than a poor camera.

I wanted a replacement basic mobile PHONE - to stay in touch by phone and texts when out-and-about using my existing SIM (and number). I don't need or want e-mail, Internet browsing, Bluetooth, camera, games, radio, MP3 player, etc etc. My essential requirements were; small and light, bright and clear screen, SIM free, long battery life, good 'reception' in poor signal areas, hands-free headset, big phonebook (so I can see who's calling). Desirable; alarm clock, calculator, calendar, 'torch'. I knew I wouldn't find my ideal simple mobile regardless of price, but to my amazement this was the only serious contender.

Full details and specification: [Google for "nokia c1-02 specs" and find the Nokia UK page]

What's in the box? Phone, compact (48 page!) user guide, battery, mains charger. No headset or USB cable.

First Impressions: Exactly what I'd expected from my research - small and smart with a nice bright and clear display. I fitted my SIM and the battery (see below), turned it on and Hey, immediate use - battery already part-charged. None of the 'Charge for at least X hours before using' nonsense so common with rechargeable devices.

Full marks to Amazon and Royal Mail; ordered late Thursday afternoon with free standard delivery, arrived Saturday morning (as did the headset ordered separately).

GOOD:
It passes my essential check list with flying colours though I've not had it long enough to see if the standby time does get close to the claimed 21 days.

After the first full charge (in under an hour), I got a full 6 days of much heavier than normal use (for me) before the battery level had dropped to 1 out of 4 bars and I had to put it on charge to avoid any risk of being caught with a flat battery. For guaranteed 24/7 stand-by plus an average couple of calls a day, I would thus expect to have to charge it only once a week.

A really nice feature is the variable time Keypad Autolock - I have a bad habit of hastily stuffing an unlocked phone in my pocket.... After a few days, I've discovered that Keypad Autolock only works if no menu is in use - I can see why, but it does limit the usefulness of this feature.

Another really helpful feature is that you can 'Organise' some menus into a sequence that best suits you.

The alarm works even when the phone is switched off, but it's not very loud if you want it to wake you up. Best to turn off the 'Ascending' incoming alert (the increasing volume applies to all alerts) and choose a really LOUD tone or tune.

All round, it's a considerable improvement over my old Sony-Ericsson T610. There is a backup/restore function (to a PC?) but this needs a USB A to micro B cable that I don't yet have so I've not tried it yet.

NOT SO GOOD:

To use hands-free, the FM radio or MP3 player, a plug-in headset is required; why don't Nokia include one? The recommended Nokia WH-102 Headset [ASIN:B002H9XIQU Nokia WH-102 - Headset ( ear-bud )] was only £1.75 incl delivery from The Fonetech (genuine Nokia).

Similarly, to update the firmware or use the synchronisation function, you need a USB A to micro-USB B cable [ASIN: B004RHLAR4 Nokia CA-179] £2 from The Fonetech.

Can only be charged through the charging socket, so if you want to charge from a USB port or charger, you'll need a USB B to Nokia power-plug adaptor.

A pity that, unlike my 10 year-old Garmin GPS, the user can't tailor individual screens to their own needs by hiding unwanted features.

BAD:
The back IS a right pig to remove and the cryptic user guide isn't much help; you need to get a thumbnail or similar (nothing metal) in the gap at the bottom and then run it round the sides to unclip the back on 3 sides. The user guide doesn't say that the SIM slides under the silvery metal bar but does give dire warnings about damaging phone or SIM by trying to install an unsuitable SIM! The battery doesn't clip in very positively, it relies on the back cover to keep it in place. I wouldn't want to remove/refit the back cover more than occasionally, but then I shouldn't need to.

The User Guide. Consulting it for instructions on fitting my SIM and the battery was a discouraging introduction to the user guide. It was obviously written by, and for, people who are familiar with this mobile (or perhaps with Nokia mobiles in general) and every section lacks essential detail. Every time I look up something in it, I find myself asking "and then what?" or "and where (or what) the &*%^@# is that?", and yet it contains many statements of the blindingly obvious! The user guide is the principal reason why I've given it only 4 stars - better than the worst, but a long way short of what I expect from a company of Nokia's size and reputation. If this is your first Nokia, be prepared to have to learn by experiment. Fortunately, with my simple needs I don't expect to need the User Guide again, but if I do want to use any of the fancy functions, I shall preserve my sanity by leaving the User Guide in the box!

Bottom Line: Fortunately the excellent product design makes the abysmal User Guide redundant - what a waste of effort and paper! Seems to be the best 'simple' mobile phone on the market, but a headset, USB cable and a screen protector kit need to be ordered with it - and if you want to use the MP3 player, a micro-SD card too.

I read all the reviews available on this phone before deciding to purchase. It is a great inbetween step from the very basic, (which I have had for the past 5 years because for an old codger like me it was simple to use)and the new do everything models, which for me, I would never use 90% of the applications available.
I wanted a phone which was easy to use and small enough to tuck in a small pocket.

This phone is great and fits the bill. The keys are seperate and large enough to type easily and have a well defined click so you know the letter has been entered. Sound is ok and the loudspeaker option is very good, especially for those a bit on the deaf side like me! Can be used hands free by just laying on the seat beside you, speech is picked up fine by the microphone even in the car.

Menu is easily negotiated after a bit of playing about and finding your way through the different options. No camera on this model but it is so easy to download pictures and music files once you have bought the interconnecting lead and inserted a Micro SD card, both available from Amazon. I bought a 4Gb one for about a fiver and that is more than enough for simple usage.
Only drawback for me was the very bright screen which doesn't seem to be adjustable and can be a bit dazzling at night. Instruction booklet is again very basic, but for those who have had Nokia's before pretty straightforward.
Would recommend as a nice simple easy to use phone.
If the display brightness was adjustable it would have had a 5 star rating instead of the 4.