The Nokia 3530 is a decent mid-range mobile that Nokia has differentiated mainly by altering the style of the keypad.
Each button on the keypad contains two numbers, with the "2" and the "5" on one button, and the "8" and the "0" on another. This leaves all the numbers on the left-hand side of the keypad on the same key as the numbers opposite them on the right hand side of the keypad.
Despite this, we were surprised to find it remarkably easy to use. In fact, the 3530 has one of the most user-friendly keypads of any recent mobile phone.
The 3530 comes with a 4,096-colour screen, but the resolution isn't very good. As a result, images end up having a pixellated, embroidery-like effect. Although this is good enough to provide nice illustrations on the menu, it doesn't provide sharp pictures.
All the features that were previously "gee-whiz" and have now become standard are included on the phone, including WAP, GPRS, MMS Java applications and polyphonic ringtones. There are some decent polyphonic ringtones on offer, although the vast majority of the 30 supplied with the phone have a muzac-like quality.
Java applications have been included on the phone, although only for gaming purposes. The four games are Air Glide, Backgammon, Bowling and Sky Diver. As with all Java applications on mobiles the games take a while to load. We found Backgammon to be the most addictive, although we would have appreciated an ongoing score table. The other games were reasonably good, except for 'Sky Diver', which we found demonstrably silly.
Other Java applications can be downloaded, either to the Games folder or the Applications folder, with the phone providing 220 Kb of memory for use.
The MMS capabilities are easy to use, but only allow you to send one picture with text. We tend to expect MMS to include sound as well, so regard this as a definite negative. One benefit of MMS is you can type messages of up to 1,000 characters, even with an image attach. This works out cheaper than the equivalent number of SMS transmissions.
Five SMSes can be joined together, allowing a total of 768 characters to be typed. The phone also stores up to 20 SMSes in the "Sent" folder, allowing you to check the previous conversations with ease.
The phone comes with a calculator, calendar, alarm clock, hotkeys and voice tags. It also has a stopwatch that allows you to split times and a countdown timer. The 3530 has a Wallet feature, which holds details of your credit cards in a password-protected area, and is designed to facilitate m-commerce.
At 118 mm long and 49.6 mm wide, the 3530 is larger than an average phone, which makes it easier to use and harder to lose, but also more of a pain to carry. It weighs in at 106g.
The Nokia 3530 is a good mid-range phone with the latest features. The unusual keypad gains attention from friends, and the features allow you to message people buying high-end phones, without spending as much money.
Nokia 3530
Company: Nokia
Price: AU$399
Distributor: Nokia
Phone: 1300 366 733
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