Nokia C2-01 - Review

“Cheap 3G phone with surprising features”

The C2-01 excels at the basics

While Nokia may be losing out in the smartphone market, it is still managing to turn out the great basic phones that Nokia fans love so much.

And the C2-01 is definitely no exception. It is a sturdy budget mobile that packs a surprising number of features - from email to picture editing and expandable memory - making it the perfect choice if you're after a basic handset with a little oomph.

It weighs in at 89g and fits perfectly into the palm of the hand - and I found it rather refreshing being able to fit my phone into my jeans pocket again.

It has a decent battery with up to 8.75 hours talk time - and if you're not addicted to your phone you can leave it on for a good few days without a charge.

C2-01(black) £39.99

0 min 0 texts

£0.00

Some surprising features

Costing less than £50 on a pay-as-you-go deal, you might not have high expectations for the Nokia C2-01, but it really is a good-quality, low-budget phone.

3G mobile internet means that you can send and receive emails, update your Facebook profile and surf the internet - albeit on a two-inch screen and at much slower speeds than HSDPA phones, which can connect to the 3G network at the fastest possible speeds. Obviously the C2-01 isn’t a touchscreen phone, so you need to use the keypad and the central direction pad to navigate, which does take some getting used to.

Unfortunately, one of the few complaints about the phone was the quality of the keys, which feel rather flimsy, and the direction pad, which doesn’t always do quite what you want. However, when you consider value for money, this isn’t a big issue.

It also packs a 3.2MP camera, which allows you to take decent pictures and less-than-amazing videos - though without a flash you won’t be snapping much at night.

But you do also get picture editing features that let you adjust the white balance, use a self-timer and add effects such as sepia or black and white.

The C2-01 uses Series 40 of Nokia’s outdated Symbian operating system, which lets you use the Ovi Store to buy apps, games and music for your phone. While this is hardly the iTunes, Apple’s App Store or the Android Market, it does mean you can add some extras to your phone and personalise it somewhat.

Getting connected

You can connect the C2-01 to your computer to charge or back-up your contacts, photos, videos, music and documents as long as you're running an updated version of the Ovi Suite software.

It also comes with a normal plug charger and a 3.5mm headphone jack so you can use your own, probably higher quality, headphones.

The phone does have some built-in memory, but comes with just 43MB - so you'll definitely want to invest in a MicroSD card. You can add up to 16GB of storage space using one of these tiny memory cards - and you can pick a 16GB one up for as little as £13 online.

Don’t want bells and whistles?

Picture quality is decent

The Nokia C2-01 might prove a disappointment if you've lost an uninsured iPhone 4 or HTC Desire HD and are simply waiting to upgrade, but not everyone wants a bells-and-whistles handset, and the C2-01 certainly doesn’t pretend to be something it’s not.

If you're after a basic phone and want a little extra for your money, then the Nokia C2-01 is a great choice.

Find your perfect Nokia C2-01

---

Compare Phone Plan: PAYG Monthly

Compare Compare contracts costing up to: £5