Nokia 3300

Click for more pictures of the 3300.

The 3300 is Nokia's first music-oriented cell phone in a long time, following the much-bemoaned 5510 almost two years ago. The new Nokia bears a passing resemblance to its predecessor, but a passing resemblance is all there is. Compared to the 5510 or any similar phones we've seen, the 3300 is a more complete and--just as importantly--funkier iteration of a music-happy mobile.

Crescendo
One of the earliest and best-known MP3 cell phones has to be the Siemens SL45. It was essentially a business mobile with advanced audio functions. The Nokia 3300, an example of how the segment is maturing, is not just about playing MP3s. It has a whole attitude and style going for it.

This is already evident from the outset. Like the Gameboy Advance or Nokia N-Gage, the 3300 is used horizontally, a cosmetic departure from conventional cell phones. It's clad in a solid navy frame with slick swirly patterns around the display.

The layout of the buttons, most of which are bronze in color, takes after handheld gaming consoles as well. Menu navigation and audio track control come in the form of a round directional pad to the left of the screen. The standard numeric keys lie on the right and provide good tactile feel for SMS. The left and right buttons at the top of the device, also known as shoulder keys, are there for easy access to volume control and music functions.

In general, we find the 3300 a stylish-looking device with credible build quality. That said, one letdown is the loose-fitting headset plug which teeters from front to back, resulting in loss of sound to one side. This could be especially problematic if you're bouncing along with the music.

Main Melody
It's easy to set up the 3300 for playing songs. The included cable plugs into any USB port and, on our Windows XP machine, doesn’t require any drivers. Transferring MP3s to the handset is a straightforward drag-and-drop process on Windows Explorer. Using the 64MB memory card provided, we were able to fit in about 11 songs.

The Nokia Audio Manager program can be used for manipulating play lists, which is especially useful since you can't do so on the handset. We like the fact that there are a few options for tweaking audio output, including customizable equalizer settings and sound balance.

As far as audio quality goes, the 3300 sounds very good if you're using the standard earpiece. There's the option of playing through the loudspeaker but the music then comes across too soft for outdoor use and on the tinny side. It's also unfortunately that there's often an audible pop when switching tracks.

Like many Nokia phones, the 3300 comes with an FM tuner. The headset must be plugged in for this to work, possibly for reception, but you can also choose to hear it on the phone speakers. In an example of understanding the customer, the 3300 offers separate volume controls for radio and MP3s: It's not surprising for radio stations to be louder than onboard music files.

Supporting Vocals
The 3300 is more than just a fancy boombox, though. Nokia includes a couple of sample CDs for users to chill out or hop to. In addition to the usual complement of polyphonic ringing tones, MP3s can also be set as ringing tones, so you can be greeted by the riff of a guitar whenever someone calls.

You can also pick a few musically themed wallpapers to decorate the 3300's 4,096-color display. Our favorite is the colorful picture of an equalizer backed by psychedelic patterns.

There are four games on the 3300, including two that are musically themed. Disco, as its name implies, puts you in charge of a discotheque. By hiring top DJs, building better sound systems and buying high-tech lighting, you can turn the disco into a money-spinner. But addictive as it is, this short game lacks sound effects so you feel like you're running a silent trance house.

The other game, DJ, doesn't suffer from this problem. This action side-scroller, where you gather records and perform at clubs, goes "boing" when you jump 4.5m in the air, and "thud" when you whack a villain. However, the sound effects cause a slight lag, so you may end up turning them off anyway.

Accompaniment
As with other Nokias, the 3300 comes with MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service), GPRS and wireless Java. This is a dualband handset, so don't bother bringing it to the US. Incidentally, if you're a North American reader, note that the US version of the 3300 comes with a full QWERTY keyboard.

According to Nokia, the 720mAh Lithium-ion battery is expected to play up to 11 hours of music. We managed two to three days of normal cell phone usage, including a couple of hours listening to music. We also found reception and voice quality to be good.

Conclusion
At S$538 without a two-year contract or S$658 without a line, the 3300 certainly isn't the cheapest MP3 player in town. But while combining a phone with a music player, Nokia has managed to integrate most of the design and features into a coherent and attractive whole. The 3300 may not be your style if you're a casual listener. But get in line if you have Justin Timberlake's mug plastered everywhere, if you're wearing Christina Aguilera’s latest hairdo, or if you've learned to scowl like Eminem.

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