Although the spotlight currently is on handsets with onboard cameras and nifty music players, Nokia is making sure its product range is complete with the modest 3120. Despite a lack of high-end bells and whistles, it has adequate features and offers an upgrade path via optional accessories.

Design
The concept of an interchangeable facade is recycled in this Nokia so its appearance can be tweaked with additional Xpress-on covers. Targeted at the young professionals, the phone is decked out conservatively and consists of a chromed frame that contours the dated 128 x 128-pixel STN screen and keypad. The 4,096-color display pales in comparison with the commonly found 65K-color variants. In addition, this mobile suffers from washed-out colors and is plagued with slow refreshes.

On the upside, the buttons on the keyboard are well-spaced and provides sufficient feedback which is a boon for frequent texters.

The minimalistic approach to design has brought about some inconveniences. Firstly, a volume control is missing from the side profile. Hence, you must rely on the directional pad to adjust the audio and this hampers conversations. Secondly, it lacks a key for voice dial; a quick check reveals that Nokia has tossed out this handy feature.

Due to the lack of an onboard camera, the back pane is plainly decorated and mainly houses the 820mAh cell.

Features
Running on the Series 40 platform, this Nokia boasts a familiar and easy-to-use user interface. Even though screen refreshes appear somewhat slow, texting remains a snappy affair as taps are registered swiftly.

Audio-wise, the 3120 supports 4-chord polyphony and sounds primitive compared with most Korean offerings on the market. Still, it's sufficiently loud and, coupled with its lively vibration, does a decent job notifying us of incoming calls. The speakerphone proved invaluable for group conferences or in-car situations.

The 3120 offers GPRS, Java and is WAP 1.2.1-enabled. No thanks to the mediocre display, you'll find yourself scrolling more often when surfing. Due to a lack of connectivity options, users will have to transfer content via MMS or WAP.

To address its sparse multimedia offering, Nokia attempts to make up with a number of optional enhancements which include VGA camera attachment and a stereo headset that doubles as an FM receiver.

Reception, Battery Life And SAR
During our review period, we didn't encounter issues with reception and voice quality. The battery is good for nearly four days of standby on moderate phone usage.

With a highest Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) value of 0.79W/kg recorded for this model, this handset meets international requirements concerning exposure to radio waves.

Conclusion
Phones don't get much simpler than the 3120 these days. Although its feature set isn't teeming with advanced functions, it makes up with its good battery life and price of merely S$68 for a two-year plan. Without contract, the street price hovers around S$258.