Introduction
When I’ve sat down in front of my computer, I already knew that now, having written more than 500 handset reviews, this is not what I deserve. Here I have Nokia 3610 fold and it’s about as interesting and fascinating as a plate of porridge. No matter, porridge is basically a practical thing as when used properly it provides us energy and it doesn’t matter how beautiful or tasty it is. And it’s not even too expensive.
But Nokia 3610 – besides being sure that it’s not beautiful at all, I didn’t check its taste – cannot be called cheap, it costs more than the recently reviewed Samsung L700. It’s practical as it can be used for what it has been made for, one can make phone calls and this is not a characteristic to blame in case of a cell phone.
But I really can’t tell why would anyone want to buy a Nokia 3610. It’s a mystery; this longish, gray thing on my desk might be the result of sabotage from another manufacturer, as it can arouse as much desire as Michael Jackson when his nose falls off. Maybe if it will be available at network operators it might get such a price tag that makes everyone forget that it has no character, so we have anticipated this and asked for a phone from XXL GSM.
Hirdetés
Exterior
Nokia box, Nokia accessories. Only in a minimal quantity as we only get a charger and a stereo headset with 3610, there is no data cable or memory card. But here we have the handset itself, which might be a result of a crossover between 6101 and 2650 (regarding the design). It’s a longish phone, it’s long even when closed and we can foresee in the case of a clamshell that we are to face something even longer when we open it.
It’s not beauty while it’s closed, but it’s not that bad. It’s gray, but somehow it’s like an indefinable gray, it made me remember the color of a Trabant, which is also called “dolphin gray”. It’s of course low-quality plastic, a bit shiny, a bit slippery, but it’s still pleasant to keep in the hand. There is a longish external screen on the cover with a resolution of 128 x 160 pixels. We usually won’t see anything on this, only if there is an event. After something takes place there is a large analogue clock trying to spice up the design, but we have seen such a thing a million times before. Even from Nokia.
Above the display there is a camera with a small gap below it for the external speaker. On the left we can see the volume control keys and the camera’s hotkey above them: pressing this we can take a self-portrait, as in this case the camera starts up even if the phone is closed and the external screen will be the viewfinder. In the bottom left corner we can find a microUSB connector. There is nothing on the right besides two small, round holes, the top one is for the headset, the bottom one for the charger.
When opening the phone we get to see a phone with the size of a huge frying pan. The designers just didn’t know what to do with such a large area, so they have made longish buttons, hence the disproportionate layout. It’s even ugly and moreover our finger has to do extremely long paths when typing an SMS. The cover has no play; that would be really lame, as the whole thing opens up until 160 degrees like on 2650, as the top and bottom rims of the case meet. This looks stupid mostly from the back, since the completely flat back makes the whole thing look even longer.
Menu, basic functions
As the design didn’t impress me (I’d like to note that I haven’t been the only one to complain, but everyone), I gave a shot for the interior: no use. Although there is no problem with the QVGA display, the menu is the good old Series40, but there is absolutely no new feature, idea or something extravagant at least.
It’s the least to say that the software is the same as on every other S40 phone. Themes, icons, active standby, logics… just like on 6300. The software’s speed is okay, the features are totally average. There is nothing extra in the phonebook, it can store 1000 contacts with the usual extra fields. At messaging SMS and MMS have the same editor, it’s no big deal to attach stuff, this has a size limit of 300KB, and we also have an email client, which is the usual java application, it knows all the basic things it has to.
The calendar with week and month views is transparent, we can create reminders, meetings, calls, birthdays and notes. The alarm clock can store a single time point, but this can be set to repeat, snooze time can be up to 59 minutes long. The calculator has scientific features and the stopwatch and the countdown timer have never been the applications where programmers can indulge in virtuosity.
Other applications include the Opera Mini browser, the application called Presenter (please, if anyone uses this, give us a sign) and Widsets, which can display weather forecast and news if we are connected to the internet. Oh yeah, we have a world clock too, as this is needed. We have lots of games, enumeration follows: City Bloxx, Poppin Panda, Soccer 3D, Rally 3D, Snake III, Golf Tour and Sudoku are installed on the phone.
Multimedia
The camera on the cover has a resolution of 1.3 megapixels, fix focus and no flash. The viewfinder is vertical, it’s completely evident that the camera is included on a “let’s have photography too” basis. The list of settings is short, we can use a couple of effects, self-timer, night mode and we can set image size/quality, but that’s all. The images are just like we could expect based on the specs; you can see a couple of them below. The phone can record videos at 176 x 144 pixels; this won’t make it a redeemer.
 |  |  |  |  |  |
As we can put a memory card (microSD) of up to 4 GB in the phone – under the battery –, the music player might have some meaning, although the headset included is probably the cheapest that Nokia could obtain from the furthest corner of Far East. The player, of course, doesn’t bring about anything new, the Series40 platform predestines its quality and functionality.
Tracks get sorted by ID3 tags, the player can run in the background, we have repeat and shuffle modes, and an equalizer too. Sound quality is not that bad via handsfree, it would be quite good via headset if we would have a proper one, but we have to get a converter, or we have to incest in a stereo Bluetooth accessory, which costs more than the phone. There is no FM radio (serious mistake), the voice recorder can record for up to one hours.
Data transfer, battery
3610 supports only GPRS and EDGE, there is no 3G. We might list the manufacturers who didn’t omit this for this amount of money (but it might be enough to say: Nokia 6151), it’s a pity. We might use the built-in browser, but if the Finnish guys have installed Opera Mini, we shouldn’t be using anything else.
At local level we can theoretically connect via microUSB 2.0 or Bluetooth of the same version. I have used this latter one, I have managed to achieve a copy speed of 40 KB/s. But there is a surprise waiting for us under the cover, as 3610 fold (let’s finally call it at its full name) has a 1020 mAh Li-Ion battery, which is powerful enough to keep this folding monster alive for 3-4 days without a problem.
Summary? Should I get into details? A big pile of nothing: inside and outside. It doesn’t even look good. It doesn’t have anything extra, it lacks a lot of small features (FM radio, normal headset, data cable, maybe 3G), but at least the battery can take it for long. It’s a completely meaningless, gray, boring handsets, I hope I won’t even remember it in a couple of days. There’s no reason why I should.
And it’s not even cheap.
Bog
Translated by Szaszati
A Nokia 3610 foldot az XXL GSM-től kaptuk.
The handset can be purchased at:
Budapest VI. Jókai tér 6.
Specifications
| Nokia 3610 fold | ||
 | General | |
| Technology | GSM | |
| Size | 99.6 x 44.3 x 19.6 mm | |
| Weight | 97 grams | |
| Available colors | red, gray | |
| Display | ||
| Display diagonal | 2 inches | |
| Display resolution | 240 x 320 pixels | |
| Display type | TFT | |
| Number of colors | 16 million | |
| Memory | ||
| Phonebook capacity | 1000 entries | |
| SMS memory / max. MMS size | na / 300 KB | |
| Internal memory | 30 MB | |
| Memory expandability | microSD (max 4GB) | |
| Data transfer | ||
| Frequency bands | 850/900/1800/1900 MHz | |
| GPRS / EDGE | Class 10 (4+1/3+2) / Class 10 (236.8 kbps) | |
| UMTS / HSDPA | none / none | |
| IrDA / Bluetooth | none / 2.0 (A2DP too) | |
| WiFi | none | |
| USB | 2.0 (microUSB) | |
| Push-to-talk / RSS | present / none | |
| GPS receiver | none | |
| Basic functions | ||
| Profiles | present | |
| Vibra function | present | |
| Built-in handsfree | present | |
| Voice dialing / voice commands | present / present | |
| Sound recorder | present - 1 hour | |
| Alarm clock | present, also when turned off | |
| Predictive text entry | T9 | |
| Software | ||
| Platform | Series40 | |
| WAP / HTML browser | 2.0 / present | |
| E-mail client | present (POP3, IMAP4, authenticated) | |
| Java | present, MIDP 2.0 | |
| Games | 5 | |
| Currency converter | present | |
| Extra software | Converter, Opera Mini, Widsets | |
| Multimedia | ||
| Main camera | 1.3 megapixels, fix focus | |
| Secondary camera | none | |
| Video recording | present (QCIF, 15fps) | |
| Music player | present, can run in background | |
| Equalizer | present | |
| FM radio | none | |
| Battery | ||
| Main battery | 1020 mAh Li-Ion | |
| Standby time | 450 hours | |
| Talk time | 280 minutes | |
| Other | ||
| - | ||
