It's time to look at the very very new Nokia 1600, which is even CHEAPER than the Nokia 6030 we looked at last week.
The Nokia 1600 has even less snot value, and while it does have some aesthetic appeal (it's curvy! - see pictures after jump), it is most importantly a super budget phone based upon the newest iteration of the Nokia Series 40 interface. To achieve this "super budget" status, however, some cuts have been made.
Update: Following a comment by a user regarding the Nokia 6030, we checked to see if there was a data cable available for the Nokia 6030. There isn't, and the Nokia 6030 FAQ additionally states that there is no data synchronization. Similarly, the official Nokia 1600 page does not list data synchronization as a feature, and the ports appear similar. Until further information becomes available, we must conclude that the Nokia 1600 does not support data synchronization. As such, ignore the comments below regarding data synchronization. While there are many users who do not use data synchronization, we here at symplification do consider it to be an integral feature in this day and age, and recommend that you purchase an alternative unless you are certain you will never use it.
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It's time to look at the very very new Nokia 1600, which is even CHEAPER than the Nokia 6030 we looked at last week.
The Nokia 1600 has even less snot value, and while it does have some aesthetic appeal (it's curvy!), it is most importantly a super budget phone based upon the newest iteration of the Nokia Series 40 interface. To achieve this "super budget" status, however, some cuts have been made.
The first and most obvious thing you'll notice is that the traditional on/off button is gone. This has been incorporated into the red disconnect button. This creates obvious cost savings, as now all the buttons are on the front face of the phone, and there is no need to manufacture anything except the front keypad (we lost the side volume controls a long time ago). This is not too bad, except that it's slightly harder now to escape to the standby screen.
The second think you'll notice is that the display is tiny, and seems to be pixellated. This impression wears off after awhile, because the screen, while small (96 x 68 pixels), is quite bright and with the use of an appropriate theme it looks much better. Nokia should have picked a different default theme. And yes - this thing has theme support, just like the Nokia 8800 and Nokia 6030. Also, because of a new standby screen design, (look at the last picture in the series below), the small screen does not seem too crowded. The standby screen does remind us of a Motorola , but thankfully the Series 40 interface remains, and is as usable as ever. You won't be able to pick a "grid" for the menu view though, and new icons have been made for the list view which make the interface appear very slick. We're heartened by the apparent lack of bugs, even though this model has was just released last week and is undoubtedly using the first generation of it's firmware. Menus, messaging and calls work very quickly, there is no menu lag.
Messaging is also made simpler by the buttons, which are crystal-like, large and easy to press. Basic phone functionality is as good as always, with good reception and a speakerphone function. Apart from this silver colour, it also comes in black.
As in the Nokia 6030, the the charger is the same, and we have the same new data port and headset plug. It's such a pity that the data port is not miniUSB (it's very similar in size). Note that unlike the Nokia 6030, which comes with a rather attractive stereo headset, this unit comes with no headset. Also, we never did test synchronization using PC Suite - we're thinking that this is not going to be popular because a compatible data cable is virtually unavailable. Note also that there is a limit of 200 phonebook entries.
Battery life is quite excellent, 3 days is easy - and the same BLC-5C battery as in the Nokia 6030 and even the Nokia 7610 is used.
In summation, this is a also a capable phone. It has very basic functionality, lacking modern phone accoutrements such as a camera or radio or bluetooth or infrared, but for it's intended market this is probably enough. Indeed, this phone has special specific functionality for that market - it includes a counter which tells you how much is left in your prepaid card. The more basic it is, the longer it is likely to last, and the fewer things there are to go wrong.
(and pocket carrom is a fun game)
