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Mobile Phones under 5K

Frazier Barretto, Dec 08, 2006 1901 hrs IST

Mushroom growth in the mobile market has left the buyer with multiple options. Let's have a strategic glance at the mobiles sporting less than 5K price tag

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EXPERT REVIEW

Nokia 2310 (Rs. 3400)

The Nokia 2310 is another with the same set of features like the 1600 with a little more to add to it. The little bit actually makes a lot of difference to the Indian markets; I'm talking about the possibility of an FM tuner in a phone. And this phone packs an FM tuner as well. Apart from that, the phone has an amazing battery life which tops even the two phones mentioned above.

This phone offers a battery life of about 6 hours and more than 2 weeks of standby time. The only drawback of this phone is that the display isn't smooth. The phone comes bundled with stereo earphones otherwise there would be no sense in bundling a phone with FM and no headsets to hear it.

Nokia 3120 (Rs. 3250)

The Nokia 3120 didn't catch up with the market in India. This phone has a lot going its way and could be called a small businessman's mobile. It's a tri-band phone while all the previously listed under Nokia were dual-band phones.

It weighs about the same as them but has a 40K CSTN color display. This gives the phone a crisp display. The other major improvement is 256 x 4 fields Phonebook. This phone misses an FM tuner, but is more for the business person. This phone offers GPRS connectivity, PC synchronization, and Java to run a few apps. According to the price range, this is the first phone in the article to feature GPRS connectivity. The phone comes bundled with stereo earphones.

USER COMMENTS

best of handset in1600&any nokia mobile

by guruprasad, gulbarga, on Jul 20, 2008 06:45 PM, Report abuse Reply

Yo kieroel celular nokia q fue mas vendido n el a?o 2007!

by lucila, managua, on Jan 26, 2008 01:42 AM, Report abuse Reply

hmmm dar infrarosu nare?

by aby, giurgiu, on Jan 21, 2008 07:46 PM, Report abuse Reply

Does this phone work for highspeed broadband? What wouldbe the speed in the handset?

by gusarma, Bhubaneswar,India, on Oct 30, 2007 06:54 AM, Report abuse Reply

i hav a folding mobile models which suits my personality....& i also have a mobiles for my staff

by vandana, mumbai, on Oct 11, 2007 03:43 PM, Report abuse Reply

plz...send me a polytones....

by rhen, cotabato, on Oct 04, 2007 01:02 PM, Report abuse Reply

i want usb driver v4.0 for nokia 1110

by gowthaman, eroad, on Aug 21, 2007 10:58 PM, Report abuse Reply

PLEASE SEND ME THE BATTERY NUMBER USED IN THE NOKIA 1600 MODEL , TYPE: RH 64. CODE: 0525397, IMEI NUMBER: 359378/00/400578/8. BCOZ, SOMEBODY HAS REPLACED MY BATTERY

by PRADISH S, BANGALORE, on Aug 19, 2007 02:27 PM, Report abuse Reply

I would like to download the Nokia, Model 1110 and type RH 70's USB Driver.

by zaw zaw, Mae Sot, on Aug 13, 2007 08:07 PM, Report abuse Reply

is bioutifull veri veri good is bioutifull NO coment

by asllan, vushtrri, on May 15, 2007 04:32 AM, Report abuse Reply

Beware of buying the grey market products be it mobile phones or memory cards or any other electronic products. Although the prices in grey market are attractive but the stuff they sell is duplicate. Yes you have read right, all the grey market electronic stuff is duplicate. The product is made in unauthorized smaller factories in China and exported to India without labels. Then our great Indian seller thugs get the phones labelled and boxes made and sell to innocent people like you and me. Since I have come to know of this racket, I will tell to everyone. Also this grey market stuff goes bad after sometime and we blame the company for a bad product which they never made in the first place. All these companies have ruined their business by transferring their manufacturing technology in China. Chinese people have replicated everything. So if you are getting a memory card or mobile very cheap without bill, God can only help you with your duplicate goods purchase.

by Rockman, Rockville, on May 01, 2007 09:33 AM, Report abuse Reply

Hello, I is in the joy of making you this email, it is for a question in connection with my telephone it is also nokia 1600 it is that which I am using but I do not arrive has to include/understand charges it does not even make 2 days thus I do not know if it is a problem of battery or how, I am on standby of your answer.

by Mukanda, Kinshasa RDC, on Apr 24, 2007 06:58 PM, Report abuse Reply

Nokia 1600 Not a fundoo phone. screen is too small 3rd class screen and themes. No option to download ringtones. Over all 3rd class phone. Samsung C-130 is much better than Nokia-1600 in all aspects (look plus featues).

by Ashish, Delhi, on Dec 09, 2006 11:29 PM, Report abuse Reply

what r u saying ? are u gone outdated to use samsung ?

by shanmugaraj, bangalore, on Apr 13, 2007 09:54 AM, Report abuse

pls tell me another handset which has all qualities of C-168.This another handset should have 65 k color (& not 4k like c-168).It should have some connectivity option like bluetooth or infra or USB cable.(I don't care whether it may have GPRS or not) My budget is upto rs 3500.& yes offcourse it should be slim & sexy like C-168.

by mohit, jaipur, on Jan 12, 2007 03:46 AM, Report abuse Reply

i think u should get C-261...it has a camera too and its in ur budget

by sahib, delhi, on Feb 25, 2007 06:11 PM, Report abuse

quite nice job,keep it up

by chanukya, CHANDIGARH, on Feb 02, 2007 08:23 AM, Report abuse Reply

wats bout u moto phone F3 , can u tell me all merits n demerits of its.

by tage, delhi, on Jan 30, 2007 03:49 PM, Report abuse Reply

Motorola Motofone F3 Should have been included, But when i went to purchase it on 17th Dec 2006 though it was available the dull e-ink display quality turned me off. It could be that particular piece had some manufacturing defect and on putting the sim it just showed BSNL and nothing else. Motorola has goofed up such a good cheap phone with a bad display. Mych Better to buy the Motorola C-114 For Rs 1025/- with bill having standby time of 10 days and talk time of 5 hours.

by C R Anirudh, New Delhi, on Dec 31, 2006 12:50 AM, Report abuse Reply

Here the amount of Nokia 6020 is Rs 3250, when i enquired the market price it is 4.9K......Which is correct. Source: www.univercell.in

by Kumar, chennai, on Dec 24, 2006 12:13 AM, Report abuse Reply

Give Your Smartphone a free added Bonus Free Push Mail by Emoze www.emoze.com The worlds 1st Free & Secure push email push email solution for your mobile devices, Pocket PC's, Smartphones.

by Oren Todoros, Tel Aviv, on Dec 18, 2006 07:06 PM, Report abuse Reply

Can u provide address in Noida / Delhi for Samsung C130 in Rs. 2000/- as per your letter.

by Pushpendra Sing, Delhi, on Dec 18, 2006 10:15 AM, Report abuse Reply

nokia 6020 is my bet

by curaaj, surat, on Dec 16, 2006 05:05 PM, Report abuse Reply

sony is the best

by curaaj, surat, on Dec 16, 2006 05:00 PM, Report abuse Reply

nokia 6020 is wrongly priced here.

by prit, chennai, on Dec 16, 2006 04:55 AM, Report abuse Reply

let me know the lowest range model in NOKIA series.

by Alpesh, Mumbai, on Dec 12, 2006 10:57 AM, Report abuse Reply

Can u send some more details about the Sony models under 10k or 10.It might be useful for the Guys and to their standards.

by uthira, chennai, on Dec 12, 2006 10:53 AM, Report abuse Reply

Would've been better if you guys includes the Motophone F3 in this list as well.. In anycase..Good work guys!! Kudos!

by AMD4Life, Delhi, on Dec 12, 2006 03:08 AM, Report abuse Reply

i think even the newly released motofone f3 from motorola's stable fits this space.

by rohith iyer, bangalore, on Dec 10, 2006 11:22 AM, Report abuse Reply

Dear Sir I request to for HP Product HP Scanner 2400 Price List and other details. Please Reply my ID. yours sowri

by Sowri, kumbakonam, on Dec 11, 2006 01:45 PM, Report abuse

good review !! eagerly awaiting the 5k and 10k and 10k to 15k reviews as well...

by Yaman, Bangalore, on Dec 10, 2006 06:49 AM, Report abuse Reply

I like SE K310i or K320i better for its better sound, higher memory etc. Very handy for recording short clips.

by badvt, Chennai, on Dec 09, 2006 02:45 PM, Report abuse Reply

Ya that's True

by rishabh, delhi, on Dec 09, 2006 08:06 PM, Report abuse

no thats truer

by heh, haha, on Dec 09, 2006 08:25 PM, Report abuse

Very good overview of low-cost phones. It's pretty amazing it's possible to make a working phone for 2000 Rupees. Do you know which ones of these support Hindi/Devanagari or other Indic scripts? Do most of these phones support MIDlets as well? I checked j2mepolish.org, but many of the phones were not listed there.

by Anders Borg, Bangalore, on Dec 09, 2006 02:05 AM, Report abuse Reply

wat abt motofone f3 with mrp of 1655,talktime 7 hours,standby 16.5 days ,voice prompts in 7 local languages it is poised to hit the market soon

by vipul, delhi, on Dec 09, 2006 11:09 AM, Report abuse

Motofone F3 is the pathbreaking fone in this range at 1500 & made in India -Beware Nokia ,SE , Motofone F3 would wipe out the competition with its looks and usage

by vijayshimla, Shimla 171001, on Dec 09, 2006 05:47 PM, Report abuse

This Mobile Phones under 5K lineup is missing a landmark phone new motofone F3 with amazing features ? Voice prompts in local languages ? Intuitive icon-based user interface ? Stylish thin design ? Extended battery life ? Durable housing for optimal performance despite dust and sun ? High-contrast screen using new ClearVision display ? Large font size for easy readability ? High-volume for call clarity in loud environments ? Automatic notification of current prepaid balance ? Embedded polyphonic ringtones. Best is the Landmark price of Rs. 1500. Not to include this path breaking fone in this lineup is making readers miss the most important economically priced fone .

by vijayshimla, Shimla 171001, on Dec 09, 2006 05:35 PM, Report abuse Reply

Nokia 6020 is the best of the lot. LG SE are total crap

by D Tox, Celinia, on Dec 09, 2006 04:12 PM, Report abuse Reply

This is my personal experience, that Samsung gadgets are horrible. They gives up the moment the warranty is over, be it a Mobile phone or PC spares. The battery life, for the entry level phones are not at all satisfactory. Be carefull before making a decision to purchase a Samsung gadget.

by Chiradip Das, Bangalore, on Dec 09, 2006 08:07 AM, Report abuse Reply

Yes. It's true. Though Samsung phones are otherwise ok but batterylife....? They die premature death.

by krishnakant, Bangalore, on Dec 09, 2006 03:08 PM, Report abuse

yes, it's true. Samsung phone's battery dies premature death!

by krishnakant, Bangalore, on Dec 09, 2006 03:20 PM, Report abuse

The discerning buyer will evaluate in a 5 plus and sub 10 category. Sub 5 volume cat may not require serious evaluation:affordability ,impulse,spare use etc.Still a good attempt

by Rajeev Kumar, Coimbatore, on Dec 09, 2006 01:54 PM, Report abuse Reply

very good round up of the most happening category of mobile phones. mobiles in this category in general provide battery life , ease of use and reliability that high end phones can never match.1100 not featured

by mayuresh, mumbai, on Dec 08, 2006 08:42 PM, Report abuse Reply

1100 is not available anymore. Is the 3220 still available? If yes it should definitely feature here.

by Ameya Sohoni, Mumbai, on Dec 09, 2006 09:23 AM, Report abuse

The last time you guys did a proper motherboard review was in 2005... dont you think its time u did one of those again now that core 2 duos are out? or do you still find them out of stock as you once proclaimed ??

by _v0rt3x_, hyd, on Dec 09, 2006 09:15 AM, Report abuse Reply

you havent included J100i from sony ericsson. please give a short review of that one too.

by nitin chaudhry, delhi, on Dec 09, 2006 07:04 AM, Report abuse Reply