Nokia 3711 review – sturdier than its predecessors
Thumbs Up:
Functional feature set including Bluetooth, GPS/A-GPS, 2-megapixel camera; decent call quality; bright display.
Thumbs Down:
External display only shows time and does not give much benefit.
Inside the Trunk:
Technology: WCDMA / GSM
Band: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 / WCDMA 900/1700 2100/1700
Phone Design: Clamshell
Caller ID: Yes
Other Features: GPS/A-GPS, GPRS, Bluetooth, 2-megapixel camera
The Whiz Kid Speaks:
The Nokia 3711 has 70MB internal memory and micro-SD expansion slot that accepts up to 8GB cards. The cell phone supports Bluetooth 2.1 EDR wireless interface. It is compatible to M3/T3 Hearing Aids.
1.36 inches monochrome external display sits on the lid and has 160×128 pixels resolution. 2.2 inches internal LCD display has 320×240 pixels QVGA resolution that supports 16.7 million colors. The connector set includes 1×2.5mm headset jack, and 1×micro-USB.
2-megapixel camera features 4x digital zoom, full focus, and video recording. It saves the images in Exif and JPEG formats. Supported video playback formats are WMV9, MPEG4, H.264, H.263, MP3, 3GP, AVI, and ASF.
The additional features are Class 32 GPRS, Class 32 EDPRS, TCP/IP support, Bluetooth 2.1 EDR, MTP, support for Nokia PC suite and PC synchronization, Web browser, and support for IMAP/POP/SMTP accounts.
Razzle Dazzle:
The Nokia 3711 is 3.5 inches tall, 1.85 inches wide, and 0.59 inch thick and weighs 3.31 ounces. Its hinge is tough to withstand multiple opening and closing. The front cover is made up of black plastic, while the battery cover on back has sable color scheme.
Inside Dope:
The Nokia 3711 continues to have the Nokia’s signature design that begins with the Nokia 2605, 7205 and 2705. It costs $69 with Even More service contract from T-Mobile and its unlocked version has a price tag of $159. It is an entry level clamshell 3G handset that offers GPS navigation, Bluetooth, large display, FM Radio, 2.5mm headset jack, and 2-megapixel camera. The overall call quality is good and the captured pictures looks nice. However, its external display does not give much benefit. While opening, the 3711 handset seems appealing due to its smooth curves. As per Nokia, it is made up of 8% recycled material. The 3711 handset is sturdier than both Nokia 2705 and the 2605.
The external display is tiny and hidden when backlight is off. It shows time in large blocks and exhibits the numeric caller ID. However, we will prefer to see date, signal strength, and battery life on the external display.
You will find the 2.55mm headset jack and volume rocker on the left spine, while combined micro-USB port for both charger and USB cable is on the right side. The camera lens sits at the top on back side.
You have to flip open the Nokia 3711 handset to access the internal display and numeric keypad. 2.2 inches internal display has 320×240 pixels resolution that supports 16.7 million colors. It is enough vibrant and bright to show sharp graphics with bold colors. The cell phone has Nokia Series 50 menu interface. You can change the font size, display theme, and wallpapers. In addition, you can add/remove shortcuts to the home screen.
The navigation array is located beneath the internal display and consists of two soft keys, square toggle with middle OK button, Talk key, and Power/End button. You will also find two dedicated keys for camera and Web browser respectively. The toggle and left soft key can be customized with shortcuts. The alphanumeric keypad has slick and spacious buttons. The numbers and alphabets are highlighted with light blue color.
The Nokia 3711 can store 2000 contacts in its phonebook. Each entry can save five numbers, one email address, a URL, a nickname, a formal name, a street address, a birthday job title, and a company name. You can organize the contacts into caller groups and pair them with ring-tone, a video, and a photo for caller ID.
The basic feature set includes a notepad, a world clock, a stopwatch, an alarm clock, a calendar, a countdown timer, a unit and currency converter, a calculator, and a to-do list. The additional highlights are WAP 2.0 browser, GPS/A-GPS, PC sync, USB mass storage, stereo Bluetooth, a voice recorder, and voice dialing. The cell phone also has TeleNav GPS Navigator and Nokia Maps.
The messaging features are text and multimedia messages, OMA e-mail notification, IMAP IDLE support, support for POP/IMAP/SMTP accounts, and support for attachments. The Web browser has support for smart rendering, CSS, ECMAScript, and JavaScript 1.1.
2-megapixel camera features 4x zoom, self-timer, and video recording. The still capture options include six resolution, five color effects, three white balance modes, and three quality settings. You can record videos up to 42 seconds for MMS and longer in standard mode. We captured some pictures for testing. The overall photo quality was good but exhibits image noise and a bit yellow tint. The camera does not feature a flash, so its low-light performance is below average.
The Nokia 3711 has inbuilt Nokia media player that features airplane mode, equalizer, repeat and shuffle modes. The cell phone also has FM Radio. The overall sound quality for was good on both speakers and headset.
There are six demo versions of games: Monopoly Here & How, Frogger Evolution, Deal or no Deal, Collapse Chaos, “Where’s Waldo?”, and The Oregon Trail. You can buy the full versions also. You can personalize the Nokia 3711 handset with wallpapers, alert tones, and ring-tones. More options are available on t-zones service.
We made few calls through Nokia 3711 via T-Mobile service for testing. The overall call quality was good. We received good and natural sound at our without any static, but the volume was not so loud to hear in noisy environment. The callers received good sound at their end and still the volume was not loud enough. The speakerphone call quality was also good.
Nokia 3711 has a battery life of 12 days standby time and 4 hours of talk time. Its digital SAR is 1.28 watts per kg in accordance with FCC radiation tests.
Nitty Gritty:
If you need an affordable sturdier handset with functional feature set and do not mind limited Black & White external display, then go for – Nokia 3711.
