Nokia Nuron Review

E

essiart

New member
Just wanted to leave a quick review about my T-Mobile Nokia Nuron.

The signal strength is good... as with any Nokia phone I've had (this one definitely lives up to it's expectations). The on-screen navigation is nicely laid out, the UI/menus are good, and home screen has got some nice options and widget availability. I like the simply initiate/accept|menu|end hardware keys.

The Ovi App store is awesome, I've got SkyFire (love that browser!), Mobbler (great for streaming radio - good music capabilities.), Vlingo (good voice command app.), Point & Find (great for "life" searching online.), F-Secure (security suite for Symbian OS), Qik (cool video sharing app.), and SMS Preview (good to see the text, without opening it.). Overall I love the apps that are available - good selection, easy to use app store!

The Ovi Maps are great, love the GPS it's quick and accurate - much better than my old stand-alone GPS unit I had. Waiting for my navkit to come in!

Visual Voicemail is a nice feature, I've been learning how to use it - while it's not too complicated... I just don't get too many voicemails, so I can' play around with it alot. But it's nice not having to "call in" everytime you want to listen and wade through them.

The call quality is great, speaker is good, and 3G data is peppy! The screen is large enough that I can see it (visually impaired) while it doesn't work wonders in the sunlight, it's still very vibrant (outside of direct sunlight). The on-screen qwerty keyboard is nice, my fingers are just the right size (if they were any bigger, I'd definitely have trouble with it...) and the t9 keyboard is quick and responsive as well. I love the resistive touch screen; much better than the "true touch" screens I've had in the past! I also like the size/weight of the phone, it actually feels like you are holding something, rather than a piece of cardboard. I like the way you can lock the phone by the hardware button on the side, or through the software. Also you can answer/decline calls via hardware buttons or software swipes.

The camera/video recorder is pretty good for a 2MP camera, although it doesn't have flash (which is alright) nor does it have autofocus (which can get annoying...).

The MyFaves app is pretty intuitive too - although on of the Nurons we got doesn't have the MyFaves App... so not sure what to do there. We all, five of us, got the Nurons from T-Mobile in exchange for a 2-year renewal (no extra charge) which was definitely well worth it. In my opinion it rivals the iPhone. Symbian OS is very responsive, really stable, and nicely intuitive. I can't wait for the new version to come out!! Way to go Nokia for building another solid phone!

The speakerphone is pretty good, but I usually opt to listen to music either through the provided headphone set, or a radio-jack connector. It's nice having an SD card and have yet to use infared. The one thing that is perplexing me is that the bluetooth on the phone will not connect to my Jabra Car-Kit!

I'd definitely recommend this phone to people looking for a low-cost, high-quality touch screen phone with all the goodies. Best part, unlimited data is only $5.00 per line on this phone!
 
Nice to see your review, tmobiley!

I've had one of these since early August, purchased online from Costco (not a member) and using it on the prepaid side.

It's a really solid piece, and while not a high-end device (reflected in the nice price), it has a great feature set, and everything seems to work together well. I'm still learning a lot about how to use various aspects of it, and want to explore the Ovi store some more. It is really tops in the phone department, too.

Even though I've never had service outside the prepaid realm, this is the best phone I've ever owned. It fits my needs completely.

Thanks for describing the apps you're using. It gives me some ideas!
 
Target is selling these for prepaid now, normal price $130. On sale this week for $120 (10/24-10/30). Still better prices at Costco (via Wireless Associates).
 
Decent review. But you forgot to mention that it doesn't have WiFi. That is the only thing I don't like about the phone but I accept it since it's not a top of the line phone and it was cheap (only cost $115, unbranded and unlocked brand new from Dell).
 
Nice overview of the phone. $5 for unlimited data? Wow, Americans are so lucky.

I'm a newbie and just purchased the phone today. I'm new to touch screen phones and devices (I'm a Blackberry user).

I have question: What is a resistive touch screen vs true touch? Is it normal when you touch/tap the screen to hear tapping noise or have vibration feeling when you touch an icon? If this makes any sense.

Thanks.
 
Resistive touch is like nintendo ds, you have to apply pressure. And yes it'll vibrate when you touch it if you set it to. Imo, s60 is a mess, email is convoluted, tap once then tap twice menus, lag, list goes on.
 
I think they meant resistive vs. capacitive touch screen. they are just different technology, the resistive touch screen in this phone works well. The tapping noise and vibration can be disabled by personalizing the phone's profile settings. But I wouldn't recommend turning off both features when you're still trying to get used to the phone. I suggest turning of the touch sounds if it bothers you and then keeping the vibration at level one until you feel that you can do without it.
 
I'm very unimpressed with the Nokia Nuron's signal and the signal meter. I hate how easily it drops 3G and switches over to EDGE and the signal meter is about as worthless as they come. Also when it does switch over to EDGE the data connection is often dropped completely. It's nice otherwise.
 
I have the 5230 and find it a very nice phone for the price point its at. S60 has many apps and games which I do like. While I'd prefer capacitative touch screen, the resistive on the 5230 is actually pretty good and dont have many problems with it. Call quaility very clear, speakerphone is very loud which I prefer, just wish the call speaker, the one where you listen when making calls, was just a bit louder at times.

By biggest con is not towards the phone but the provided headphones. One of the worst headphones I have ever used hands down. I mean the sound is hollow to the extreme and if you try playing music on it......the headphones start to crack instantly on not even the highest volume. My Dollar Store headphones are 100 times better than it and you know I have low expectations for headphones if I buy from Dollar Stores.
 
Thanks for the review, addresses most of the main concerns people have about the low-end smartphones.


I have the same exact opinion on the camera. I don't mind the lack of flash, but autofocus is something any camera over 1.2MP should have... At least I can take nice scenery pictures and general pictures of people etc. Wish I could take pics within 6-12in though



When I got it in July, it was $10/m. Then again I am the only one on the account with the phone, or even with a data plan. Only thing that sucks about the phone is you need data to send MMS messages. Wish it could just go the same way as regular phones.



I have that when I have low signal. Once the signal drops below 5 bars(7 is how many it has full), it usually jumps to EDGE. There are a few reasons this could be. One is that t-mobile wants to reserve 3G for the true smartphones that people pay $30/m for net on. Another is that since 3G takes more power to use, it is trying to save battery life by switching to EDGE when the 3G signal gets too low.

Either way, it is annoying and every time I have had it switch to edge, I had to go to the connection manager and terminate the connection. Unless the data transfer started in EDGE, it wouldn't send/receive anything. Usually I would just try to move to a better signal for 3G again.

When I first got the phone, I had flashed to a different unbranded firmware. It had a few features such as 3.5G(what ATT uses, and why they claim they have the fastest 3G network), EDGE/3G Locking(prevents the phone from switching in low signal). Since then, T-mobile updated their firmware and it isn't possible to flash to Nokia's unbranded firmware anymore. Though there are Custom Firmwares that not only give many more features and ui tweaks, it introduces the 3G locking again to T-mobile users. Currently there is only one that works bug-free, though the Modders are working on solving incompatibilities with T-mobile's 5230.



I have never liked the bundled headphones/handsfree devices in phone boxes. They are all crap, basically the stuff you can get for working at certain places from the clients or sponsors(I have used JetBlue's "gift" headphones given to employees of affiliated companies. About 10 uses out of them before they fall apart).

Bottom line, for headphones, always buy your own :)




What do you mean? You can type *#7370# then enter your lock code(default is 12345). This will restore all factory default settings and reboot. It also wipes the phone memory, leaving you only with the current firmware files.
 
The poor 3G/2G selection is completely related to the Nuron. Next to another phone with a perfectly feasible 3G (-99dBm I believe) signal, it will switch over to EDGE. Extremely annoying, we're not all within close vicinity of a tower. Not exactly sure why the 3G/2G lock is removed. T-Mobile has it on other phones, they don't preemptively remove it from those phones (Defy, myTouch 3GS/4G, Vibrant - all of these phones have to be modified to allow us the menu option.. and the myTouch is designed with HTC/T-Mobile, the stock Android system only gives you a "2G only" option)
 
Nuron is the one with best signal reception and call quality within the entire lineup of the provider I am with (Mobilicity in Toronto), a lot of user reviews in Mobilicity forum, a lot of users say Nokia 5230 has better signal reception than Nexus One, unlocked Vibrant, HTC Snap, Sony Ericsson, and even BlackBerry.
Your experience may vary, but I personally think Nuron surely lives up to the expectation regarding RF performance.
 
It most certainly does, 3 Nurons and all of them we're dismal. It matches up with the Nokia 3711 I had, the Nokia 2720 I have, and the Nokia 1661. The bars are cute until you go from 7 to 1 at the drop of a hat and drop 3G like it's hot.
 
Do those other phones have the "dumb-phone" data plan? I'f assume since the nuron isn't really a smartphone, t-mobile didn't want it to be too appealing compared to the higher end phones. People complain about the 3G dropping, and want to upgrade. Simple business practices.



I haven't had that issue yet. I have had the bars go from 7 to 3, but that is due to being in a vehicle and going through an area with low signal due to the terrain. I also had it go from 5 to 1, but that was in a house where no phone was able to get a decent signal. Overall, since moving I have never had a problem with the nuron dropping from 3G to edge. Even while on the lightrail, going between concrete buildings constantly, it stays steady. All depends on your location imo.
In every other forum I've been in, I have heard more compliments about the nuron signal quality than complaints, so its obviously something that varies depending on your location.
 
Is it perhaps the icon telling you that GPS is active? That would normally be true only if you have Ovi Maps running in the background.
 
attachment.php

View attachment 68465

Was it any of these?

There is a free program called "Best Screensnap v2" that can take screenshots on your phone, if you could do that so we can identify what the icon is.
 
Back
Top