Nokia X3-02 Review

The X3-02 isn't the first Series 40 (S40) handset with a touchscreen and alphanumeric pad. The 6208 classic, announced in December 2008, already offers a pen-input interface with a conventional keymat, although the stylus looks unwieldy. The newly minted X3-02 ups the drool factor with a slim and trendy design.

Upside

The X3-02, which runs on the S40 6th edition platform with Feature Pack 1, brings touchscreen features to a mass-market offering. The handset is expected to have an estimated price of 125 euros before taxes, which means it'll probably be offered free with a two-year operator contract.

One of the key features which Nokia coins "Touch and Type" is the dual-input interface. The 2.4-inch QVGA touchscreen is a resistive-type display, so you'll also be able to use it with a stylus (or pointing device), although it doesn't seem to come with one housed in the chassis. The touchscreen interface appears to be reasonably designed for finger input judging by the size of the onscreen buttons in the screenshots.

There are dedicated physical buttons for Call and End phone functions, as well as Messaging and Music. Below these are the alphanumeric keys with sloping edges, a design found on Nokia's premium Arte and Sirocco series. At the bottom edge is a speaker with a grille design, while the back cover is made from brushed aluminum--little touches that mask the handset's entry-level origins. The X3-02 has a footprint of 106.2 x 48.4mm and a hairline thickness of only 9.6mm. The Samsung Galaxy S smartphone, in comparison, measures 9.9mm.

For connectivity, this Nokia comes with a complete array of settings including quad-band GSM, 10.2Mbps HSDPA, 2.0Mbps HSUPA, VoIP, Bluetooth A2DP and 802.11b/g/n, which is very commendable for a budget device. It lacks just GPS for satellite navigation. Around the back, there's also a 5-megapixel fixed-focus camera, which also captures VGA-resolution videos at a disappointing 18fps. About 50MB of onboard memory will be available to the user, but that can be increased with a microSD card up to 32GB in capacity.

Preinstalled with the X3-02 are a Webkit browser with Flash Lite 3.0, music and video players, and a voice recorder. Ovi Store is supported, so user can browse and install additional apps on the device. In selected markets, the X3-02 will also come with the Nokia Music Store.

Charging is via the 2mm connector (with support for USB charging) and the 860mAh battery is rated for up to 5.3 hours of talktime and approximately 18 days on standby.

Downside

One concern we have with the X3-02 is the 4 x 3 keypad layout. This is different from the usual 3 x 4 ones where the *, 0 and # are at the bottom. On the X3-02, these are lined in a column on the right. What this means is there'll be a learning curve for entering space or toggling suggested words with the T9 dictionary enabled. Fortunately, the keypad isn't that much wider compared with the C5, so it should still be relatively easy for the thumb to adjust to the additional width.

Outlook

The Nokia X3-02 looks every bit of a promising entry-level handset with all the bells and whistles sans the hefty price associated with premium devices. In Asia Pacific, the X3-02, which comes in five colors, is expected to be available in Australia, China, New Zealand and Singapore in Q3.
(Source)