Design and Looks
For basic phone standards, the Nokia 1616 looks simply amazing. It is rounded at the edges and features a silver nav-pad. The sides of the phone have coloured accents that makes the phone looks very striking. The plastics employed on the outside of the form factor are cheap but are sufficiently robust nonetheless. The back of the phone is nondescript save for the loudspeaker grill at the back and a Nokia logo. Rest assured the phone sports good anti-scratch build and does not creak when pressed firmly between the fingers.
The phone's display is a 1.8 inch TFT display with a resolution of 128 x 160 pixels. The screen generates the bare minimum 65000 colours. It does not have the wide viewing angles or the sunlight legibility of a high end phone but is nevertheless the best you can get in this price. Below the screen we see the D-pad and the soft keys. They are very comfortable to work with and the only flaw we see here is the absence of the confirming centre within the four-way nav-pad. The alphanumeric keys below it are made of the same material and are very text friendly like on almost all Nokia basic handsets.
The phone features the simple S30 user interface with all the common Java apps like organizer, voice memo, convertor, games, calendar and other PIM functions on the phone. Since the phone is targeted at the developing rural market it features an application called Nokia Life Tools which provides vital information on education and agriculture among other things which is a truly novel app that can instruct users in several languages using graphically rich icons and text.
Keeping in mind the generally low cell-tower reception in remote areas, Nokia have spared no effort in ensuring that the phone's telephony is of the highest standards. What this means is that there's little possibility of dropped calls or disturbances even when the 'range' is low. The phone also features FM radio which is enhanced by the loudspeaker and standard 3.5mm audio jack. Not surprisingly the loudspeaker quality is poor and distorts easily at higher volumes. The standard 3.5mm audio jack means you can easily listen to the radio using the headset of your choice. Finally, the phone also sports a powerful LED flashlight.
In a word, the Nokia 1616 is a simply fabulous phone for its price with a very worthy features set. Nokia Life Tools will go a long way in revolutionizing information dissemination and the 1616 is a worthy phone to feature the application.
Features
- 1.8-inch TFT 65K colour screen with 128 x 160 pixels
- Robust scratch resistant design
- FM radio with loudspeaker and standard 3.5mm audio jack
- Polyphonic MP3ringtones
- Exchangeable colour covers
- Excellent battery life
- Nokia Life Tools application
Accessories
- Nokia Mobile Charger DC-4
- Nokia Stereo Headset WH-102
