All About Symbian - Symbian, Nokia and S60 unwrapped.
Nokia E63 meets its Series 40 rival, the new C3
Published by Steve Litchfield at 13:52 UTC, July 6th 2010
Summary:
We tend to ignore Nokia's cheap and cheerful Series 40 platform phones here on All About Symbian, but the launch of the new C3 brought, in theory, a handset slap bang into contention with a Symbian-powered smartphone, in this case the E63, itself over a year old now. Which means that a blow by blow comparison should be very interesting - can the £80 C3 (currently a Vodafone exclusive in the UK) threaten the lowly (for the smartphone world) E63?
| Nokia C3 | Nokia E63 | |
| Date, price | Available June 2010, locked to Vodafone in the UK , £80 inc VAT | Available Feb 2009, now £160 inc VAT, unlocked |
| Fashion | Available in white, grey or pink | Available in grey, red or blue |
| Form factor, weight | Front-facing qwerty, 114g, nicely rounded on back (around narrow battery), lovely coloured aluminium battery cover is an unexpected touch. Device feels smaller in the hand than the E63 | Front-facing qwerty, 126g, feels larger but the rubberised plastic makes the E63 superbly stable in the hand |
| Operating system, speed | Series 40, feels slow once you start doing something serious, like render a web page, browse the Ovi Store, or play a game. Maybe three times slower than S60 on the E63. No user multitasking beyond simple activities like music playback. | Symbian, S60 3rd Edition FP1, feels far faster, even though the E63 itself is slow by some modern standards . Full multitasking of all apps. 70MB free RAM. |
| Network and connectivity | Quad band GSM, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi (but current Vodafone firmware is presumed buggy and locks out Wi-Fi for browser use, incredibly) | Quad band GSM, dual band 3G, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi |
| Display | TFT LCD, QVGA resolution, hard to read in the sun | TFT LCD with transflective layer, QVGA resolution, reads superbly in direct sunlight |
| Keyboard | 4-row with embedded number keypad, nigh on identical to E71's (and ditto E63's) | 4-row with embedded number keypad |
| Memory | 55MB internal flash memory, microSD expansion (no card supplied) | 120MB internal flash memory, microSD expansion (card supplied in some markets) |
| Camera | 2 megapixel, non-focussing, no flash, QVGA video capture at 15fps | 2 megapixel, non-focussing, LED flash, QVGA video capture at 15fps |
| Battery | 1320mAh BL-5J, 30 hours music playback time. Real world: 3 or 4 days per charge | 1500mAh, BP-4L, 18 hours music playback time quoted, shorter times probably due to effects of running a faster processor and full smartphone OS? Real world: 2 days per charge |
| Applications | (Very) basic Facebook and Twitter clients, bundled into 'Communities', Internet browser (Opera Mini is listed by Nokia but seems removed by Vodafone), Ovi Store client (which offers Opera Mini back, along with lots of Java novelties), Block'd and Sudoku games and various trial titles. | Quickoffice editing suite, Zip manager, PDF reader, Internet Radio, Music store client, Ovi Store client |
| Audio and Video playback | Mono speaker on back, adequately loud but tinny. 3.5mm headphone socket. Video playback optimised for captured videos and 3GP short clips, playback very patchy for wider range of videos | Mono speaker on back, slightly quieter but of higher quality. 3.5mm headphone socket. Most modest bitrate MP4 videos play, also WMV and FLV formats |
| Connections | microUSB, Nokia 2mm charging socket | microUSB, Nokia 2mm charging socket |
| Updates | Over the air - it's a function within 'Settings' - all data and apps are preserved | Via Nokia Software Update or Ovi Suite, phone has to be wiped and then restored |
| Other notes | Has a disturbing tendency to go online at the slightest whim, without asking and for no apparent reason. Haven't worked out why yet! | Ovi Maps is included, but there's no GPS, so it's strictly a 'You are roughly here' cell tower location system. |
It's clear from the table above, hopefully, where at least some of your money goes when you step up from the best the Series 40, feature phone world has to offer into the world of Symbian and S60. From a higher quality screen and speaker to faster processor with far more capable OS, the E63 is clearly the more capable device at almost every turn, despite the extreme cosmetic and superficial specification similarities.
It's also clear, for anyone with a grounding in the spec levels that other 2010 phones are shipping with at the 'high end', that both of these devices are pretty basic - but then you have to remember that at, for example, £80 in the C3's case, it's roughly SIX times cheaper than an iPhone 4 and FOUR times cheaper than an N97 mini.
A valid question would then be whether the new C3 is any good? The E63's a known quantity, effectively the poor man's E71, and the C3 promises to do much the same thing (albeit without Symbian or S60 apps) for half the price. For simple messaging, music playback and phone duties, the C3 will 'do', but the slowness of most major functions and the limitations of Series 40 are very evident to anyone used to S60. In addition, the penny-pinching non-transflective screen (surely only saving Nokia a dollar on each unit) cripple the C3 and mean that it's just as hopeless outdoors as the latest touchscreen 'marvels' from HTC. Screen visibility used to be one of Nokia's big plus points and I can't believe they messed this up for what should have been a seminal 'flagship' Series 40 phone.
The Wi-Fi bug was the last straw, of course, completely foiling the whole point of putting Wi-fi in the C3 in the first place. I hope Nokia and Vodafone fix this, but I've no experience of firmware updates outside the Symbian world so can't really comment here....
A common message of the last 5 years was that Series 40 is catching S60 (Series 60) up, but apart from some attempts at bringing the interface together, the truth is that the arenas of feature phones and smartphones are still worlds apart.
Steve Litchfield, AAS, 7 July 2010
C3 on the left has significantly less contrast in bright light than the E63 on the right. This was on a window ledge in indirect sun - the effect is far more dramatic in full sun, sadly.
Discussion
Unregistered
the e63 does have 3g
nokia's transflective screens are great. i recently bought a 6303i and the screen is perfectly visible in strong sunlight.
nokia's transflective screens are great. i recently bought a 6303i and the screen is perfectly visible in strong sunlight.
viipottaja
A dollar (and I would suspect its probably a bit more) is a LOT in a device this cheap.
Especially given that this is likely to sell by the million in the developing world (sadly, of course, screen visibility in the bright light in many of those countries will be an even bigger issue that in the... err.. occasionally clowdy UK for example :) ).
Especially given that this is likely to sell by the million in the developing world (sadly, of course, screen visibility in the bright light in many of those countries will be an even bigger issue that in the... err.. occasionally clowdy UK for example :) ).
Unregistered
I own C3, bought in Indonesia the day nokia launched it for a mere (around) US$96. I also own Nokia N81 and also E61i.
I must said that C3 is not on the same league as Nokia E63 because it's use the S40. but for the intended price, and compare to lots of other non-smartphone the C3 is doing very well. C3 is also better compared to the non-smartphone because it have a big screen and good build quality. I must say that the C3 build is on par with the E series phone such as the E71.
If you're gonna use the Nokia C3 for heavy messaging such as SMS/MMS/Email/YM/MSN messanger/Google Talk/Ovi Chat/FB/twitter, and light web browsing, then Nokia C3 really sure doing it's job very well. but nokia C3 is not well designed for compete with the smartphone league.
Anyway,
the Nokia Messaging Service or short for NMS still have a lot of bug. I fond out that my C3 occasionally being cut from YM/Google/MSN/Ovi. This problem irritate me a lot because I bought C3 just for using the YM and push mail.
As for the Internet connection, I really hate the C3 option is very limited. I wish nokia polish this part more.
All in all, I really recomend this C3 to anyone that want to bought the non-smartphone. but if you have the smartphone DNA, don't buy C3. You'll be very disappointed.
I must said that C3 is not on the same league as Nokia E63 because it's use the S40. but for the intended price, and compare to lots of other non-smartphone the C3 is doing very well. C3 is also better compared to the non-smartphone because it have a big screen and good build quality. I must say that the C3 build is on par with the E series phone such as the E71.
If you're gonna use the Nokia C3 for heavy messaging such as SMS/MMS/Email/YM/MSN messanger/Google Talk/Ovi Chat/FB/twitter, and light web browsing, then Nokia C3 really sure doing it's job very well. but nokia C3 is not well designed for compete with the smartphone league.
Anyway,
the Nokia Messaging Service or short for NMS still have a lot of bug. I fond out that my C3 occasionally being cut from YM/Google/MSN/Ovi. This problem irritate me a lot because I bought C3 just for using the YM and push mail.
As for the Internet connection, I really hate the C3 option is very limited. I wish nokia polish this part more.
All in all, I really recomend this C3 to anyone that want to bought the non-smartphone. but if you have the smartphone DNA, don't buy C3. You'll be very disappointed.
slitchfield
Noted re:3G - I'd forgotten that we'd turned it off on our E63! Corrected in the text. Thanks.
JCB_Digger
I wonder if the Wifi 'bug' is just a cynical attempt to make you use Vodafone's data services (similar to Virgin with their PAYG E63 where every shortcut on the homescreen takes you onto the internet). I guess the occasional 'random' connections are updating Twitter/Facebook?
The suggested tariff for the C3 (added when you put the phone in your basket), it costs £1 a day for 15Mb of internet.
Whilst the phone is initially very cheap, it'll cost you £30 a month to run, for which you can get a far better deal on contract.
The suggested tariff for the C3 (added when you put the phone in your basket), it costs £1 a day for 15Mb of internet.
Whilst the phone is initially very cheap, it'll cost you £30 a month to run, for which you can get a far better deal on contract.
germcevoy
The C3 is a nice little thing. A massive hit with the teenage girls seen I bet. I was half considering it for QWERTY use on top of my touch screen main device but i'd rather do a few extra hours at work and get an E71 instead.
steve_perry
Quote:
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Originally Posted by JCB_Digger
I wonder if the Wifi 'bug' is just a cynical attempt to make you use Vodafone's data services (similar to Virgin with their PAYG E63 where every shortcut on the homescreen takes you onto the internet). I guess the occasional 'random' connections are updating Twitter/Facebook?
The suggested tariff for the C3 (added when you put the phone in your basket), it costs £1 a day for 15Mb of internet. Whilst the phone is initially very cheap, it'll cost you £30 a month to run, for which you can get a far better deal on contract. |
Quote:
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... but current Vodafone firmware is presumed buggy and locks out Wi-Fi for browser use, incredibly... ... Has a disturbing tendency to go online at the slightest whim, without asking and for no apparent reason. Haven't worked out why yet! ... ... The Wi-Fi bug was the last straw, of course, completely foiling the whole point of putting Wi-fi in the C3 in the first place. I hope Nokia and Vodafone fix this, but I've no experience of firmware updates outside the Symbian world so can't really comment here.... |
Hmm anyways the C3 sounds a bit too cheap and nasty judging by Steve's write up. Does there not come a point where building a handset soo cheap makes it virtually unusable? I guess the C3 is just inside the boundary. Seems sad to me when a 1 year old phone out performs the new-comer, no matter how reasonable the price.
S.
jonquirk
While the E63 has no built-in GPS it does have bluetooth so using a separate Bluetooth GPS is certainly feasible to improve location accuracy.
Unregistered
Quote:
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Originally Posted by steve_perry
Hmm anyways the C3 sounds a bit too cheap and nasty judging by Steve's write up. Does there not come a point where building a handset soo cheap makes it virtually unusable? I guess the C3 is just inside the boundary. Seems sad to me when a 1 year old phone out performs the new-comer, no matter how reasonable the price. S. |
Unregistered
are the two silver bits either side of the d-pad functional buttons or just for show?
steve_perry
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Unregistered
Not really, horses for courses. This is clearly aimed at schoolkids and impoverished students for whom messaging is the priority and suggesting it is unusable is a gross exaggeration. The market space in which the BB Curve is the aspirational phone, they are going after that market share.
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Steve Litchfield
Series 40, feels slow once you start doing something serious, like render a web page, browse the Ovi Store, or play a game. Maybe three times slower than S60 on the E63.
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S.
steve_perry
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Unregistered
are the two silver bits either side of the d-pad functional buttons or just for show?
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S.
DeRegistered
Quote:
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Originally Posted by steve_perry
I
There really is no excuse other than penny pinching... In this day and age manufacturers like Nokia, should be able to produce a device that does not slow to a crawl even when doing the basics nevermind including the advanced stuff or multi-tasking. S. |
Forget the multi-tasking, this is a budget S40 device, talking of which:
Quote:
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Originally Posted by slitchfield
We tend to ignore Nokia's cheap and cheerful Series 40 platform phones here on All About Symbian, but the launch of the new C3 brought, in theory, a handset slap bang into contention with a Symbian-powered smartphone, in this case the E63
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slitchfield
Yes, the left silver button is for Communities, i.e. social contacts - bit weak, if you ask me - Contacts would have been better. Right is for Messaging, yes.
Jowls
Quote:
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Originally Posted by DeRegistered
Well it is, as you say, an S40 phone and this website is AllAboutSYMBIAN, so no surprise S40 phones get ignored then..
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Unregistered
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Jowls
Not to be a nit picker but S40 is Symbian. Just a different distro than S60...
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Very very wrong.
slitchfield
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Jowls
Not to be a nit picker but S40 is Symbian. Just a different distro than S60...
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You're thinking of 'Series 80', the old Communicator interface.
Unregistered
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Jowls
Not to be a nit picker but S40 is Symbian. Just a different distro than S60...
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S40 is not a different distribution of Symbian, it's an entirely unrelated code base that just happens to have been created by the same parent that adopted Symbian. So they are not even blood relatives.
What is a "distro" anyway? Is it some kind of instant gravy product?
Unregistered
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Unregistered
What is a "distro" anyway? Is it some kind of instant gravy product? |
Unregistered
The Wi-Fi problem has been fixed, to access the pre-installed Opera browers go to:
Menu > Apps > Extras > Collection > 'Internet' and their it is.
So really... Your review isn't fair on the C3. Which is a great phone.
Menu > Apps > Extras > Collection > 'Internet' and their it is.
So really... Your review isn't fair on the C3. Which is a great phone.
milloreeri
We tend to ignore the cheap series Nokia phone gay here on the platform 40 All About Symbian, but the launch of the new C3 is, in theory, slap bang in the divergence in combination with Symbian technology, and in this case, E63, which is more than a year. This means that a piecemeal over should be very interesting.
