Nokia C2-05

Overview

Best in its Class

Design

Camera

Misc

Shades

Released in December 2011, the Nokia C2-05 is an affordable slider phone aimed at the budget end of the mobile market, advertised as ‘Social Meets Style’. The price is low, but does this mean sacrificing function?

Design and Build Quality of Nokia C2-05

Weighing in at just 98g, the C2-05 is undoubtedly more pocket-friendly than the bulky phones at the higher end of the market. It’s a compact device, measuring 99 by 48, but its thickness of 16mm makes it less streamlined than sleek powerhouses like the iPhone. Despite that, the phone feels slightly flimsy, and gives the impression that it might not survive too much abuse, although its silicone cover provides a more robust appearance. The design is certainly eye-catching, available in a range of colors (including hot pink and peacock blue), but the exaggerated curves may not be for everyone. The metallic finish is a nice touch. It features a 2-inch QVGA LCD screen displaying at 320x240 resolution. Visuals are average, as is to be expected for a phone of this type.

User Interface and Comfort to Use

The phone runs Nokia’s Series 40 interface designed for low-spec phones, and on the whole it performs well, although there are no bells or whistles to liven up what is a very basic UI. Using shortcuts on the home screen you can quickly access the dedicated Twitter and Facebook apps in order to get real-time tweets and updates. The phone locks and unlocks quickly. The interface is basic with limited functionality, although it permits a degree of customization using wallpapers, themes and ringtones downloaded from the Nokia Store.

Telephony and Phonebook

The phonebook is basic with a clean and classic design that permits up to 1000 entries. Incoming calls prompt the phone to bring up a slightly baffling menu. Call quality leaves a lot to be desired, particularly in terms of volume – the audio is very quiet, and the phone’s loudness settings are very limited. Although this is a budget phone, it performs worse than many of its competitors. Signal is poorly maintained, and the phone often drops calls. There is also no facility for blocking callers.

Nokia C2-05 Messaging and Emails

The C2-05’s Nokia Messaging and Email apps support SMS, MMS, IM and email, and are basic with few additional features. Email is relatively well integrated, with support for Hotmail, Nokia Mail, Yahoo Mail and many others. Once setup is complete – which can be time-consuming – there are basic options for composing and editing emails. The phone’s keypad is disappointingly small, which makes it challenging and slow to use.

Gallery, Photo Viewer and Video Player

With an internal memory of just 64MB, the phone does not allow for extensive media storage out of the box. Fortunately, the phone features a microSD slot, so users can boost the memory allowance by an additional 32GB with the right microSD card. The phone includes a basic photo gallery for browsing images snapped with the phone’s camera or uploaded from a PC, but there are few editing options. It is, however, integrated with social media, which makes uploads to Facebook and Twitter relatively easy. There is a minimalistic video player that supports a very limited range of formats, but playback is unpleasant on the phone’s low-res screen.

Nokia C2-05 Music Player and FM Radio

The phone’s music player is very basic, with the expected classic interface for playing, pausing and browsing tracks. File support is quite limited, and many file types will not play correctly. The phone also features an in-built FM radio that enables users to record live FM audio for later playback – a nice additional feature often missing from today’s smartphones.

Still Camera and Image Quality of Nokia C2-05

The phone has an in-built VGA resolution camera (0.3 megapixels) at the rear – a deliberately modest offering that helps to keep the price consumer-friendly. As you would expect, the image quality is very poor: colors are dull and muted, contrast is low, and in low light the stills are full of noise and distortion, with many areas not distinguishable.

Connectivity Options of Nokia C2-05

While less impressive than the multi-way connectivity of market-leading smartphones, the C2-05 nevertheless includes some solid options, including Bluetooth 2.1 capability, although its main reception is via a GSM dual band 900/1800 & 850/1900. Unfortunately, it lacks 3G support or WLAN. It does feature a micro-USB slot, for connecting the phone to a PC to make data transfers.

Organiser and other utility tools

The basic utilities that we’ve come to expect from our phones are all pre-installed: Clock, Calculator, Calendar, Notes, Alarm, Reminders and Converter, as well as a usual Recorder app for capturing sound. The lack of software for viewing documents is disappointing.

Web Browser and Applications

The new Nokia Browser comes pre-installed on the phone. This uses Nokia’s compression software technology (Nokia claims compression of up to 90%) to deliver a faster and more responsive internet experience, using far less bandwidth than other phones. Certainly, the browser is nippy in comparison to other phones in this bracket, with quick load times and transitions. Notably, the web browser supports Flash, although you won’t be watching long YouTube videos or browsing elaborate media-rich sites on this phone. Apps are available for download from the Nokia Store, which has a pretty comprehensive range of games, apps and tools but is not a patch on the gigantic Android Market or iOS Store.

Google Maps and GPS

The native Nokia Maps app comes pre-installed on the Nokia C2-05, but the phone does not have in-built GPS, which makes way-finding considerably more time-consuming and difficult. Maps are often slow to render, and it can be difficult to identify landmarks.

Value for money

There’s no doubt that this is a very affordable phone, but the clear hardware and software sacrifices will make it unappealing to all but the most novice mobile users.

Verdict of Nokia C2-05

An unremarkable phone with a solid music player, internal memory and durable design, the Nokia C2-05 is affordable but lacking in functionality, and there are other rival devices that offer more in the way of features.