Review of the Nokia X2-01
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nokia x2-01

The Nokia X2-01 is a Nokia phone from the X series of phones designed for social networking and fast communications. It is also a phone with strong enhancements for any user that loves their music entertainment. The Nokia X2-01 is in no way the same phone as the Nokia X2 released earlier by Nokia. This mobile phone was announced in November 2010 and was ready to be shipped by Christmas.

Design (4 out of 5)

The Nokia X2-01 measures 119.4 mm in length, 59.8 mm in breadth and 14.3 mm in depth and weighs in at 107.5 grams. This Nokia phone comes in either Red, Silver, Lilac, Azure or Deep Grey as its out of the box color schemes.

The front face is fitted with a 2.4 inch landscape oriented TFT display with the ear piece on the top half of the phone, while the bottom half has been fitted with a QWERTY keyboard and the softkey panel.

The softkey panel has the usual Go To softkey on the left and the contact book access key on the right. In the center of this panel there is the Five-way Navi keypad which has its center button acting as the default menu button. On the immediate left of the Five-way Navi key is the dedicated media key and on the immediate right of the Five-way Navi key is the dedicated messaging key.

Also included within the softkey panel is the green call button and the red call cancel button. On the right side of the Nokia X2-01 there are no controls or slots whatsoever but on the left side of this phone there are two slots. One for the microUSB connector and another for the microSD extended memory card.

The back side of the Nokia X2-01 has got the external speaker, the VGA camera and the battery compartment which in turn houses the SIM card slots. The top side of the Nokia X2-01 has got the 3.5 mm audio jack and the power control key.

User Interface (3 out of 5)

The user interface of the Nokia X2-01 is based on the Nokia’s S40 Framework. This model uses the sixth edition. Navigating through the phone is quite user friendly and straightforward. Nokia brings the simplicity of Symbian navigation to this phone.

There is a dedicated key on the softkey panel to access messaging operations such as checking your email or SMS inbox, composing text messages and emails. In addition to the messaging key there is also a dedicated media key you can use to access the music player, video player and FM radio.

The communications application gives you quick access to the individuals in the contact book as well as social networking websites. The menu can be accessed by pressing the center key of the Five-way Navi pad. The four by three menu grid can be navigated using the outer keys of the Five-way Navi pad highlighting the application icons. Using the center key you can launch any application of your choice.

The QWERTY keyboard is ideal for inputting text in all applications that are available on the Nokia X2-01. You can make a call by keying in the number highlighted on the QWERTY keyboard when on the home screen then pressing the green call button. All calls can be ended or rejected using the red call end buttons.

Features (2 out of 5)

Nokia X2-01

The Nokia X2-01 comes with a TFT landscape display that is capable of showing 256K colors. This display comes in a resolution of 320 x 240 pixels. Audio on this Nokia phone is served up through a 3.5 mm stereo audio compatible connector.

Internal memory on the Nokia X2-01 is 55MB with 64MB RAM and a 128MB ROM. External memory is available up to a maximum of 8GB. This phone, even though designed for enjoying the experience of social networking and fast communications, lacks the connectivity to support heavy use of these features. Therefore connectivity is limited to GPRS and EDGE. For connectivity to other devices the Nokia X2-01 comes with a microUSB connector and Bluetooth capabilities.

There is a VGA camera with a resolution of 640 x 480 pixels on this Nokia phone. Video recording is also supported at 15 frames per second at a lower resolution of 176 x 144 pixels. In addition to the MP3/WAV/WMA/AAC music player and the MP4/H.264/H.263/WMV video player there is also a Stereo FM radio with RDS.

There are plenty of games on the Nokia X2-01 including support for both Java and Flash Lite 3.0 applications. Internet and email is available on the Nokia X2-01 through the native browser and Opera Mini as well.

Performance (2 out of 5)

The Nokia X2-01 is not as powerful as other Nokia phones from the same X series family of phones. As far as Internet connectivity speed, the Nokia X2-01 lacks both 3G as well as Wi-Fi. Standby time is also limited to just 480 hours while talk time is limited to 4 hours 30 minutes.

The quality of the VGA camera is also poor and lacks additional lightning usually provided through the flash. The performance of media is okay but the video quality when viewed on a computer reveals that this is also not such a good phone for recording media on.

The Nokia X2-01 is a good phone as far as ease of use with Symbian S40, 6th Edition running as its operating system and user interface.

Verdict (3 out of 5)

The Nokia X2-01 is good looking sturdy phone that lacks several features that are found in most high-end phones including others from the same X series family. The Nokia X2-02 comes preinstalled with fun applications that appeal to young users who just want to remain in constant communication on social networking sites and want the ease of inputting text and exchanging of messages on the go. This Nokia phone is great to handle and easy to use and the price is just about right at around US$110 for the Nokia X2-01.

You can compare the Nokia X2-01 with the Nokia X2 and others from the X series family such as the Nokia X5-01.