Home » HOT APPS

Nokia Mobile Phones, the good the bad and the ugly

SevenSpiders by SevenSpiders
Last updated: 01/26/2012

Take a look at the range of Nokia's mobile handsets

Nokia have made some amazing phones over the years, since their formation in 1967. They have a global annual revenue of over 40 billion Euro's, so they must be doing something right. In this article we will revisit some of Nokia's handsets and discuss whether they are good, bad or just plain ugly. What appealed them to customers and what Nokia have up their sleeves for the future. We have listed a selection of ten Nokia phones that have graced the world with either brilliance, been particularly bad and/or gruesomely ugly.

If you don't agree with our selection, you can select your own Good, Bad and Ugly top ten, just use the voting options below.

Table of Contents

Vote for Good Nokia Mobile Phones

What is the Best Nokia phone you have seen?

1

Vote Up
Vote Down
Nokia N8 Unlocked GSM Touchscreen Phone Featuring GPS with Voice Navigation and 12 MP Camera--U.S. Version with Warranty (Silver/White)

Nokia N8 Unlocked GSM Touchscreen Phone Featuring GPS with Voice Navigation and 12 MP Camera--U.S. Version with Warranty (Silver/White)

Make the most of every moment, then play it all ba more...0 points

2

Vote Up
Vote Down
Nokia C3-00 Unlocked Cell Phone with QWERTY, Dedicated E-mail Key, 2 MP Camera, Media Player, WLAN, and MicroSD Slot--U.S. Version with Warranty (Slate)

Nokia C3-00 Unlocked Cell Phone with QWERTY, Dedicated E-mail Key, 2 MP Camera, Media Player, WLAN, and MicroSD Slot--U.S. Version with Warranty (Slate)

This affordable messaging device is all you need t more...0 points

3

Vote Up
Vote Down
Nokia X2 Prepaid Phone (T-Mobile)

Nokia X2 Prepaid Phone (T-Mobile)

Stay connected to your family and friends with e-m more...0 points

5

Vote Up
Vote Down
Nokia C6-01 Unlocked GSM Phone with 8 MP Camera, 720p Video Recording, and Ovi Maps Navigation--U.S. Version with Warranty (Silver)

Nokia C6-01 Unlocked GSM Phone with 8 MP Camera, 720p Video Recording, and Ovi Maps Navigation--U.S. Version with Warranty (Silver)

Stay connected with the phone that's as stylish as more...0 points

Vote for Bad Nokia Phones

What is the Worst Nokia phone you have ever used?

1

Vote Up
Vote Down
Nokia N8 Unlocked GSM Touchscreen Phone Featuring GPS with Voice Navigation and 12 MP Camera--U.S. Version with Warranty (Silver/White)

Nokia N8 Unlocked GSM Touchscreen Phone Featuring GPS with Voice Navigation and 12 MP Camera--U.S. Version with Warranty (Silver/White)

Make the most of every moment, then play it all ba more...0 points

2

Vote Up
Vote Down
Nokia C3-00 Unlocked Cell Phone with QWERTY, Dedicated E-mail Key, 2 MP Camera, Media Player, WLAN, and MicroSD Slot--U.S. Version with Warranty (Slate)

Nokia C3-00 Unlocked Cell Phone with QWERTY, Dedicated E-mail Key, 2 MP Camera, Media Player, WLAN, and MicroSD Slot--U.S. Version with Warranty (Slate)

This affordable messaging device is all you need t more...0 points

3

Vote Up
Vote Down
Nokia X2 Prepaid Phone (T-Mobile)

Nokia X2 Prepaid Phone (T-Mobile)

Stay connected to your family and friends with e-m more...0 points

4

Vote Up
Vote Down
Nokia X3 Slider GSM Quad-Band Unlocked Cell Phone with 3.5 MP Camera and 2 GB SD Slot Memory -- U.S. Version with Warranty (Blue)

Nokia X3 Slider GSM Quad-Band Unlocked Cell Phone with 3.5 MP Camera and 2 GB SD Slot Memory -- U.S. Version with Warranty (Blue)

Cool and confident: A pristine and high-tech desig more...0 points

5

Vote Up
Vote Down
Nokia E5-00 Unlocked GSM Phone with Easy E-mail Setup, IM, QWERTY, 5 MP Camera, Ovi Store with Apps, and Free Ovi Maps Navigation (Black)

Nokia E5-00 Unlocked GSM Phone with Easy E-mail Setup, IM, QWERTY, 5 MP Camera, Ovi Store with Apps, and Free Ovi Maps Navigation (Black)

Discover more ways to stay connected with friends, more...0 points

Vote for Ugly Nokia Phones

Who is the Ugliest of them all?

1

Vote Up
Vote Down
Nokia C3-00 Unlocked Cell Phone with QWERTY, Dedicated E-mail Key, 2 MP Camera, Media Player, WLAN, and MicroSD Slot--U.S. Version with Warranty (Slate)

Nokia C3-00 Unlocked Cell Phone with QWERTY, Dedicated E-mail Key, 2 MP Camera, Media Player, WLAN, and MicroSD Slot--U.S. Version with Warranty (Slate)

This affordable messaging device is all you need t more...0 points

2

Vote Up
Vote Down
Nokia N8 Unlocked GSM Touchscreen Phone Featuring GPS with Voice Navigation and 12 MP Camera--U.S. Version with Warranty (Green)

Nokia N8 Unlocked GSM Touchscreen Phone Featuring GPS with Voice Navigation and 12 MP Camera--U.S. Version with Warranty (Green)

Make the most of every moment, then play it all ba more...0 points

3

Vote Up
Vote Down
Nokia X2 Prepaid Phone (T-Mobile)

Nokia X2 Prepaid Phone (T-Mobile)

Stay connected to your family and friends with e-m more...0 points

4

Vote Up
Vote Down
Nokia E5-00 Unlocked GSM Phone with Easy Email Setup, IM, QWERTY, 5 MP Camera, Ovi Store with Apps, and Free Ovi Maps Navigation (White)

Nokia E5-00 Unlocked GSM Phone with Easy Email Setup, IM, QWERTY, 5 MP Camera, Ovi Store with Apps, and Free Ovi Maps Navigation (White)

Discover more ways to stay connected with friends, more...0 points

5

Vote Up
Vote Down
Nokia C1-01 Unlocked GSM Phone--U.S. Version with Warranty (Warm Gray)

Nokia C1-01 Unlocked GSM Phone--U.S. Version with Warranty (Warm Gray)

The aspects of things that are most important to us more...0 points

1-Nokia 1110

Good but Ugly

Nokia 1100 Global BestsellerThis might not look like much of a technological masterpiece, its clunky design would not be seen anywhere near the hand bags of the Apple faithful. Although it might not set the world alight with its features it is what it is and that is a very good phone. At the end of the day what is a phone for, its for calling people. This phone must be good at doing that because it's the best selling mobile handset in the world, with over 250 million sales since its release in 2003. It is the rat of the mobile phone world, nobody really likes them but they get everywhere.

For full reviews and information on where to buy click here.

2-Nokia 5110

Good but Ugly

This would have been many peoples first entry into the mobile phone market. They were the iPhone of the year 2000. Everyone I knew had one or wanted one until they were superseded. Everyone went mad for the amazing game of Snake, wow, how good was that. It brought texting to the masses and was relatively cheap. It did everything you could need a phone to do (at the time). You could chuck it off a cliff and it would still work. Best and worst of all was that you could customise it. Different buttons, backgrounds, ring tones and cases. That meant that everyone wanted to show off their gaudy shocking ensembles. So it must be good to have been so popular but man have I seen some ugly ones.

Buy Nokia Phones from Amazon

Loading

3-Nokia 6300

Good

The main driving force behind the success of the Nokia 6300 was its wide range of features, sturdy construction and relatively low cost. The reliability and durability combined with the low cost made this phone the main stay of company mobiles. Nearly everyone that has had a work mobile phone in recent years would have had a 6300. These have now been replaced mainly with Blackberries as the demand for emails increase but back when the 6300 was at its prime that was not an issue. You can still see people using them on trains even now, many years on. Having a camera phone on a mainstream phone was a revelation at the time.

For full reviews and information on where to buy click here.

4-N-Gage

Bad and Ugly

Nokia had this idea that people would want to play games on the move and combine it with a phone. Nintendo had huge success with the Gameboy and Nokia had experienced a surprise boom with Snake on the 5110. So obviously people would want the two combined. Nokia used the same type of design as Sega's Gamegear where you had the screen in between your hands. However by it was never easy to control as it was really a phone and it was never easy to phone as it was half hand held games console. Combined with the fact that the games were not really up to much and you looked like an idiot using it as a phone, that made this phone bad and considerably ugly. Even though they thought of it all those years ago, Apple still managed to get the jump up Nokia with the release of the iPhone, popular for being a phone and a games machine.

Buy Nokia N Series Phones from Amazon

Loading

5-Nokia N8

Bad

Nokia N8 with sliding qwerty keyboardThe Nokia N8 one of Nokia's flagship phones, produced to be a competitor for Apples iPhone. The only thing is by the time they released it to compete the iPhone 3Gs was gone and the iPhone 4 was out, making the N8 out of date right from the start. The iPhone is thinner and has a higher definition display at 960x640 pixels compared to N8's 640x480. The only good point is the camera which is better then the iPhone's. The census is no matter how good the phone is individual, it will always fail compared to its better rivals.

For full reviews and information on where to buy click here.

Buy Nokia C Series from Amazon

Loading

6-Nokia C3

Bad and Ugly

Nokia C3 Colour variations including shocking pinkWhen is a Blackberry not a Blackberry? Well one when it's a phone and not a fruit, two when it is a Nokia C3. As a standalone device it isn't actually that bad, it is a phone that can email, has a qwerty keyboard and reasonably good features. However it is still not a Blackberry and it never will be. If you want a Blackberry you will buy one, there is no reason to really own a C3. The other problem is they made a stupidly bright pink version, look you can see it in the photo, shocking and I have to say - Ugly.

Read more about the C3 at Squidoo here: http://www.squidoo.com/nokiac3 or read a full in depth review at 6300phones.com or find out about C3 accessories such as the C3 Leather Flip Case

7-Nokia 3650

Ugly

Nokia 3650 with circular control padThis was another one of Nokia's innovative designs. It was trying to reinvent the way we control phones by having circular button system just like the iPod. The only thing is that the iPod only needed the buttons to control music whereas the 3650 had to control phone functions too. Turns out people didn't like it and it also looked like it had been in a car crash and glued back together. Not intuitive and not liked.

eBay

Loading

8-Nokia 7280

Ugly

Nokia 7280 Music Playing Mobile PhoneAnother mad cap Nokia design. Trying to have a phone that was actually a compact MP3 player. It looked very strange indeed, like a rectangle. It had a reduced amount of buttons and relied mainly on voice control which wasn't that great during its time of release. Not even great as a media player compared to iPods. It was a bit of a flop but may have done better if it didn't look like it was made out of painted match boxes.

9-Nokia X6

Good

Stylish design featuring all of the new features you would expect on a modern smart phones. It has access to on demand apps, connectivity to all major social networks and apparently has the fastest web browser of all previous Nokia models. It is well priced and looks good. It was good in comparison to the early iPhones which it was in competition with and had a nicer touch screen then similar Samsung models.

10-Nokia C7

Good

The Nokia C7 is the latest in Nokias range of smart phones. It comes with a 3.5" touch screen, which is slightly smaller then the iPhone 4 but still allows for gesture control as is the norm with modern smart phones. It has a much more stylish and sleek look to it, especially the polished steel model. More importantly it wont look like everyone else's iPhones.

Customisation has been the key to the iPhones success. The C7 allows for three different customisable home screens, which is still way off of the flexibility of the iPhones. One feature that has been included is the use of Apps. You can access Nokias Ovi Store for thousands of Apps, still way off the iPhones App store, but its growing every day. They also include Angry Birds pre installed for free, so you cant argue with that.

The defining feature over the iPhone is the camera. It has a stunning 8 megapixel camera, which also takes HD video at 720p resolution. Available in several colours and almost certainly more robust than the iPhones. Also includes the normal social network integration that is common with all recent smartphones as well as free GPS navigation.

What is your Best Nokia phone?

My prediction

Mine is the Nokia X6, sleek and stylish.

Reader predictions:

Loading Fetching predictions now... please stand by

 
 
1 of 1 pages
 

What is your Worst Nokia phone?

My prediction

Mine is the Nokia N Gage, market wasnt ready and design was awful.

Reader predictions:

Loading Fetching predictions now... please stand by

 
 
1 of 1 pages
 

What is your Ugliest Nokia phone?

My prediction

Mine is the Nokia 3650, what were they thinking with that control pad.

Reader predictions:

Loading Fetching predictions now... please stand by

 
 
1 of 1 pages
 

Future of Nokia

powered by Youtube

Good bye Ovi hello Microsoft

Nokia have announced that they are getting rid of that stupid brand name Ovi. Ovi didn't do anything for the Nokia organisation, if anything it just confused people. Nokia wanted people to use their store but then got rid of the Nokia name that everyone trusts and replaced it with Ovi which no one recognised. It was a marketing ploy to sound trendy against Apple with their App store but it backfired. Now that Nokia are teaming up with Microsoft for new models of their phones they have decided to drop the stupid ugly Ovi name and revert back to Nokia. Its good that Nokia are learning from their mistakes.

Nokia have now released some Microsoft Mobile OS handsets. The handsets themselves are quite nice, but the Windows OS looks more like Windows 3.11 then a modern phone suite. Big blocks with gaudy colours, hardly the fluid sleak designs of Apples iOS and Android.

Useful Links

Nokia Information Web Site produced by article author
Nokia has been one of the major mobile suppliers over last decade. Find Nokia phones, accessories, technical support and more. Check out our phone reviews and other articles.
Nokia - Nokia on the Web - The Official Nokia Web Site
Nokia is the world's leading mobile phone supplier and a leading supplier of mobile and fixed telecom networks including related customer services.
Buy Mobile Phones and Accessories
Find all the latest mobile phones and accessories.
Sell or Recycle your Old Mobile Phones
Recycle your mobile phone or sell mobile for cash.

Featured Lenses

Loading

Blog

Loading Fetching RSS feed... please stand by

Reader Feedback

submit
Show All

Donations

The Squidoo Charity Fund has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for charity. Thanks to the Squidoo community, we've built schools in Cambodia, given underprivileged classrooms computers and software, funded important reseach against Juvenile Diabetes

This HOT APPS page written by

SevenSpiders

As the main author of 6300 Phones web site that specialises in Nokia phones I wanted to write something different that would attract attention. This... more »

A guide to the hottest mobile apps around. Both iOS and Android. Curated by the Dolphin Browser team.

Connect with HOT APPS

This author recommends...