Many people are looking to simplify their dependence, and addiction to smartphones (from Google and iOS), or perhaps you're looking for a simpler phone for use by someone small (like a child), or you want a smaller phone in your pocket, with better battery life.
You might also want to avoid Google tracking your every move.
You might want to use certain modern apps, such as Whatsapp, or Sat-nav, if possible. So in order to find out what could be done with an old smartphone, I thought I'd look at what it's like to use an old Symbian Nokia E72 smartphone in 2018.
Many modern smartphones have large screens, and on-screen touch keyboards. "Back in the day" when phones didn't always have a large touch-screen, they'd sometimes feature a real keyboard. This is why I went for a Nokia E72, with a keyboard, rather than simply a numeric keypad, as I still wanted to be able to type or write text messages (and potentially emails).
Lets dive straight in and see what I can and can't accomplish with this smartphone... (queue HTML table...). We've included the features and information we deem to be important, and have omitted some of the features that come as standard with a smartphone, such as MP3 playback, built-in Wi-Fi, but we have included some features such as Text messaging, and Email support, as modern smartphones support emojis, and email support can be lacking in older phones, as some companies (such as Gmail and Hotmail etc) cut off support for older devices.
The operating system allows multi-tasking, as well as the ability to switch between apps as you would expect, however the very small amount of RAM built-in, means you can easily open too many apps, and end up with memory error messages, or crashing apps.
*Nokia offered "Free lifetime drive and walk voice assisted navigation" - and voice download worked directly from the phone.
You might also want to avoid Google tracking your every move.
You might want to use certain modern apps, such as Whatsapp, or Sat-nav, if possible. So in order to find out what could be done with an old smartphone, I thought I'd look at what it's like to use an old Symbian Nokia E72 smartphone in 2018.
Many modern smartphones have large screens, and on-screen touch keyboards. "Back in the day" when phones didn't always have a large touch-screen, they'd sometimes feature a real keyboard. This is why I went for a Nokia E72, with a keyboard, rather than simply a numeric keypad, as I still wanted to be able to type or write text messages (and potentially emails).
Lets dive straight in and see what I can and can't accomplish with this smartphone... (queue HTML table...). We've included the features and information we deem to be important, and have omitted some of the features that come as standard with a smartphone, such as MP3 playback, built-in Wi-Fi, but we have included some features such as Text messaging, and Email support, as modern smartphones support emojis, and email support can be lacking in older phones, as some companies (such as Gmail and Hotmail etc) cut off support for older devices.
| Nokia E72 (2009 - 9 years old) | |||
| Screen | 2.36inch non-touch, 320x240 resolution | - | |
| Keyboard | Physical QWERTY keyboard - pretty small and can be awkward to use, but better than a numeric keypad. | 1 | |
| OS | Symbian S60, 3rd edition - Discontinued, unsupported. | - | |
| Memory | Minimal/Pitiful: 128MB RAM, 250MB internal storage + MicroSDHC support | - | |
| Battery / life | 1500mAh Removable battery, USB and power charging, 2-3 days when new. | 1 | |
| Durability | Metal construction means it's still in good condition for the age | 1 | |
| Headphone | 3.5mm headphone socket | 1 | |
| Text messages support emojis | No | - | |
| Internet | Built-in "BrowserNG/7.2.6.2" Opera Mini and Mobile available Internet experience not great. |
- | |
| Facebook App | App available but intermittent, built-in browser works and you can use fb chat. | 0.5 | |
| Twitter App | No, but access via internet works | 0.5 | |
| YouTube App | No, but access via internet works | 0.5 | |
| App store | No longer working. | - | |
| SatNav | Nokia Maps included (when new), and GPS built-in. Needs to be loaded onto the MicroSD card if missing - download maps here* - Includes speed limit warnings. | 1 | |
| No | - | ||
| Yes - but Hotmail does not work | 0.5 | ||
| Camera | 5mp AF with LED flash (poor compared to modern smartphones) | - | |
| Price | Easily available for less than £20 unlocked on ebay UK. | 1 | |
| If we were going to give this phone a score, out of a possible 18, it would score: | 8/18 |
The operating system allows multi-tasking, as well as the ability to switch between apps as you would expect, however the very small amount of RAM built-in, means you can easily open too many apps, and end up with memory error messages, or crashing apps.
*Nokia offered "Free lifetime drive and walk voice assisted navigation" - and voice download worked directly from the phone.
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