Review: Twist and Shout with the Nokia 3250

Sponsored links, if any, appear in green.

Nokia 3250
Nokia 3250
Nokia 3250

The Nokia 3250 is one radical looking phone. The most unique feature of the 3250 is its innovative swiveling keypad, which rotates 90 degrees to transform the handset into camera mode, and 180 degrees to transform it into a music player - revealing the four dedicated music buttons. Sporting a 2.0 megapixel camera, the Nokia 3250 is a triband (900/1800/1900MHz) phone with support for EDGE networks. It comes with a 512MB microSD card in the box, and a remote control with in-ear canal earphones.

Physical Aspects

The Nokia 3250 is quite an unattractive phone. It is thick, and its design just seems uninspired; it makes me feel like I am holding a brick in my hands. The entire phone is made out of plastic, and some parts felt cheap. However, our review unit did not present any creaks or squeaks, and the swiveling mechanism was solidly made. What I did not like about the 3250 was the amount of glossy surfaces used. The entire back of the phone was glossy, which made it impossible to keep clean, and photographing it was extremely difficult.

The front of the Nokia 3250 looks just like the 3230. The keypad layout and design are very similar. Just below the display, you will find the navigation joystick. The joystick is flanked on the left by the left selection key, call key, and menu key and to the right are the right selection key, end key, clear key, and edit key. Like the 3230, these keys are all squeezed into one cramped space, making them rigid and uncomfortable to use, especially the bead sized clear and edit buttons. The joystick felt stiff and my thumb felt sore after a few minutes of use.

To the right of the phone, you will find the familiar Pop-port connector alongside the charging port. This awkward position of the Pop-port made placing the phone in your pocket almost impossible with a headset attached unless you placed it horizontally. To the left of the handset, you will find the 2 megapixel camera located on the side of the swiveling keypad. The top houses the power button and the bottom contains the loudspeaker. There is nothing on the back except for the four dedicated music buttons - previous track, play/pause, stop, and next track. These buttons will only work when in music mode or camera mode, where the previous track key also doubles as the zoom out button, the next track key as the zoom in button, and the play/pause key as the camera shutter button. The play/pause key is clad in chrome.

Swiveling the keypad to camera mode will reveal the location of the microSD memory card slot. The microSD card slot was so well hidden I could not find it without consulting the manual. It is located just below the call key, in between the display and keypad portions of the 3250. As you can see from the photos I have taken, the size of the microSD card also made it a difficult task to swap cards at that absurd location.

The white backlit keypad is adequately large and comfortable to use. Unlike the 3230, the 3250's keypad does not wobble and gives good feedback. I have no complaints about the keypad.

Measuring 103.8mm x 50mm x 19.8mm (4.09" x 1.97" x 0.78") and weighing 115g (4.06oz), the Nokia 3250 isn't exactly a heavy phone, but its dimensions and design make it look like a brick. I would have preferred a more streamlined design with sleeker lines. Nevertheless, it is still quite an innovative idea by Nokia to include the music control buttons on a phone without a slider design like the one found on the N91.