Nokia 1112: Back to the Basics

I wrote before that I usually go through cycles of having high-end phones and then coming back to basic ones. Well, it seems right now I’m in the basic part of that cycle, and perhaps I’ll stick to this for quite some time.

I arrived home the other night with a flat cellphone battery. My SmartPhone (vintage, with Microsoft Smartphone 2002 software) apparently died while I was driving home, and I didn’t realize this until yesterday morning. So when I charged the phone, I went through the usual boot-up sequence, entered my PIN and just left the phone on the table to charge. But as I checked on it, the screen said I had to input my PIN again, as the first try was an error. I keyed my code in correctly (and carefully) but the phone suddenly said my SIM card had been blocked! I had to key in my PIN unblocking key (PUK) before I could use the SIM again.

SIM Blocked!

Horror of horrors, I lost the PUK slip years ago, when I first purchased the prepaid SIM card I’d been using. Those things were designed to get lost, since they’re really thin and small. And my mobile provider wouldn’t give me the PUK–I don’t think they really disclose that to prepaid users (maybe they don’t even have records).

So I ran off to the nearby mall to see if anyone can unlock my SIM, to no avail. I decided, instead, to check out the latest phone models if I found one to my liking. I was set to buy the cheapest, but reliable, model. A couple of my siblings own the Nokia 1100, which I thought was pretty decent for a very basic phone–it did just what you would expect from a mobile phone: calling and texting. It even lasts a week on a single charge (my brother found this useful when we had a week-long blackout because of a storm).

Basic or Higher Model?

I was also thinking of getting a Motorola L7 (SLVR), but it cost about five times my tentative budget. I could have opted for zero-percent installments on my credit card, but opted against it. After all, I’m no longer such a cellphone junkie like I used to be a couple of years ago, when I had to have the latest and greatest in cellphone technology. Also, after almost a year dealing with the Smartphone’s interface, I opted for something simpler.

So I got what I originally came for: a basic model. And instead of the 1100, which was a dated model, anyway, I got the Nokia 1112, for the equivalent of $45 with prepaid SIM.

An Inexpensive, Basic Phone. Hey, it Works!


I’m not much for snazzy features. I have a digital camera that I carry around most of the time, so I won’t need a camera-phone. I don’t need complicated PDA functions, since that’s what iCal (and Google Calendar) is for. I don’t need music-playing capabilities–that’s where my car stereo or my home computer are for. I don’t really need a color screen. It’s just a phone, not a laptop computer! I’m not a heavy caller nor texter, so I just need something I can use to SMS my wife when I’m ready to pick her up from work.

The Nokia 1112, in my opinion, is pretty decent for a basic phone, and here’s why.

  • It has a built-in speakerphone. I find this very useful when driving. Most of my phones for the past four years have had built-in speakerphones that one can just activate with one touch. So I need not fumble with keys or settings when I’m on the road and I absolutely have to take a call. I just press a key and put the phone back on my lap or on the center console and talk with hands-free ease.
  • It has very long battery life. My gripe with the high-tech phones I owned usually involves the battery life. Modern smartphones probably last two to three days, but still if you’re the kind of person who just pockets his phone and forgets about all else, you shouldn’t have to think about charging your phone every so often. The 1112 will give you a week’s time in standby.
  • The refreshing, new Nokia interface. It’s basic, but it doesn’t have the dreaded Navi-key, meaning the one-button “navi” operation that most other lower-end Nokias use. This one has two softkeys and real SEND and END buttons. And it does have a four-way cursor, not just “up” and “down.” This makes it easier to navigate through long SMS messages. I haven’t owned a Nokia in four years, but I’m aware that some low-end Nokias still have one-button Navi key systems that I tend to fumble with.
  • It has a repeating alarm clock. The phone lets you set which days of the week the phone would sound an alarm. I wouldn’t want to wake up at 6:30 a.m. in the weekends!
  • It talks! It’s quite trivial, but the phone has a talking clock. While I don’t see myself needing this feature, I think this would be very useful for visually-impaired folks who are in need of a phone that will dictate the time at a press of a button.

Gripes

My only gripes about the phone are that it doesn’t support GPRS (not really a necessity, but something useful to have when I need to check email while I’m out), and that message alert tones are a tad weaker than the set volume (maybe Nokia will fix this in the next firmware update), and that it no longer supports numeric shortcuts, like the older Nokias.

If you’re looking for a decent basic phone that does the job, the Nokia 1112 could be just right for you.

November 18th, 2006 Posted by J. Angelo Racoma in Nokia, Reviews at 1:40 pm Comment Now! »
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