NEC e313

[NEC e313]
NEC e313

Upgraded 3G phone

One of NEC's more recent phones, has a revamped operating system - is smaller and lighter than most of its predecessors - and is billed as having better battery life - a combination possibly making it almost worth using.

Dead cheap

This phone was 29.95 pounds in Argos. Presumably the phone is heavily subsidised by 3.

Price plan

Unfortunately - for many light users - 3's latest pay-as- you-go scheme (ThreePay) will be highly unsuitable. Minimum credit is fifteen pounds and you have to use it all within a month of breaking into it.

However those users who (like me) signed up with 3 when it was offering billing by direct debit, (with no monthly fee) might find this phone an attractive upgrade - since the old 3 SIMs work fine in the phone.

[NEC e313]
Backlight

Screen

As before the screen - and its backlight - are great.

The screen is smaller than on the e808 - but has a higher resolution.

Backdrops are 176 x 176 rather than 130 x 130.

Java crippled

As with the other NEC phones, there appears to be no way to get Java apps onto this phone in the UK - a serious drawback for technically-minded folk interested in the phone.

I haven't yet heard if the Jar file limit is as crippling as it was on earlier NEC phones - but since you can't run your own programs it doesn't matter much at this stage.

No internet access

Three lets you use mail and text services, and services from its own web site - but access to the rest of the internet is prohibited.

Divert limit

Unanswered calls redirect after a maximum of 20 seconds. Not long enough for my tastes.

Several of the options for disabling redirects on the phone are set up at Three's end to redirect to their answerphone service - which you have to pay to access.

Other niggles

The built-in ringtones suck. Give me a proper ringing phone, please.

There's no bluetooth or infra-red connectivity - but no doubt such omissions contribute to the phone's low price.

Improvements

Size, weight, battery life, GUI, keyboard access in darkness and expansion capabilities have all improved over my previous Three phone - the NEC e808.

Conclusion

This phone makes a great upgrade for old 3 users with the original, poor handsets. I'm not sure how many other people will want them, though.

I suspect Three may sell a number of these phones to users who did not inspect the terms and conditions of Three's the PAYG scheme - but I'm rather sceptical about how many of these will wind up as long-term Three customers.

Links

NEC e313

3 file transfer s/w (UK)
NEC_e313 (Yahoo group)
e313 review

Network

Three (UK)

Manufacturer

NEC (UK)

Groups

NEC mobile (Yahoo group)
3GForum
3GWhizz Forums
NEC_e313 (Yahoo group)
Aussie 3G Forums
3GNetwork (Yahoo group)
skipwhat (Yahoo group)
3gumts (Yahoo group, italian)

3G sites

3G.co.uk
3G Newsroom
3GWhizz
3GUser
3G Mobile Downloads
Aussie 3G
Tim Tyler | tim@tt1.org | http://timtyler.org/