Nokia C3 hands-on: The correct way to open a removable battery phone for seniors

       If you want to buy a new phone for an elderly person in your family, it is a good choice.

　　Among the big brands, there are not many manufacturers who still insist on making senior phones. Even if some low-priced smartphones are launched on the market, they are rarely directly defined as senior phones. Therefore, you will find that when searching for senior phones on major e-commerce platforms, almost all the ones that appear on the homepage are feature phones, and there are very few large-screen smartphones specifically for elderly users.

　　Although it is not a big problem to give the old mobile phones retired by the young people in the family to the elderly, the product logic of conventional mobile phones is rarely inclined towards elderly users, and there is still some gap in usability compared with typical elderly phones. Today I would like to introduce to you a senior phone product that Nokia just launched not long ago - Nokia C3.

　　Probably due to cost constraints, we did not see the popular full-screen solutions such as water drop screen or punch hole screen on Nokia C3, but the front layout that was more common in the past two years. The width of the left and right borders is well controlled, and the upper and lower borders are wider. Compared with the mainstream products on the market, its aesthetics is slightly lacking, but after all, as a senior phone, it is not unacceptable.

　　Its screen size is 5.99 inches (IPS screen), with a resolution of 1440×720 (HD+), and it looks quite grainy from the front. But we have to say that Nokia really understands the needs of elderly users. This product not only makes the single icon area larger, but also the application icon thumbnails are larger than other mobile phones after classification, making it easier to find.

　　Among the pre-installed applications of Nokia C3, we also found a feature that we haven't seen for a long time - FM radio. Maybe young people don't care about this function, but for the older generation who are used to listening to storytelling or news on the radio, it is still necessary to keep the radio function. Of course, you still need to use wired headphones when using it.

　　The unique feature of this product is that this time, a physical button officially called "Follow Key" is made on the left side of the body, and a lighter color is chosen to emphasize it. Its core appeal is essentially not much different from the scene mode control button on the iPhone or OnePlus phone, which is to allow you to perform certain operations in a more direct way.

　　This button provides two operation modes: double-click and long-press. By default, double-clicking can open WeChat, and long-pressing can open Yuedongquan. It is worth mentioning that the Nokia C3 Free Key double-click and long-press both support custom functions. You can help the elderly at home set commonly used applications according to their actual needs.

　　Turn it over and take a look at the back of the phone. Nokia C3 has two body colors. In addition to the blue version we got, there is also a sand gold version. In comparison, I personally feel that the blue version is a little more low-key. Of course, as for which one looks better, it is a matter of personal opinion. Just choose according to your wishes.

　　The back cover is made of polycarbonate, and the surface is treated with a frosted finish. It feels good to the touch, and you don't have to worry about slipping. Of course, this is also helpful for improving the grip. Its body length is 159.6 mm, width is 77 mm, thickness is 8.69 mm, and weight is only 184.5 grams "including the battery", which is definitely a lightweight player nowadays.

　　The reason why we specifically emphasized the inclusion of the battery when introducing the weight is that this product uses a removable battery design that has been rare on smartphones in recent years. After opening the back cover, I believe you must be very familiar with its internal layout. The SIM card slot and microSD card slot are both independent and can be replaced without a pin.

　　A few more words about the battery design. Putting aside other factors and considering usability alone, the removable battery design is actually more friendly to elderly users. In the long-term use process, it is inevitable that the device will freeze or have other misoperations. At this time, there is no need to perform other complicated operations, and you can easily solve it by simply removing the battery.

　　From the above pictures, we can clearly see that the battery capacity of Nokia C3 is 3040mAh, and it is matched with a 5V/1A charger. Although the charging speed is slower than other current mobile phones, thanks to the removable battery design, you can instantly charge the phone by replacing the battery. In addition, considering the usage habits of the elderly, you don't have to worry about the battery life.

　　In terms of core hardware configuration, the Nokia C3 is equipped with an octa-core processor (the official has not given the specific model), a 3GB+32GB storage combination (supports 128GB microSD expansion), supports face and rear fingerprint unlocking, a 5-megapixel front camera and an 8-megapixel rear camera, which are sufficient for normal video calls or recording some information, and you can't ask for more.

       From our actual experience, although its hardware specifications are not outstanding compared with mainstream smartphones, based on the principle of "good enough", combined with the native Android 10 operating system with fewer advertisements and higher fluency, it has no problem handling some applications frequently used by elderly users such as WeChat and QQ.

　　Although Nokia phones have experienced many twists and turns, the durability that made them famous has never been lost. Nokia C3 supports 365-day replacement and repair. If there is a problem with the product that is not caused by human factors, you can contact after-sales service to apply for a new phone, which is something that many other brands cannot do. In general, the characteristics of this product are easy to use and worry-free. It is a good choice to spend 699 yuan to buy it as a gift for the elderly.