

Developing World Phone - sramov
http://simeramov.com/2010-07-phone

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hga
(BTW, it's interesting and welcome that you direct discussion to HN.)

" _The hacker doth protest too much, methinks._ "

The big issue I see here is the battery. You've got a set of tradeoffs that I
suspect are going to result in different choices for feature phones in the
developed vs. developing world:

The bigger the battery, the greater the cost.

The bigger the battery, the longer it can go without recharging.

The bigger the battery, the longer it will live (all things being equal (and
it's more complicated than this, I gather), the lifetime of the battery is
strongly coordinated with the number of recharge cycles).

Lithium-ion batteries have a finite "shelf-life", time and heat (including
ambient) are enemies.

So given the above, you ideally want the smallest battery that provides
adequate time between charges and that dies from exceeding its maximum number
of recharge cycles about the time it would die from plain old age and/or when
the phone itself will die.

Making the battery bigger than this is wasted cost (including size and
weight), unless you need the larger capacity for some reason. "Developing
world" phones may have a bias towards larger batteries since large parts of it
have higher ambient temperatures. Various parts of this market are willing to
trade off the higher cost of a larger battery because the opportunity to
recharge whenever you want to is not there (many countries don't supply
electricity 24x7, many areas don't supply it at all, you need someone's
generator).

And of course in the "developing world" cost is a even more important
consideration.

BTW, for my own reasons I too have a Nokia "developing world" candy bar
feature phone, a 1600 I bought near the end of 2007
(<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia_1600>). It's now discontinued, and I
suspect from comparing it to your 1616 that the latter is its replacement.
Yours has a slightly smaller battery (800 vs. 900mAh) with a longer standby
time and a much longer talk time:

<http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_1600-1188.php>

<http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_1616-3007.php>

~~~
sramov
This phone is around 30 euros before taxes, unlocked and free. I don't think
the battery is particularly larger than in other models, it's just that the
phone itself is quite economic in its use of it, I guess. There are few
features and it uses simpler software.

Batteries are getting better all the time so this should be a case of the new,
modern battery and simple technology which gives it prolonged use. If they
really wanted I would bet they could make it to hold even longer before
charges. It is a matter of tradeoffs as you say.

I have a bigger issue with the fact many people consider such phones are for
poor people or for developing countries. I for the fact, _want_ such a phone
on purpose. Hell I wouldn't even mind the colorless screen. This is what irks
me. Such phones are becoming increasingly rare and difficult to buy. I do not
want a camera, mp3 player, FM radio, browser, apps, MMS and gazillion other
gimmicks. I want to make calls and send/receive SMS without charging it every
few damn days.

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johkra
Interesting opinion - but you're not the only one. :-)

My current phone is a Nokia 1208 - it offers all necessary functionality, a
good battery life and was cheap to buy unlocked. My only criticism is the
phone's thickness of 1.7cm - and that's why I'm interested in the C-models.

------
starkfist
Do you know where to get this model of phone in the USA? I would like to get
one as a backup phone, and for world travel. It's also interesting in that it
can hold two simcards.

~~~
sramov
No idea. Try going to nokia.com and then look through locations to buy from,
or online stores.

I believe the Nokia C1-00 has the ability for two SIM cards (on demand, not
simultaneously) and 1616 does not. Otherwise, they are the same.

