Nokia N-Gage QD (T-Mobile)
Manufacturer: Nokia Part number: N-GageQDGRYTMB
- More product information:
- Editors' review
- User reviews
- Specifications
- Manufacturer info
- Bottom Line:
- Nokia's N-Gage QD second-generation gaming cell phone corrects the most glaring mistakes of its predecessor.
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CNET editors' review
Nokia N-Gage QD (T-Mobile) price range: $249.00
- Reviewed by: David Carnoy
- Edited by: John P. Falcone
- Reviewed on: 07/06/2004
- Released on: 07/26/2004
The good: Compact, rugged design; easy to change game cards; built-in Bluetooth and speakerphone; synchronizes with Outlook; solid battery life.
The bad: No MP3 player or FM radio; small screen; not a world phone; mono sound; could be louder.
The bottom line: Nokia's N-Gage QD second-generation gaming cell phone corrects the most glaring mistakes of its predecessor.
Lucky for us, those Finns are a tough, ruddy lot who know that the best cure for the common product hangover is another product--the quicker, the better. Thus, we have the new, improved Nokia N-Gage QD, a more compact and slicker model that fixes many of the mistakes the company made with the original.
Ergonomically and cosmetically, the QD is now much better designed. Weighing in at 5 ounces and measuring 4.7 by 2.7 by 0.9 inches, the device is sized about right, with nice, tactile backlit buttons and a rubber, protective ring around it. The QD feels solid and durable and withstood some fairly substantial drops in our tests.
Thankfully, this N-Gage has an easily accessible slot for inserting the games, which come stored on MMC media; in contrast, the original N-Gage required you to lift the battery out to insert the game card--really. Another improvement: The QD's earpiece is built into the face of the unit, so the sidetalkin' phenomenon is, sadly, all but over.
The N-Gage's 4,096-color, 176x208-resolution screen is sharp and bright with the backlight on. But it's small compared to that of the Nintendo Game Boy Advance SP. It's also vertically oriented, which is a liability for certain games. Aside from the screen debate, the value added here is multiplayer wireless gaming; you can compete head-to-head against another N-Gage owner via Bluetooth or a GPRS connection using Nokia's N-Gage Arena. With some games, even more players can join in.
In terms of features, the QD, which runs the Series 60 version of the Symbian OS 6.0, is pretty well anointed, though much is being made over the fact that Nokia has stripped out the original's MP3 playback and FM radio capabilities, leaving users with mono sound, even when using headphones. The absence of MP3 playback is hardly a deal breaker, but it's worth noting that the Tapwave Zodiac, for instance, lets you listen to your own tunes in the background while playing games. Another downgrade from the original N-Gage: The QD is a dual-band GSM (850/1900) phone, not triband, so it won't work overseas; conversely, the international version won't work in North America.
In the plus column, after you download some software from Nokia's site, the QD, like other Series 60 phones, will sync contact and calendar info from your Outlook so long as your computer is equipped with Bluetooth. The phone also displays images, sends and receives e-mail, and is MMS (multimedia messaging) capable.
As a phone, the QD is decent, though far from stellar. Call quality was good, and battery life--as one might expect from a phone that doubles as a gaming device--was impressive. We hit the rated talk time of 5 hours, while battery life for gaming is listed at 10 hours, but those times will be mutually exclusive. The one gripe we had was that the earpiece wasn't terribly loud, and we had trouble hearing callers in the noisy streets of New York. The phone comes with an earbud-style headset, and we recommend using it, though you might want to upgrade to a fancier model or maybe even a wireless Bluetooth unit.
In the final analysis, the QD, though not without its flaws, is a cool product, and we're sure Nokia wishes that it had launched with this N-Gage. The pricing is attractive, too; you can pick up one of these for $99 with a new service plan. But ultimately, with any gaming platform, success comes down to the titles themselves. The games we played--The Sims Bustin' Out, Marcel Desailly Pro Soccer, Ashen, and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004--were compelling enough to keep us occupied on our subway rides home and during a slow work meeting or two. But in order to really attract a bigger following, the N-Gage needs an exclusive title, that killer game that no other platform has; the World War II-themed Pathway to Glory, for instance, looks promising. We hope Nokia has one up its sleeve because the hardware is now decent enough to deserve it.
User reviews
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GREAT PHONE WITH A BAD RAP
Pros: Forget the narrow minded critics who aren't capable of understanding the full potential and design of this great phone!! With little computer know how, you can easily add SmartMovie and UltraMP3 to this already feature enriched phone and own an incredibly
Cons: Technology is always progressing and hindsight is always 20(20 so the critics will always have some ammo. But, yes, Nokia should have left the FM & MP3 player in. And yes, a better speaker and stereo output would be nice. Personally, I'd like to see t
3 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Cheapest smartphone, mac users rejoice
by djejnyc on July 30, 2005
Pros: Symbian os, reception, many functions
Cons: Form factor hard to get used to, screen resolution
Summary: Great phone for the money, better reception than my other phones, very fun to tweak OS, full bluetooth functionality (unlike some other phones), great games, too bad the screen is ...
Summary: Great phone for the money, better reception than my other phones, very fun to tweak OS, full bluetooth functionality (unlike some other phones), great games, too bad the screen is old-school resolution and the shape is odd, but it's smaller than a Treo and has same PIM functions. See Handango.com for software-lots of add-ons for every functions! Also, it syncs perfectly with Mac OS (phone book and calendar) right out of the box! Too bad there's no camera. Don't pay too much, look at gaming stores (Game Stop, etc.) for good deals.
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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It keeps
Pros: Good games, great versatility, and expandability with an MMC card. The Symbian OS is a dream to use. Bluetooth is a bonus...with a wireless keyboard it's now my PDA. The best part? The games are getting better and better. (also, if you go to a certain, we
Cons: When I first bought it, I was snapping up all the games available (except those found on the aforementioned CD, of course), fearing and expecting that they could shut down N-gage production at any time. But now that major corporations are producing some v
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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n-gage nerdom
Pros: for a great price you get a great phone, bluetooth, symbian os, and a good gaming device. short of mp3 it is all a dork could ask for. of course, if you were a really techie you would already have a good mp3 player. i have to say that this is a great phon
Cons:
1 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
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High Quality Phone, Easy to navigate gaming functions
by 661LisaG on December 23, 2006
Pros: Rugged, Large buttons, Large Screen (for a phone)
Cons: Call audio needs to be adjustable to louder settings No cheap camera inside to take crummy photos of auto accidents and coworkers embarassing themselves (sigh)
Summary: I have had my Nokie N-Gage QD for 2 years now. I still can't find a better phone that wouldn't cost me another two to four hundred dollars....
Summary: I have had my Nokie N-Gage QD for 2 years now. I still can't find a better phone that wouldn't cost me another two to four hundred dollars.
I am a grown woman (not terribly mature). I say this because you should know that I am well outside of the targeted audience for this phone.
What drew me to the phone in the first place were the large buttons. I wanted to be able to dial without having to read the keyboard. I also wanted something that was not flimsy. I saw this in stores and wanted to know more. It also looked VERY cool compared to nearly every other phone on the market at the time.
I admit I also liked the idea of having something to do while waiting in lines and visiting boring relatives. Alas, it was hard to find. I finally found one at a Cingular store 50 miles away. HAPPY HAPPY JOY! JOY!
Call quality and fidelity is far better than most, if not all, of my friends' phones. My adult friends say, "Gimme that!" when they first see it.
Recently I thought I might want a new phone, afterall nobody who's hip keeps a phone more than two years, right? Long story short, nearly every thing on the market, including the Motorola Razr, felt very delicate and flimsy by comparison. Also, the screens are no bigger, unless you spend more than you should to get one of those mini-computers (probably won't fit in your pocket, so you'll set it down, and 20 minutes later say, 'Hey where's my phone!?!)
At this point unless there are some SIGNIFICANT improvements in wireless phone offerings I'll probably just buy another Nokia N-Gage QD when and if this one wears out. -
best phone for games
by zahersai on June 15, 2006
Pros: long life battery ,nice colored screen ,excellent interface ,fast
Cons: why it doesnt use symbian os 7.0?
Summary: excellent for multiplayer game
Summary: excellent for multiplayer game
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Underrated phone
by arjainz on March 28, 2006
Pros: Superb features
Cons: Rubber peels off after a while
Summary: Ive had this phone for more than a year now. No complaints except that the rubber protection peels off after a while. Hope Nokia will release its version 3 soon...
Summary: Ive had this phone for more than a year now. No complaints except that the rubber protection peels off after a while. Hope Nokia will release its version 3 soon...
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Nice phone, few bugs, overall+ok.
by rockinhard326 on March 8, 2006
Pros: Game console, symbian, bluetooth enabled.
Cons: Few bugs, quiet speaker, no mp3, no camera.
Summary: Overall this phone is ok, the games are better grapics then gba, but, there is not many games made. Since they discontinued production in U.S.A , cant really find ...
Summary: Overall this phone is ok, the games are better grapics then gba, but, there is not many games made. Since they discontinued production in U.S.A , cant really find to many great accesories for this phone, all though www.n-gage.com does give u options to buy games and accesories. It is bluetooth enabled, but, being that its a 46000 color screen, it doesnt display images and videos as well as others. It does have some nice tools, such as a calender, alarm clock, calculator, voice recorder, and video player (3gp). Like i said, overall, this phone is ok, if ur looking for a feature packed phone, you might want to try something else.
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Nokia calls it the True Gamers Phone ? ? ? ?
by sonicr30 on December 29, 2005
Pros: Improved Design...Smaller Size...MMC Card Slot...Bluetooth...Rubber Buttons...Great on Battery Life...One of the Best loudspeckers
Cons: No Stereo Sound..No mp3 player..No fm radio..no USB mini port..
Summary: Some advice to Nokia calling it the True Gamers Phone - All the true gamers in the world have gotten or plan on owning a PSP not a Phone wannable ...
Summary: Some advice to Nokia calling it the True Gamers Phone - All the true gamers in the world have gotten or plan on owning a PSP not a Phone wannable game console.
Ngage's FUTRUE:?
With all respect nokia has gotten all on board with ngage and have tryed to create a new mobile gaming market. Thats if you have'nt heard up to now is a losing battle slow sales of ngage have caused nokia to discontinue or even stop sales in north america and else where. But i got mine on the internet along with some games..Nokia has no futrue for now to reinvent another game console/device BUT some websites did hint on about there being a new gaming phone in the near future if and when phones get more powerful and the world is ready again for a rerelease..To lear more about this google nokia ngage qd news and check and see
The Game Deck:
Nokia has put out the QD which is the squel to the orignal ngage.The QD fixes some design mishaps the orignal had but in the process Nokia trimed down the QD to be smaller by removing the mp3 player,fm radio,usb mini port, some say nokia should of kept those features. the game deck handles and plays very well and much like the orignal..but as for me i can live without those features but it would of been cool to keep those cool features in QD
Final Review:
Ngage QD is not a reinvention they took the orignal and improved on it..fixing the design issues and added better battery life and trimmed it down of features and cost in the process:as for the true gamer out there the ngage won't stack up to anything the PSP or DS can offer...In Short I'm very happy with the ngage as a smart phone..i like the games nokia has made but in the end those very same games are just great time wasters in between work or school or the long drive home
The END
if you want a solid smart phone that delivers top grade games give the ngage a shot .OR BETTER YET LOOK ELSE WHERE FOR A MOBILE GAMING CONSOLE>I RECOMMEND PSP.nokia could'nt break into a new market triend but there's always the futrue to look forward to.
THANK YOU NOKIA FOR THE NGAGE AND FOR THE EXCELLENT EFFORT AND FOR PUTING OUT A GOOD PRODUCT -
Is the best gaming phone!!
by ambient_ on December 12, 2005
Pros: It´s a cheap smartphone, and a perfect gaming console
Cons: I dont see any cons
Specifications
- Manufacturer: Nokia
- Part number: N-GageQDGRYTMB
- Description: Meet the newest member of the N-Gage family! The N-Gage QD game deck has all the gaming features of the original game deck, plus a few welcome adjustments - like hot swap for your game cards. The MP3 player is trimmed off (and some of the price!), gave it a slick, non-sidetalking design, and shrunk it all down so it fits better in your pocket. The N-Gage Arena launcher software is also pre-installed and ready to go, so you're that much closer to owning the mobile gaming world.
General
- Product Type Smartphone
- Form Factor Bar
- Phone Design Open-faced
- Integrated Components Voice recorder
- Antenna Internal
- Width 4.6 in
- Depth 0.9 in
- Height 2.7 in
- Weight 5 oz
Cellular
- Technology GSM
- Band EGSM 900 / GSM 1800 (Dual Band)
- Service Provider Not specified
- Operating System Symbian OS 6.1
- Software Platforms Supported Java
Messaging & Internet
- Cellular Messaging Services Nokia Smart Messaging,
SMS,
MMS - Supported Email Protocols MIME,
SMTP,
POP3,
IMAP4 - Messaging & Data Features XHTML Browser
Communications
- Data Transmission GPRS
- High Speed Circuit Switched Data (HSCSD) Yes
- Wireless Interface Bluetooth
- Communication Features Internet browser,
Mobile Email client Phone Features
- Phone Functions Call timer,
Conference call,
Speakerphone,
Voice dialing,
Vibrating alert - Polyphonic Ringer Yes
- Additional Features Melody composer
Organizer
- Personal Information Management Synchronization with PC,
Calendar,
Calculator,
Reminder,
Alarm clock - Voice Dialing Memory 20 entries
Memory
- Bult-in Memory 3.4 MB
- Supported Flash Memory Cards MultiMediaCard
Display
- Type LCD display - Color
- Technology TFT
- Display Resolution 176 x 208 pixels
- Color Depth 12-bit (4096 colors)
- Display Indicators Voice message waiting,
Text message waiting - Display Languages English
Connections
- Connector Type Headset jack,
DC power input Battery
- Technology Lithium ion
- Capacity 1070 mAh
- Run Time Details Talk - up to 300 min,
Standby - up to 264 hour(s) Miscellaneous
- Included Accessories Power adapter , Hands-free headset,
Power adapter Manufacturer Warranty
- Service & Support 1 year warranty
Manufacturer info
- Manufacturer profile
- Browse Nokia products on Shopper.com
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- Manufacturer:Nokia
- Address:
102 Corporate Park Drive, White Plains, NY 10604 - Phone: 1-888-848-4792
- Fax: 972-894-5050
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