With its eco conscience pricked, leading phone manufacturer Nokia has finally decided to help nurse our poorly planet back to health by launching what is by our reckoning, the first environmentally friendly phone - the 3110 Evolve.
But we’d be naïve to think the 3110 Evolve is completely and utterly 100% green, however at least the Finnish giant is making the right noises. The handset itself is half phone, half plant. Well, it’s created from 50% renewable organic-based materials with the rear casing unpainted to reduce petroleum levels in the paint.
Nokia has also heavily shrunk the packaging and made the box from 60% recyclable materials to reduce its size 14 carbon footprint and thrown in an energy efficient wall charger for good measure. Once the 3110 is full on juice, the charging expends 94% less energy than your traditional planet bashing mains variety.
But while the 3110 Evolve proudly flashes its eco-creds, as a phone it’s pretty workaday. In fact, it’s the 3110 Classic handed a slight design tweak and part-time membership to Greenpeace. This means top flight features are thin-on-the-ground; a 1.3-megapixel camera, EDGE download speeds and a fuzz-bucket low-res display definitely won’t get the gizmo pulse racing.
But the 3110 Evolve still has a lot to offer despite the feature cut back. Firstly, its keypad flaunts enormous buttons; big enough to accommodate a Grizzly bear’s giant paw. Team this up with Nokia’s child’s play interface and the blower is achingly simple to operate.
Secondly, to make up for the humdrum camera and crud 176×144 pixel resolution video capture quality, Nokia has kitted out this blower with a rather accomplished music player. Even through the supplied 2.5mm jack headphones, tunes sound dynamic while you can ramp up the hi-fidelity via the seven band equalizer. The 3110 Evolve also supports Stereo Bluetooth for a wireless workout and a microSD card slot for stashing your ditties.
We take our hats off to Nokia for getting off its backside to at least try and make a difference, no matter how small. Let’s also hope it’s not a one off and rather the beginning of more ecologically sound Nokia handset.
Verdict
Eco brownie points to Nokia but the 3110 Evolve will only really appeal to punters whose green conscience override their love of high-tech mobile gadgetry or those demanding a simple to use phone.
Best features
Eco-friendly materials and packaging
Energy efficient charger
Skillful music player
Incredibly easy-to-use
Not so good
Mundane design
Lack of 3G
Fuzzy low-res display
Average camera and video capture quality
100% secured payment
