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3 x-series on nokia n73
Price: From £40 inc VAT, per month

Features
Performance
Ease of use
Value for money
Overall

Reviewed By: Andy Shaw

This review updated: 15/03/2007
Featured in magazine:
Issue 157
Manufacturer Contacts:
Supplier: 3
Tel: 0870 733 0333
Web Address: www.three.co.uk


The battle to persuade you to put the internet into your pocket and carry it around with you is raging. The latest bait comes from 3, whose X-Series ties a handful of popular online services together with a Nokia N73 phone capable of running the required extra software. The more usual elements, such as a reasonable data-browsing package and a bundle of call and text credits are also present. But it's the online services that make 3's product that bit different, not least because this phone has features that its rival networks have been deliberately avoiding: free calls via Skype and instant messaging through Windows Live Messenger.

Features
Although Skype and Messenger are likely to appeal to chatterboxes, there are more products on offer. There are two levels of service: with the Silver package you can also pick up your email with MobileMail, listen to and synchronise podcasts with Mobilcast, check your eBay auctions, and use Yahoo Go to access things like photos or your calendar. Take up the Gold service and you can also use Orb (www.orb.com) to access the pictures, music and videos on your home PC; and, if you've got one, a Slingbox (http://uk.slingmedia.com, or buy one from 3 for £99) to view your home TV on your mobile.

Performance
The service works remarkably well. Naturally it isn't as quick as the broadband services you'll be used to on your home computer and it can be tricky to use (see below) but, if you're interested in getting the kinds of services you're used to at home while you're out and about, the combination of 3's network and Nokia's N73 phone is a good fit. The N73 uses S60 software (www.s60.com), which other companies have developed applications for too, so we were also able to do clever things like download Google Mail software to make that easier to use, even though it isn't part of 3's package.

Ease of use
Websites such as eBay are designed for browsing with a mouse, not a phone, and the shrinking that takes place to squash them onto a phone screen makes usage a little more difficult than usual. Things such as messaging are equally painful on a phone compared to with a keyboard, but at least with your instant messenger in your pocket you're contactable while you're out and about.

Value for money
The downside of all this is the expense. 3 has streamlined its pricing a little, offering an all-in monthly contract price that starts at £40 per month for the Silver package (with an introductory offer of the first eight months close to half price). If you're mad for mobile messaging you might get your money's worth; after all, you get a free Nokia N73, free Skype-to-Skype calls, reduced cost Skype Out calls, free messaging through Windows Live Messenger and free access to the net. This is alongside the usual mobile extras of either 300 minutes of calls and 1,000 texts, or 750 minutes of calls and 150 texts. If you want the option of using the Orb and Slingbox functions, you'll have to upgrade to the Gold service for an extra £5 per month. This is promoted as 'unlimited' but is actually tied to a fair use policy – you can't use your phone as a modem for another device and there are monthly limits: 1GB of data; 10,000 Windows Live Messenger messages; 5,000 Skype minutes and 80 hours of Slingbox use. 1GB is actually quite a lot when it comes to browsing pages and reading emails, and is comparable to T-Mobile's fair use policy.

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