NEC e228 Review

Overall Rating

Good value, especially if you know how to get the best of the hardware.
VGA (i.e.640x480) 16bit camera - better than some of the other NECs
Free email, attachments up to 100k.
Plays MP3s through the handsfree.

Three is not the best network. You have to top up every month and the minimum topup is £15 so you might as well get a contract at £15-£20 pound/month. No infra red, no bluetooth, no internet browser (you're limited to what 3 itself offers which is expensive video clips. Also ringtones are all highly embarassing and you can't use your own. They cost £2.50 to download. And it can't switch itself on in the morning. You have to leave it on all night if you want it to wake you up but it will probably die in the night.

Battery life of the NEC e228 is poor. Even sending messages and reading the news seems to drain the battery, and it doesn't last long on standby. With most phones if the battery runs out your phone switches off. You switch it back on and then you can text people and receive messages. Maybe talk for 30 seconds after you leave it switched off for a bit. This phone just dies. It says battery empty and switches itself off and will not switch back on until you charge it. It's completely dead. On the other hand you can charge it from the USB cable (not included, at least £10), which fits in a handbag better than the charger, which by the way will give you a small electric shock if you touch the plug. The e228 does stand out from the crowd but only because it's an inch taller.
For a 3g phone it's the value option with a reasonable camera, video calling plays mp3s through the headset, although I wouldn't like to estimate the sample rate conversion. There's 20mb of storage on the handset, which is fine for photos, although videos are limited to 1 minute each at 176x144 resolution. Has a 'memory stick duo' slot that I think is just for one type of card made by Sony but they are reasonable value. You could store about 50 or 100 mp3s on the phone with a large volume memory stick. Can't wake you up in the morning, costs you far too much per month for pre-pay. It's not really pre-pay its contract without the binding contract. (visit three.co.uk to see the price plan) you don't have to make the £15 payments, unless you want to make calls or send messages or something. And the £15 isn't £15 credit on your phone its £5 plus 50 voice minutes and some "mini-movies"?? But all the videos you can download from 3 are charged. So how do i get my free mini-movies I didn't even want? Check out the 3 website to see how rubbish their '3pay' price plan is. You can also see a map of 3 reception.

In summary, its a good phone for £45 but not on 3. And its illegal to unlock it so you can use a prepay sim.