Nokia 2720 GoPhone Review

The AT&T Nokia 2720 Gophone  was offered at under $10 for a reconditioned model. For a basic phone, its claim to fame would be the megapixel camera. It also had Bluetooth and instant messaging. Compared to the Nokia 2330, you get a better camera but give up easy access to the mobile email client (you have to use the web browser instead).

The overall feel and finish of the phone is pretty good except for the keyboard which does look cheap. If you care about such things you may want to go with the next available flip phone (such as the Samsung A107 or A197).

1.3 Megapixel Camera

If the megapixel camera delivers good pictures, this would definitely make it worth getting. As with most flip phones, you have to open up the phone to take a picture. Once you open the phone, you can just hit the left soft key “Go To”, and “Camera” is the first option. The default quality setting for the camera is “Normal”. You need to set it to “High” to get halfway-decent megapixel (1024 x 1280) pictures. Here’s a pic taken at “High” quality and then reduced in size. It’s a little fuzzy at full size but looks okay when reduced as you see here.

If you want to send the picture via MMS message, the Nokia 2720 automatically resizes it to fit within the MMS size limit.

With Video

This GoPhone also takes small (128 x 96) videos that are for just saying “Hi,” or similar short greetings. Though the videos are small, one advantage is that their file size is also small, making it easier to send as an attachment if you don’t want to wait to download them via Bluetooth. If you’re taking a video of yourself, you have to be a little careful to make sure your whole face will be in the frame – you have to have the lens at the level of your face and also make sure the lens in not tilted upward or downward, but facing directly toward.

Bluetooth

You can pair the 2720 with a Bluetooth headset or with a Bluetooth-enabled PC. Going hands-free enables you to do something else while you’re on the phone (though driving is not one of those recommended activities). Pairing it with a PC allows you to transfer files such as photos, videos, and ringtones. This phone supports Bluetooth 2.0 so transfers are quick.

AT&T Apps

You can download additional apps from the AT&T store. While you can do this directly from the phone, the buying process of browsing the applications will cost you data time. It’s better for you to go directly to AT&T website, preview and choose your downloads whether it’s a game or ringtone and then choose to download it to your phone.

Appearance: Both Elegant and Clumsy

The Nokia 2720 Gophone has both elegant and clumsy aspects. At first I didn’t like the clumsy aspects, but now I find the somewhat endearing – sort of like the little phone that could. The elegant aspects include the way the phone opens up to an elegant arc in a closed line. Also, the sides of the phone are angle inward. You can push into the middle with your fingers making it easy to open with one hand.

On the other hand, the side buttons barely stick out and are a little hard to press. Similarly, the covers for the charger receptacle and earphone receptable are hard to open if your nails are trimmed very short.

Nice External Screen

The external screen on the Nokia 2720 is nothing fancy but nice because it’s large making the time display readable from a distance. The external display shows the time, battery charge, and signal strength.

The nice thing about the external display is that you don't see it unless it's on. Otherwise the dark glass matches the color of the body.

Main Screen

The main screen is small but colorful and comes with four themes installed for your choosing. You can also download additional themes from AT&T or use one of your own photos. Of the installed themes on my version, I prefer the “Island” theme with palm trees.

Battery Life

Battery life is rated for 3 hours talk time and 300 hours (12.5 days). This seems pretty accurate to me. Except for one twenty-seven minute conversation, I had it on standby for about a week, and it still had an almost full charge.

Got One?

Great, tell us about it!