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Nokia C2-00: dual SIM done right?

When we interviewed the regional rep of Nokia regarding the delay of the Nokia C2-00 after the announced it last year, they said they wanted to do the dual-SIM functionality right. So when Nokia Philippines sent us this Nokia C2-00 (as well as the X7), I thought this was my chance to look into Nokia’s dual-SIM strategy.

So here’s the case — most, if not all, of the previous dual-SIM handsets before the C2-00 placed the SIM card tray at the back of the unit, buried beneath the battery.

nokia c2-00

As such, when you want to switch SIM cards, you have no option but to turn off the unit, remove the back-cover and battery and replace one of the SIM.

According to some study (forgot the source), most dual-SIM users have a primary number which they always use and a secondary number, which has specific use and is the one that’s switched over to a 3rd SIM.

The old process of SIM swapping is tedious or cumbersome so Nokia found a way to solve that — make the secondary SIM hot-swappable. Place the 2nd SIM slot on the side of the phone which you can easily pop-out, replace and activate in less than 10 seconds without turning off the handset.

It’s a tiny detail but a novelty that Nokia introduced. I haven’t personally encountered any other dual-SIM phone that can do that (a quick Google pointed me to a MicroMax M2 handset being sold in India that can also do SIM hot-swap).

Nokia C2-00 specs:
1.8″ display @ 128×160 pixels
65 MB RAM
up to 32GB via microSD
GPRS/EDGE
Bluetooth 2.1 w/ A2DP
VGA camera
Stereo FM
FM recording
Li-Ion 1020mAh battery

Here are some of the dual-SIM functionalities of the C2-00:

* Pop in a second SIM in the external slot anytime (either ON or OFF state) and the phone automatically recognizes it.

* You can choose to have the phone ask you which SIM to use every time you send an SMS or you can set a default SIM to use automatically.

* Each SMS message is appended by the name of the carrier and the SIM used. If you resend a failed SMS, you can also pick another SIM to send it.

* Both SIM uses the same Inbox (that’s why they append the name and SIM number on each SMS to differentiate).

* The phone remembers up to 5 SIMs so your settings will remain intact even if you swap around more than 2 SIM cards.

There’s only one little hiccup I encountered with this hot-swap strategy — you can’t use the external SIM slot as the solitary SIM. You will need the to use the internal SIM tray first before you can use the external slot.

In any case, the Nokia C2-00 is a pretty solid entry-level, dual-SIM phone. It doesn’t have a whole lot of features to go along with it but it’s a worthy attempt by Nokia to thwart the threat that’s eating their market share in the low-end segment.

For a suggested retail price of around Php2,900, the C2-00 is actually a little more expensive than all other brands with the same specs. Where Nokia really excels is the brand-recognition, solid build and quality control, and an excellent service warranty. I guess that’s what a lot of people are looking for when they want to part with their hard-earned money.

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Avatar for Abe Olandres

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines. He is also a technology consultant, a tech columnist with several national publications, resource speaker and mentor/advisor to several start-up companies.

40 Responses

  1. Avatar for Lee Ozoa Lee Ozoa says:

    I jerk off everyday while watching porn on my c2-00. I borrow money from my friends and never pay them back!that is my best quality!Yeah!!!!

  2. Avatar for zaeron zaeron says:

    im planning to buy one.. is this worth buying? hehe

  3. Avatar for andrea melendres andrea melendres says:

    how much that phone? can i buy 1?

  4. Avatar for Kenny katastrophe Kenny katastrophe says:

    The Battery is too weak to keep up with my needs..cuz i keep on downloading stuffs..and the battery can’t even give the backup for 3 hours..,!! I think that Nokia has to throw their spanners in this field..

  5. Avatar for paul paul says:

    this is way better than all other dual sim phones out there. Its functionality greatly reduced the number of gadgets i carry with me on a daily basis- it is like 2 mobiles phones and an ipod packed into 1.
    with 32gb external memory capability, i have a tons and tons of songs loaded up in my microSD card without even having trouble with the system speed.
    Another great thing about it is its 3.5mm stereo jack. This design allowed me to use my iPod’s headset instead of the inferior one included in the phone package.
    C2-00 also allows you to download a couple of apps including Facebook (free for smart and globe) and twitter. Allowing you to still do all your social networking while you are away from your pc.

  6. Avatar for patrick patrick says:

    the c2-00 has a flash light or none?… i hope the manufacturer makes or put a flash light on this kind of unit model.. coz i want this unit anyway if have flash light for more convenience for users. thanks a lot for hearing my opinion..

  7. Avatar for patrick patrick says:

    the c2-00 has a flash light or none?… i hope the manufacturer makes or put a flash light on this kind of unit model.. coz i want this unit anyway if have flash light for more convenience for users. thanks a lot for hearing my opinion..

  8. Avatar for pio pio says:

    paanu b set-up ang free internet?

  9. Avatar for Mark Mark says:

    atleast, Di ko na kailangan pa ng 2 phone for my 4 sims, astig

  10. Avatar for Carl Carl says:

    Great! sana mag ka quad sim. ung malupet.

  11. Avatar for Jonaflormicfren Jonaflormicfren says:

    Nice gift for texters.

  12. Avatar for jojo jojo says:

    sana next dual sim nila ay tulad ng dating cp ko, E51. kahit i-retain na yung features ng e51, dagdagan na lang yun dual-sim capability…

  13. Avatar for fr0stbyte fr0stbyte says:

    @jarod_0122:

    “Sobrang” inferior? Is it like comparing a Pentium 3 to an i7 processor? Ganun ba kalala?

    Choose your words wisely. Please.

  14. Avatar for jarod_0122 jarod_0122 says:

    @Vincent
    Di ba outright na pag Dual SIM eh dual standby din?Kung ganyan ang C2 eh sobrang inferior nga yan sa mumurahing Kingcom.

  15. Avatar for vince vince says:

    hot swappable sim is inferior to dual active sim. no more swapping. both sims are active at the same time

    • Avatar for deuts deuts says:

      dual active din ang C2-00. on top of that ung isang sim is hot-swappable. Kung ayaw mo mag-swap pwede rin, pero dual-active dual-standby pa din sya. added na ung hot-swappable ang isang sim. alin pa ba dito ang di mo maintindihan?

  16. Avatar for jarod_0122 jarod_0122 says:

    If anyone is considering the Cherry mobile counterpart I suggest you better go with Kingcom TVGo 605.Its also a dual SIM phone, qwerty, 4GB Mem and really good looking for a cheap phone. I bought mine for P2460 simply because I want a TV phone and I tell you the reception is surprisingly good.
    Anyway better late than never for Nokia.

  17. Avatar for jun jun says:

    are there dual sim android phones yet? been using a BB for a week (wife got it for free from her biz and gave it to me). I don’t connect via mobile internet that much since i connect thru wifi most of the time and I can’t seem to use the BB apps including appworld via wifi. am not going to get a plan just for the BB. and the apps are just so-so in my opinion. am thinking of trading/selling the BB 9300 and getting an android phone. what options do i have?

    • Avatar for David Z David Z says:

      Cherry Mobile has one, I think? Not that I’d buy any of their phones any longer unless I see a marked improvement in their quality.

    • Avatar for la lang! la lang! says:

      cherry mobile?, no thank you, , thats china phone hello!!!!

  18. Avatar for deuts deuts says:

    I wonder about the battery performance of this phone. I liked the form factor of C2-00 over X1-01, but I heard that the latter can keep up with 1 week of use before recharge.

    My Nokia C1-00 can last me for 1 week before recharge, but of course that’s because only one sim is active at a time. I wonder how will the C2-00 last if two sims are active.

    • Avatar for Moppi Moppi says:

      For me it lasts for about 3 days, and that’s with about an hour of full volumed radio every day. Plus there’s the usual usage and stuff…

  19. Avatar for jonas jonas says:

    message memory storage not ready – that’s the problem i’ve encountered with this dual sim phone. i always need to reset the phone for it to work. probably it should be used for moderately and the sound is soft even at high volume when there’s a call. yet still a good phone

  20. Avatar for hahahaaaaaaa hahahaaaaaaa says:

    Paid blog

  21. Avatar for tababoy tababoy says:

    If I still have my ipod touch, I’ll buy this phone to minimize the devices that i carry. You can buy 2 low end Nokia phones but the reason dual SIM is selling is becuase it has a target market. Abe, have you noticed battery life performance?

    -Sent via YugaTech Mobile App

  22. Avatar for bon bon says:

    good review . But at Php2900, you can buy 2 low end nokia phones. And, you wouldn’t get mixups.

  23. Avatar for Moppi Moppi says:

    Other than being my main phone right now (and performing like WOAH), I have also pretty much ditched my mp3 player for this gadget.

  24. Avatar for elmerlovesoreo elmerlovesoreo says:

    Wow, it’s affordable! I think I’ll buy it :)

  25. Avatar for goodha goodha says:

    as what ive read in other forums, this is much better than nokia x1-01(intermittent network signal drops on either sims). the white one looks classy.

    • Avatar for Pao Pao says:

      Maybe the one you are referring is when your making/receiving a call, one of the network drops signal, tama ba?

  26. Avatar for mr. bogus mr. bogus says:

    ok lang pang extra sim lang.. kesa sa cherry

  27. Avatar for Rich Rich says:

    I purchased this phone with hesitation, not because of the phone’s build, but because I don’t know what I will use it for…

    but when I actually used it, I liked it better than my 5310, only because it boots up and warms-up pretty quick (read: I can open my inbox after a few seconds from boot-up).

    whereas the 5310 takes 10 minutes before I can actually open the inbox contents.

    I can swap sim cards real quick..
    the gripes that I have about this phone is,
    the vibrate function is kinda weak, the speaker sound is too soft even if the volume is way up high already. the music player’s sound is average, and the unit is thicker than the 5310.

    but, overall the phone serves it’s purpose.

    I hope Nokia will create a Ultra-thin candy-bar type Music phone that is touch & type with capacitive screen, HSPA+, nice camera and quick-responding menus.. better if they can port android OS into it. :)

  28. Avatar for marco marco says:

    “Where Nokia really excels is the brand-recognition, solid build and quality control, and an excellent service warranty.”

    solid build – check
    Quality control – check
    Excellent service warranty – overrated, some service center sucks

    Having said that… i’ve been using this phone for the past 6 weeks. A definitely must have for those in business who need multiply numbers.

    • Avatar for bobo mo bobo mo says:

      tanga.. multiply sims ka diyan.

      MULTIPLE SIMS! TANGA

    • Avatar for I C U I C U says:

      Sakit nun ah… He he he…

    • Avatar for smart smart says:

      @bobo mo: what are you, grammar police?! and by doing that, you feel like the smartest in the world? lol

    • Avatar for taga-comment lng taga-comment lng says:

      kung mag-korek ka ng spelling ng iba, ayusin mo naman. ano tingin mo sa sarili mo, matalino? mag-ayos ka nga

    • Avatar for The K The K says:

      Ang annoying lang ng mga grammar nazi. Ang OA lang.

    • Avatar for Mas bobo ka Mas bobo ka says:

      @bobo mo: Magkokorek ka ng grammar eh mas mali ka naman. Asan ang multiply sim na sinabi niya? Ang layo ng multiply sim sa multiply numbers. Mas bobo ka multiply (multiplied) by 10. Panis!

  29. Avatar for Jiron Jiron says:

    I bought this for my dad since he never actually wanted to replace his two banged-up phones (a Nokia 6070 and a SE K310i). So far it is excellent for his purpose.

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