NEC e313

Well, first off it's FAR TOO BIG! A giant phone and I was embarrassed to get it out in public. Sure, it's great for the £30 or whatever - But, it's on the 3 network. And that's not good.

NEC aren't that great at making phones, and this is no exception.

At first when I got the NEC e313 I was dead exited I thought it was great but then it hit me about the size of the thing I couldn't fit it in my pocket at all. Although, the camera and video playback is a good feature and having the internet, the size just lets it down.

I have had my NEC e313 since September and it has been like swings and roundabouts one day I love it the next day I hate it. The size of the thing is like some cordless phone from 1985 its scary. Brilliant graphics but where are the games? 3 isn't all that bad, but then I do have a fair amount of cash so it is not a big deal, the price was good I got it second hand they paid £74, 2 months later I bought it for £20 as they said it was pants, but bricks are coming back into fashion.

I purchased the NEC e313 many, many months ago when it cost 50 smackers, but as I didn't want to be screwed by 3's 30-day PAYG tariff and nobody could unlock them, I didn't use it as a phone - I only admired it as a work of art.

The video camera quality is very good, and it stores loads of videos (MP4 video compressed)on its 19mb internal memory, high quality ringtones.

The design is an appealing metallic silver, with several soft keys. The feel and build quality is excellent, unlike the flimsy plastic phones that are all the rage these days.

It has all the features you'd expect on a modern phone such as calendar and calculator and you can pickup your email on it.

The only downsides are the big size - it's like a remote control for your televideo, but it is surprisingly light. Also, there is no infra red or bluetooth. There is a USB connection to connect to a PC, but this costs extra.

Finally, I managed to fully unlock it to Vodafone (a FULL unlock, including access to the SIM contacts and SMS) and now I'm finally using it as my primary phone :-)

It cost me £50, and a further £15 to unlock. So for £65 for a mobile phone with high quality camera, it's a bargain.

I must stress I am judging the NEC e313 phone and not the three network which is very poor.

I think the phone is very good it has lots of features like an MP3 player, calander, note pad, calculator, alarm clock and to do feature.

The size of this is bigger than most phones but it does not matter to me as I have stopped using my palm PDA now and use this instead and it as I prefer it.

And also I don't have to carry my mp3 player with me.

So if you consider all this the phone really isn't that big.

My advise if you do go for this phone is do get it unlocked and ditch three mobile (I feel sorry for NEC as this network is giving their phones a bad reputation).

This phone is rather large compared with many of the flip-up types available, but it has a large colour screen and great colour and graphics. It has a camera which takes stills as well as video and sound. This can be stored on the phone's memory or on to a Memory Stick Duo inserted in the side. This increases the memory with a 128Mb card which can then either be inserted into a card reader on your PC or via USB cable (with software) direct to your PC for either uploading or downloading to the phone or PC. Telephone functions are straight foward with picture and video messaging depending on your network. Incorporates an MP3 player and phone comes with earpiece. Usual extras including case, car charger, mains charger and phone can be charged via your PC when connected. As mentioned the phone is rather large compared to some but is sturdy and robust.

I have used the NEC e313 for quite a while now. This is a great phone full of feature like an excellent camera, video recorder, music player, video player, infrared, video calling and great polyphonic ringtones. The value is very surprising my brother bought a brand new NEC e313 from a 3G shop for about £65 with £15 credit on threepay. This pay as you go tariff from 3G is garbage because you have to use the £15 top up within 30 days or you lose your credits.

I bought the NEC e313 phone and it was very cheap, I now see why, the network is awful for 15 pounds I get 100 texts WOW! It is very expensive to use if you want all of the features eg Software for MP3's. The battery life is bad I am very dissapointed, if you have any sense don't buy it!! Although the new NEC is OK.

All I can say is that the NEC E313 is the worst phone that I have ever had, as many have already said the battery power is a bit on the pathetic side, I mean who wants to have to sit and charge their phone every day. Also the screen display is great (if you work in total darkness) however if there is so much as even a hint that the sun might come out forget it you ain't gonna see nothing. As for the fact if you want to do anything with the pictures that you have taken on the phone you then have to spend another £25 on the USB lead and software. Also the fact that you loose any credit on your phone that you haven't used after the month is up those greedy people at 3 take it off you, they took 40 texts off me. I also had 25 minutes left on the last day so I just phoned my other mobile up and left it connected till they ran out, nice little tip for ya! I have now put no credit on the phone for the past 2 months now and don't intend to ever put any on again. I have now gone out and bought a decent phone and won't be touching another 3 phone as long as I'm vertical.

*The Good*

I've had the NEC E313 phone for a while... and it was very confusing at the start. But as time went on I found it quite easy to get the hang of, and I was blown away by the picture quality of the video on this phone. The polyphonic ringtones are incredible I have never wanted to dance to a ringtone in my life until I heard James Bond on that phone. The memory capacity is to be proud of and what a great idea to have memory cards for those photos and things you never want to forget...and the phone was dirt cheap!

*The Bad*

This phone has the most useless unpractical shape and the worst reception for its video calling I have ever seen. What were you people thinking? that's right cry! Kick yourselfs...go on! It's rubbish! and you haven't even got any preloaded games...tisk tisk....forshame! Don't even look at me! I just couldn't handle that right now...*sniff*

*And The Butt Ugly*

This is where the sleeves come up! The price plan for top up is the worst thing on the phone you can't top up and use the money for what you please oooh no. That would be too easy! You have to pay for a fixed amount of calling minutes and a fixed amount of texts... then you have to have a separate payment for the video calls and those don't last very long! You only have a month to use it all up or its gone anyway! Well I suppose that's how 3G get their money for such a cheap price.