Which NOKIA tops in reception, clarity, battery perf?

Have you decided which service provider you're going with? That will determine your selection of Nokias. If you're going VZW, a Nokia may not be your best choice. If you're going with Cingular, there are some great Nokias available.

 

Different providers have different phone choices. Part of choosing your service is finding a phone you like.

 

What are you looking for? Best pricing and phones or best covereage?
Also, like wgray said, if you tell us a provider you're looking into, we can tell you the best Nokia models.
For Verizon, the two Nokias they offer(3589i and 6015i are both great phones reception wise as I heard). The 3589i IMO blows away my LG phone in weak coverage areas.

 

Almost all CDMA phones you buy today are going to do 2 bands Cellular 800 MHz and PCS 1900 MHz. As far as I know there is not CDMA on European Cellular 900 MHz or DCS 1800 MHz so the few phones that do will have those bands will be GSM like on Samsung SCH-A790.
Nokia just does not make that many CDMA phones they are starting to make more but don't expect them to be bringing out that a large selection phones for CDMA.

These companies make a several CDMA phones every year LG, Kyocera, UTStarcom (Audiovox)

These companies make some CDMA phones but they are making more GSM phones Motorola, Samsung, Nokia

Sony Ericsson does make CDMA phones, but not for the US.

GE Sanyo only make CDMA phones for Sprint.

 

With GSM Nokias it all really comes down to features, they all have great RF. The only Nokia phones IMHO that stand out from the pack in terms of RF are the s60 phones (3650, 6600, etc.).

 

Carrier first. Phone second. Don't impulse-buy based on slick commercials.

Cmtrev, CR may give you a good general overview, but get specific info from folks who work where you work (not in the 20 mile geographic area) , who live on your block, shop where you shop and go to the same school you go to. Do they get good reception or not? All the cool features on the newest snazzy phone are useless if you can't get a signal. Once you know carrier then you can think about plans while you explore phones. (Don't go with a carrier based on price. Saving $5 or $10 is not worth having a phone that doesn't work where you need it.)

Once you know carrier, then check out phones. Again CR can help some, also JD Power & Assoc has very detailed ratings of cell phones. http://www.jdpower.com/cc/telecom/jdpa_ratings/wireless/Find.jsp?s=6

Once you buy a phone, most carriers give you a couple weeks to try it out before you are actually locked into a binding contract. Use this time to the fullest. Call everyone you know from everywhere you go for no reason at all. Find out if it really is going to work where you need it. If not, return it; no matter what the salesperson says or what deal you are offered.

You may try several phones or carriers before you find a good fit. Don't let this be a time of frustration , but of learning. Who knows, you may be able to help someone else with what you discover.

Have fun with your new phone!

 

Yes, you can often use another phone. However, you will be spending a LOT more to get this other phone. I would definitely sign up for new service and take advantage of the new customer discount. Decide you like the service. Then maybe after several months to a year, if you REALLY want another phone, you could get one.

 

Concerning the four tmobile Nokia phones offered, the only ones that are multiband are the 3660 and 6600. Multiband for T mobile means one US frequency (1900Mhz) and two freq. for europe/asia/rest of world (900&1800 Mhz).

T mobile only uses 1900mhz in the US. Even though Nokia may say the phone has 850Mhz and 1900Mhz, the 850 is disabled.

I would suspect that all these phones have good RF. Regarding your other questions, go to:
compare Tmobile Nokia phones

Cingular is now merged with ATT and has more Nokia selections. Cingular uses 850 and 1900, plus has phones with world freq. You may wish to check Cingular out. They have prepaid and Go phone/no contract options

 

I would go with the Nokia 6010

 

The 6010 (free) is a good basic phone w/ solid reception...

I've not tried the 3220 (also free) yet but I hear it's a great phone too..

The 6600 ($99/my current one) has really impressed me w/ the reception quality compared to my prev. Samsung E715--previously the best reception phone I ever had.... everything else (Bluetooth, IR, Series60 Apps, etc.) has been icing. Battery life on Series phones is generally about the same, maybe a little less than you're used to since you'll be playing w/ it more.

I think I can safely say that almost any Nokia you buy will have pretty good RF, sound quality, and battery life. Ironically, they seem to have low SAR ratings too. Samsungs are also pretty good but none are bluetooth in the T-Mobile offerings right now (and some have high SAR ratings).

Speaking of SAR, I was surprised to see my 6600 having a .50 rating compared to my E715 having a 1.41... and the 6600 has better reception.