Maxon MX-3204 (Vodafone MN1) Vintage Mobile Phone

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The Maxon MX 3204 was an early GSM phone which was launched in 1997 which provided an ideal entry point for many people who wanted an affordable, but reliable mobile phone capable of good service and performance.

This vintage mobile phone was stylish with an appealing curved shape and it was available in a number of colours including black, red, silver, Persian blue and a metallic gold / bronze.

The phone was also badged as a Vodafone MN1 and a large number of this version were sold as the GSM networks started to gain a real foothold.

The phone was manufactured by the South Korean company, Maxon which was founded in 1974. The company underwent several name changes, but always retained the Maxon element of its name.

By today's standards, this vintage mobile phone was quite basic, but it was able to provide a good level of service for its day. It could send and receive calls and send and receive text messages easily, and this was the primary function.

The phone book could store names and telephone numbers in the SIM card, enabling them to be transferred very easily from one phone to the next when it was upgraded.

Apart from the basic monochrome screen which had a matrix of 4 x 12 characters which had fixed icons. Interestingly the phone used an LED status indicator: red when the phone was not connected to a network or when the battery was nearly discharged; orange when the battery was low; and green connected to a network and the battery was OK.

In use the this vintage mobile phone had an easy to use set of four buttons in a circular fashion at the top of the keypad. These provided an easy way to navigate the menu and command system.

The Maxon MX-3204, also marketed as the Vodafone MN1 was a good mobile phone for its time. Obviously as phones developed further with integral antennas and much smaller form factors, it appeared outdated, but it nevertheless provided good service for its time.

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