We've recently changed over from a Sat/CDMA combo phone (which didn’t work that well) to a Nokia CDMA. I've used CDMA in different aircraft types over the years and they all suffer from the same problem, inconsistent TX. About 70% of the time they work OK, the other 30% the signal out is all chopped, digitized and unreadable. The signal in is always perfect...go figure. I have no explanation for it, and they all do it. Too far / too close / too many / not enough cells? I don’t know.
Back in the old days, the analog mobile phones all worked perfectly every single time. I concur with tripletach, the Nokia is very bright at night, but if you configure it right, it's only bright for a short period.