The Excellent NOKIA 6230i (Nokia 6230i)

Member Name: The_Patriarch

Product:	Nokia 6230i
Date:	05/11/05 (2022 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Sturdy & Reliable Nokia, Good Camera, Memory Card, Bluetooth, IR, MP3, FM Radio

Disadvantages: Mine seems to get dust under the screen

I chose this phone over the Moto V3 Razr and the Samsung D500, both of which had appealed to me for their features and swish, good looking designs - and it's the best decision I've made in a long time! I got this phone free on my monthly contract, but I believe it can cost in the region of £200 on Pay as You Go.

Let's get one thing straight before we start; this phone is not swish and doesn't look sexy! It isn't the height of Fashion, it doesn't slide or flip and it won't make you tea in the morning, BUT it has solid business functionality and some impressively sexy features.

So having told you what this isn't, let's have a look at what this phone is! This is the 2005 upgrade to the Nokia 6230, but it may as well be a completely new model!

Weighing in at 99g, this Triband Nokia has a sturdy, comfortable feel and fits nicely in the pocket. Like most Nokia's it benefits from a well designed and simple to use Menu system. Battery life is impressive with talktime of 3-5 hours and Standby of 150-300 hours. I guess this depends on whether you're using bluetooth or not. The high resolution 65k colour screen is excellent, if perhaps a bit smaller than I'm used to (my last phone was the Sony Ericsson K700i). One minor complaint is the build up of dust particles inside the screen, which make it difficult to view in direct sunlight (though this is not peculiar to this phone only). The Bluetooth and IR connectivity are what you would expect from Nokia and seem to work better than on other phones I've used. I use a Nokia bluetooth headset with this and I've had no problems (unlike my last phone!). It can also be connected to the PC with a USB cable, although this is not supplied with the phone (why not?).

Sound quality is good and calls are easy to make with volume being simple to adjust. I haven't yet suffered with a poor signal or bad sound quality.

Messaging, either Text, MMS or Email, is simple and not fiddly as on some phones. Apparently there is Instant Messaging available, but I haven't tried this.

Available from the Media menu, the integrated camera is high spec at 1.3 megapixel (probably the best I've seen on a phone) with an image size of up to 1280x1024 pixels. It will take colour video and not just short clips! I think it depends on how much memory you've got, but I believe it can take up to 1 hour! A 32MB memory card comes with the phone (this is inserted behind the battery) and it can be upgraded to 512MB. I've found the pictures on this phone to be excellent quality, although the video is quite basic. Hey, at the end of the day, it's a phone..... Go buy a Camcorder if you're that bothered! The Media menu also hosts a Media player for videos & a Music player for MP3 & AAC. The phone has MP3 polyphonic ringtones and alerts. In addition you can listen to FM Stereo radio with a headset connected, which acts as the aerial.

Particularly useful for me are the speed dialling, voice dialling and voice commands! It's great to find voice dialling that actually works every time! Other nice little touches include Caller ID with Image, handsfree speaker and Push To Talk.

I'm not into Games (get yourself a Gameboy - not a phone!), but I've got to say I even found the Golf game addictive and fun. All in all, I can't recommend this phone highly enough! This may not be snazzy and trendy, but it's a great phone and has got everything you could possibly need and more! I LIKE THIS PHONE!!

Summary: A Quality phone with all the features you need.

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