Nokia 6230i Review

[plankton]

P.S. I'm American so might as well right in English, better that way...

 

Finally after weeks of waiting my Nokia 6230i arrived at my post box. I've had the phone for two days now, made calls with it, took some pictures, scrutinized the screen and used the MP3 player and radio. Taking into account that many of you have already used its predecessor, the Nokia 6230, I'll skip the usual functions found on the phone and focus more on the improvements. So the "phone" part of the review would be left out here. The 6230i functions a lot like other Series 40 phones (good or bad it's up to you really), and the call quality, like that of the 6230, is superb. Design? either you like its subtlely or you don't. The design is very discreet. One improvement though: the navigation pad now has its own center button.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Open the box and you get...the phone, charger, battery, a 32MB MMC card, PC Suite software, stereo headset, manual...where's the USB cable? Right. There isn't any, so if you want to synchronize the phone with your Outlook contacts and calendar, or transfer MP3 files to the MMC card and you don't have a card reader handy, you'd have to invest in a DKU-2 cable or a bluetooth adapter. I guess skimping on this accessory contributed to the phone's somewhat low asking price of kr 2.900, but then again, this phone is being marketed as a music device, camera AND a PnP USB storage, and without an out-of-the-box means of connecting it to a PC to do these advertised functions, the phone's promise is defeated somewhat.

 

So if you are buying this phone: be prepared to shell out several hundred kroner extra for a cable AND a higher capacity MMC card.

 

The screen has been improved, from 128x128 pixels to 208x208 pixels. It's a nice improvement, but the size different between the two is not that drastic. What you do notice are the pixels; you can't see them anymore. The images generated by the screen are very clear and sharp, text fonts are very smooth, and if you are migrating from another Series 40 phone to the 6230i, then the difference would be like night and day. However, the screens of the Series 60 phones and other phones like the K700i and D500 are still better, since they are physically bigger.

 

 

 

Ok I'll jump on to the other main improvement of this phone, which is the camera. the 6230i can take 1.3 megapixel shots. And in my opinion the camera is, when compared to my previous phone which was the Nokia 7610, better. Reading the reviews for the Nokia 6630 on this website and seeing the pictures taken by the camera, I can say that the quality of the pictures taken by the 6230i is on par with that of the 6630. But don't take my word for it, see for yourself.

 

Picture 1

 

Picture 2

 

The MP3 player is again, a mixed bag. One thing I can say though, the sound quality is satisfying. Bass is deep enough, volume is LOUD, and unless you are a serious audiophile, the sound quality of the MP3 player will surely meet your demands. Heck, the sound quality is even better than that of my Creative Muvo v200 (but is obviously outdone by playing lossless files on an Ipod) . You can transfer music files directly to the memory card using drag and drop. But if you want the phone to play only your full MP3s and NOT your ringtones, then you'd have to use Nokia Audio Manager to create a playlist. Nokia Audio Manager can even reduce the size of your MP3s before it transfers them to the phone.

 

The flaws? Well there are a few. For one, the Nokia uses proprietary connectors so you cannot use your expensive Koss headphones to listen to music. The Nokia earphones aren't bad, but they aren't special either.

 

Another major gripe is that the phone does not support WMA files, and neither does Audio Manager. So if your music collection includes lots of WMA files (like I do), then you are in for a rut. You'll have to download extra software (I use a freeware called SWITCH), to convert them to MP3 or AAC first, and the process of transferring music becomes even more cumbersome. Not to mention the quality loss caused by converting from one lossy audio format to another.

 

The battery life will also be an issue for avid MP3 users. And since the MP3 player is built in the phone, you can't use it on a plane, as there is no flight mode. So bottom line: don't put your stand-alone MP3 players on auction just yet. The 6230i is a good substitue when you can't be bothered to take your MP3 player with you.

 

Other extras: the built-in FM radio produces good quality sound if the reception is clear enough. There are three games (Street Race, Backgammon 2, Golf Tour), PTT (though not yet supported in Norway), bluetooth, IR, video recorder (nothing to brag about).

 

 

Well that's about it. I bought the 6230i for several reasons. The camera (which did not disappoint), MP3 player (which cannot replace my Ipod), memory expansion (512 MB is the limit), improved screen, and replaceable covers since I'm a klutz and always manage to scratch the phone screen. It's bigger than the Samsung D500, but has expandable memory. It has a smaller screen than the 6630, but also smaller in size, and with a camera that is just as good. The 6230i is not a "killer" phone, but a compromise, meant for those who want a high-tech phone in a small package, with a low price tag to boot. Should it replace your 6230? Well if you think the megapixel camera is worth it, then by all means. Otherwise there are other alternatives out there. If you're patient enough, save your bucks for the K750i instead.

 

Pros: size, screen, good camera, good mp3 player

Cons: screen still not big enough, proprietary headphones, still NOT an MP3 player replacement, USB cable not bundled in sales package

 

Rating: TERNINGKAST 4,5/6

 

You can write your comments or questions in Norwegian

Endret 2. mai 2005 av plankton

[mikaragua]

Hvorfor skrive på engelsk hvis du kan norsk? Bra test.

[Gjest Yoshi]

Unnskyld meg, men du kunne ikke bare edita og brukt ENTER litt oftere? Blir så klumsete å lese når setningene går sånn laaangt ut mot sida siden du har så store bilder, sjå... Sånn som jeg skriver akkurat nå? Kan være irriterende i lengden.

Mye bedre å lese ting når de holder seg innenfor sida, eller hva?

 

Fine bilder, men litt store? Du kunne ikke ha laget mindre tumbnails?

[Crazysteps]

Enig, bruk thumbnails. bruk enter oftere og del opp avsnitene ebdre.

 

Ellers er det et solid stykke arbeid.

[Algron]

Fin test!

[MarkusG]

Bra test

[zlinky]

har både K700i og 6230i, og har sammenlignet skjermene på de litt. I de fleste tilfeller har det ikke noe å si at skjermen til K700 er større,

for det eneste den gjør med den ekstra plassen er å vise batteri og signal. Når jeg ser film eller skriver mld etc blir det like stort på begge skjermene,

men 6230i har klart bedre kvalitet!

Endret 23. april 2005 av zlinky

[Djmolvi]

Jeg syns at batteriet er dårlig ellers så har jeg fått brukt batteri må lade hverdag.

[dysfunctional]

Fin test.

 

Men jeg er enig med Redline. Hvorfor skrive på engelsk når du kan norsk?

Det hadde blitt mye lettere å lese for noen. (Jeg er såpass god i engelsk at jeg skjønte alt som sto der.

 

Det gjør vel de fleste her, men det hadde vært lettere å lese direkte norsk, og ikke oversette.

Endret 26. mai 2005 av MacCy

[jalleks]

Lurte på en liten ting. Hvor mange meldinger er det plass til på denne telefonen? Kan man velge om man vil lagre dem på internminnet eller minnekortet? Eller har den en begrenset kapasitet, slik som på SE sine telefoner på 100 meldinger eller noe.

Ellers takk for en liten review