iPhone 3GS from AT&T. Free Shipping
- Average user rating: 3.0 stars out of 30 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
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3 out of 3 people found this review helpful
4.0 stars
"A great stylish full-featured phone if you don't need a smartphone"
Pros: Beautiful without being flashy. Solid weight and an unbreakable candybar design.
Cons: Camera could be better... but how much better? Any phones out there that can realistically compete with a standalone digital camera? No? Okay, moving on.
Summary: I got T-Mobile Hotspot@home and the handset situation has been a nightmare. First, I started off with the cheaper Nokia 6086. It was a fine phone, had the legendary Nokia reception when off the home wi-fi... but when it WAS on the wi-fi, it would constantly disconnect. Like all the time. So I upgraded to the Samsung Katalyst. A nice enough phone, excellent graphics, good connection with the wi-fi service, and good reception from cell towers. But the slider design was fragile. I went through two of them in the space of a 4 months.
Then T-Mobile debuted the Nokia 6301, and I jumped at it. I'd actually been using the 6300 right before I got the hotspot@home service, and was forced to give it up due to the lack of wi-fi compatibility (for those who don't know, the 6301 is exactly the same as the 6300, except with upgraded connectivity). It's a great phone- simple, stylish and solid.
The casing is metal and glossy black plastic... it looks expensive. I've had more than a few people assume it's the "younger brother" of the uber-pricy metal Nokia sliders... it looks, if not like a 1,000 dollar phone, then at least like a 500 dollar one.
The connectivity is excellent- perhaps slightly better with the wi-fi than the Samsung Katalyst, and definitely better off the wi-fi... it's a Nokia, after all. The graphics are good... however the edges of the icons are a little less smooth than the pristine graphics on the Katalyst. The voice quality during calls is top-notch... beats the Samsung handily.
The software suite is fine... as full featured as a phone gets until you turn that corner into the realm of "smartphones"... but honestly, I've never seen anything I would recommend to someone over an iPhone or Blackberry, if they intend to do business on their phone. If you want to do business on your phone, those are the tops, and nothing has (or it seems in the foreseeable future will) beat them. Case closed.
As the cnet reviewer stated, the camera isn't the best available on a phone- but it's fine for what the vast majority of cellphone cameras are needed for- taking pictures for your contacts list and taking photos of damage after a fender-bender. I've never understood the whole deal with reviewing cell-phone cameras... can people just agree that the best phone camera is pretty bad, compared to any stand-alone digital camera? If a phone camera does what it's supposed to do, it's fine. You want to be Ansel Adams? Get an actual camera.
- 1 reply to this review
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One cool feature you should have mentioned is quick and easy access to your email (can access all the top emails easily) the phone is solid. My dad got it because he is not a smart phone guy, but he does check email sometimes.
Nokia 6301 (T-Mobile):
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