Nokia 6300 – Cool To Go

If you’re one of those people that’s looking for highly functional cool, then the Nokia 6300 would be a good phone to look at.  This black and silver camera phone is easy on the eye and offers strong camera, internet and multi-media features.

For starters, the 2 megapixel camera has an 8x digital zoom - and most happily for someone like myself who is almost constantly needing a stronger pair of eyeglasses – a full screen viewfinder.   The 2 inch screen displays at a 240 x 320 resolution in 16 million colours.  The 2 megapixel resolution might seem a bit low to some people, but part of the beauty of this phone is the intention behind it – a beautiful form following simplicity as its function.  The camera does not include an LED photo light nor does it include flash.

There is lamentably only a little over seven megabytes of storage space, but the phone includes a microSD slot that will allow you to upgrade to as much as 2 gigabytes of storage – a must have for the multimedia users.  Happily, Nokia even includes a 128 megabyte microSD card with the purchase of the phone.  The music player uses primarily mp3 format for music, with a couple of miscellaneous formats supported.  There is of course an FM music player with a Visual Radio function.  There’s even streaming video support included. 

Some users will find the battery usage a bit limiting with only 3.5 hours of talk time with a little over 14 days of standby usage.  Again, we come back to the tradeoff, though, that striving for simplicity demands.  The phone does weigh in at 91 grams, and would surely have to weigh more to accommodate longer usage.

The design of this camera phone itself is a black and stainless steel type finish.  On the plus side there is actual alpha numeric keypad with 12 relatively large, easy to use buttons.

As far as Internet access goes, the browser supports XHTML for multi-media browsing.  Streaming video moves at 3GPP. Data transfer is moved by EDGE, one of the most efficient protocols in use for mobile phones.  The phone also supports Bluetooth and USB, both for peripheral usage and for managing data.  The phone includes support for some of the must have uses, such as the short messaging service (SMS), multi-media messaging service (MMS), WAP and e-mail.  Infrared support is not included.

The phone does include the Nokia suite for PIM (Personal Information Management) and a CD-ROM for PC and laptop integration.  The suite includes Contact management, a calendar, a To-do list, notes, and even an alarm clock and a countdown timer.

Voice recognition technology continues to move forward and you can use voice commands with the phone, including dialing and recording.

The simplicity of this phone makes it an excellent choice for a first phone, a less expensive solution, or for someone intimidated by technology.  Power users may find that the functionality isn’t what they used to, and could be disappointed with this phone.  Overall, though, we can certainly recommend it as a phone that does the job its designed to do; just make sure you understand its limitations.