NOKIA 6265

The Nokia 6265 packs an extra-large 240 x 320 pixel display, 2.0-megapixel camera with LED flash, digital music player, Bluetooth wireless technology and miniSD card support into a compact sliding design that measures a mere 22 mm thin. When operated in camera mode, the Nokia 6265 is designed to be used horizontally, resulting in a more conventional photography experience. Music fans will enjoy the built in FM radio and digital music player which supports MP3, AAC and eAAC+ files, especially when paired with the optional wireless stereo headset.

NOKIA 6255

Physical Overview

The Nokia 6255 has slightly more straight edges and right angles than most clamshell phone bodies. Even the base of the eternal antenna is squared-off to add to the effect. The visual impression is a good one and the dark grey section on the top panel contrasts with the light grey of the lower section to give the phone a smart appearance.

When closed, the 6255 measures a compact 47 x 85 x 26mm, with a 24mm extendible antenna. On the outside of the lid there’s a 22 x 20mm colour LCD that displays phone status and other information. It acts as a camera viewfinder and works with the caller photo ID function. It has a 96 x 65 resolution and supports 4000 colours. In the bottom left corner of the lid, the VGA camera lens is accompanied by the flash beam light. On the top edge you’ll find an on-off button, the antenna, a fitting for a wrist strap and a mini headphone socket.

On the rear there’s an external speaker (vibration alerts are also supported) and the battery cover that secures with internal clips. If you remove the battery you can lift a hinged cover and install an MMC Card for use with the MP3 player (thicker SD Cards aren’t compatible).

A 32MB card is bundled. There’s another slot for an auxiliary phone card not used locally. On the right edge of the lid there is a button that activates voice dialling, records a voice memo or snaps a picture, depending on how long you press it for or the mode you are in. On the right edge of the base there’s an infrared port. On the bottom edge there’s a port for the AC adapter and another for accessory connectors, such as a USB cable (optional) and a radio tuner headset (bundled). On the left side of the base there’s a volume button for audio playback and earpiece volume. Inside the lid the 65K active matrix LCD measures 32 x 41mm and has a 128 x 160 resolution. It is surrounded with a mirrored frame. The 6255’s shutdown time is around four seconds with start-up taking approximately 15 seconds.

Navigation
The keypad is coloured dark grey with the large keys mounted individually. The large white numerals have small lowercase alphabetic characters below them.

Symbols are used for all functions. The white lettering turns light green in low light and the backlighting is evenly distributed. Adding to the colour, bright blue backlit stripes separate the rows of keys and illuminate the two top soft keys. The call and disconnect keys are green and red, respectively.

The four-way navigation button has a central key for confirming and selecting choices. Below the four-way key there’s a shutter button for the camera. The keys all respond with a positive click and the menus are also fast to open and scroll. In some menu screens the 6255 will only display two options onscreen at a time, which means that you couldn’t see the full range of choices in one glance.

This seems somewhat anomalous, as there is plenty of screen space available and the text used is fairly small. The four-way navigation key has shortcut functions and you can also add your own to the phone. On the whole the 6255 is a fairly intuitive phone to use.

Calling
The Nokia 6255 is designed for connecting to CDMA 800, 1900 and AMS networks. Locally, it operates on Telecom’s 027 network. We found the earpiece volume control useful although it didn’t raise the volume in calls as much as we would prefer (headset volume was good, however). In normal use, we found the volume for the recipient of a 6255 call was louder using the built-in mic than the one in the bundled headset.

You can use an optional Bluetooth headset such as the Nokia HS-11W with the 6255 (although any Bluetooth headset will work with the phone). There’s a useful speakerphone mode available, too. The address book supports 500 entries with seven numbers, including an email and web address and text fields plus photo ID and distinctive ring.

You can synchronise entries with a desktop database. (For uploading contacts to the 6255 from your old phone, visit any Telecom store and they will assist using the instore Synapse system). The photo ID appears when you ring out as well as receive a call. Voice dialling works with the clam shell closed and is easy to configure from the address book. The battery’s standby time is seven hours, with a three-hour rated talk time.

Camera
The 640 x 480 VGA (0.3 megapixel) camera is basic, recording little detail in its images. The colours in our test shots looked quite rich, however, so the oil-painting effect actually enhanced the visuals from a colour perspective. There’s also a range of gallery effects (adding frames or clip art) and image adjustment options, such as setting contrast and cropping. You can use the smaller external LCD as a viewfinder for self portraits, but you need to activate it manually from the main menu. Among the camera settings is a night mode and a flash is built-in for low-light conditions – you’ll have to work to get the right exposure with the flash though. A range of image quality settings are provided for the small screen of a handset. Movie capture is supported and it has a useful pause function.

Messaging
The messaging client offers SMS and MMS options and includes MMS to email (with an email alert inviting the recipient to a Telecom web site for the full details). There’s browser access to Xtra mail, picture messaging, web text notices and instant messaging. (You can also use the phone as a fax-modem for a desktop email client.)

The 6255 uses quite small text in its messaging interface which means that you can see a lot on the screen. Although the text is small, we found the bold typeface easy to read and the T9 predictive input system easy to use. The messaging options menu provides quick access to images, message presets and symbols. Many phones display a small icon onscreen when sending an image through MMS, but the Nokia 6255 goes further and also displays the progress as a percentage. Nice.

Applications
The WAP browser displayed the sites we visited well. Images embedded in news stories loaded quickly, sizable chunks of data were obtained at once and pages scrolled quickly. The bundled headset is necessary for using the radio tuner function.

The tuner automatically detected a few stations and we were able to tune into the extra ones that we wanted manually with reasonable reception quality. The onboard audio player is compatible with AAC and MP3 file formats.

You can load audio files by USB PC connection, Bluetooth or infrared, or put them on the memory card before you load it if that is more convenient. As memory card capacities get higher and less expensive, a device like the 6255 is a good option for users who also want a portable audio player (although SD Cards are generally more common in higher capacities than those in MMC format). An equaliser function is provided with several presets that proved rather subtle in their variations.

A manual configuration option is available, too. Random and repeat playback is supported. You can skip tracks during playback with a button in the headset cable. The 2.5mm mini socket on top of the 6255 lets you use alternative earphones (to take advantage of the high-quality output from the player), but it would be useful to have a standard earphone socket on the phone or in the headset connection. Miscellaneous utilities include a world clock, to-do, calendar, conversion tool, calculator and timers. Java games bundled include car racing, pinball, a puzzle and a snowboarding game that’s not for the faint-hearted. You can download more, if required. In testing we found that the Nokia 6255 has enough processing power to support its range of functions.

Summary
The Nokia 6255 is certainly worthy of a look for business users – using Nokia PC Suite it can synchronise your phonebook, calendar and to-do list with your PC, and provide WAP browser access to Xtra mail, picture messaging, web text notices and instant messaging. The price point also includes a radio tuner and MP3 player that can make commuting or other idle periods less tiresome (an optional desktop audio base is also available).

Full Bluetooth support also opens up a host of accessory integration options – like headsets, carkits and speaker systems. Nokia supplies a useful manual with the 6255 but as the phone’s controls are mostly intuitive you probably won’t need to refer to it very often. Overall, the Nokia 6255 is Telecom’s most technically advanced CDMA clamshell handset – integrating an external LCD with photo caller ID and voice-dialling capability.

NOKIA 6233

The Nokia 6233 is a very attractive & compact phone that offers the user the even balance between their personal & business requirements. The 6233 is very desirable & comes in a choice of stainless steel silver or high gloss black finish coloured casing. This phone looks the business & does the business but at the same time it is not all work, work, work but play, play, play for the user. The Nokia 6233 looks similar to the Nokia 6230 but the 6233 has some differences as it comes complete with 3G technology & the screen is crystal clear & a pleasure to view. The main similarity with the 6233 & the Nokia 6230 is that they both have a very solid & well designed feel to them which is all down to Nokia.

The 3G technology allows the user to get access to all of the latest sports, weather & news directly & instantly on the Nokia 6233. It is possible for the user to get Internet access using mobile broadband & be emailing those all important documents to their boss, but at the same time they can be listening to the built in FM radio. The Nokia 6233 makes it possible for the user to be listening to their personal music files using the built in stereo complete with 3Dsurround sound & at the same time writing out that highly important order for the secretary to action. It can be all work & all play with the 6233.

The Nokia 6233 comes complete with a 2 megapixel camera with 8 x digital zoom which is very easy to use & the zoom is very clear & smooth. The camera has a mode to allow the user to capture the perfect photo in either portrait or landscape. The 6233 also allows the user to take video recording which can be sent via email, sent via multimedia message service (MMS) or simply stored on the phones memory & viewed as desired. The phone comes with 70 mega bytes of built in memory which is great for storing all of the messages, videos & photos.

The sound quality on the Nokia 6233 is amazing due to the high quality sound produced by the stereo speakers & the 3D surround sound feature. The phone comes complete with a music player & built in FM radio which provide a really fun & personally feel to this phone.

The 6233 comes with text messaging (SMS) & multimedia message service (MMS) which allows the user to send video, pictures, sound & text all in one message. The email service comes with a spam filter which is a great feature that filters all of the junk mail.