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5stars
41ratings4stars
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7ratings
Good value100% agree
Long battery life75% agree
Small form factor100% agree
79 reviews
UMA capable: wifi over home ntwk and no minutes removed
I am an out-of-contract T-Mobile user. I've been using a Nokia 5300 MusicXpress phone that has provided terrible call quality, and was going to drop T-Mobile as a provider, until the TM customer rep suggested this phone with its wi-fi capabilities.
What I like about it...
The UMA (wi-fi) capabilities. This phone, once networked with my home network security code, automatically hooks up to the wifi in my house to make phone calls. I DO NOT pay for T-Mobile's @Home service, nor am I being charged for minutes I use over the wi-fi connection. I have a very basic plan and was told I would need to upgrade to a smartphone with a @Home plan of $10 extra per mo to use wi-fi, but this is not so. At least not if you have the right firmware installed. I purchased a recycled (used) phone that apparently has the right firmware edition - I won't be upgrading it for fear of messing this up!
The weight and size of the phone are nice, and the body of the phone is metal. I like that it has a charging stand too. The navigation is easy to use and texting on the phone is very easy.
Voice recognition is also a cool feature. Hookup your bluetooth headset and it takes you through the set-up. Seems very intuitive and certainly easy to learn to use this phone.
What I don't like...
The camera. Forget about using it. Photo quality is very poor - cloudy, grainy - and yes, I cleaned the lens. Its internal memory is only 30mb, and I will have to hunt down the 'how to' notes for adding SD memory - although I don't see a slot for it. No MP3 player, but it does have a FM radio built in.
There are a few other phones that you can get with UMA capabilities that don't require the @Home service, but after researching them a bit I went with the reviews and selected this one. I'm glad I did, as it does what I wanted it to do: gives me free wi-fi calls off my home network with clear call quality for both me and the recipient of those calls.Read full review...
Good competitor to the Kayalyst
Sep 2010
I rely on Tmobile's hotspot at home service to get cell service inside my house where otherwise there is almost no cell reception. When my Samsung Katalyst died recently, it was disappointing to see the only Tmobile UMA (hotspot) phones sold new or refurbished are smartphones.
I want a plain jane phone. Also, a phone is something that's easy to lose, break, or drop into water so why spend a few hundred on it? So paying less than $100 for a used phone even if I have to buy a replacement battery makes sense.
After reviewing all the models phone models Tmobile supported for UMA, it looked like the Kayalyst and the Nokia 6301 were the best models. I had the Katalyst for almost two years and was used to it, but it has these problems:
- No menu customization (every day it took about 15 keypresses to set the alarm)
- Crippled bluetooth (only connected with headsets)
- Slider would collect junk and it was sometimes hard to open
- Speakerphone had limited volume
- Proprietary headset connection, lousy OEM headset
Otherwise it was a good phone
I've had the Nokia 6301 for almost a month, here is my consideration of it:
6301 Pros
- Smaller
- Great bright display
- Fully customizable user buttons
- Superior sound quality to the Katalyst
- Great speakerphone, good volume
- Has standard headphone plug and standard USB plug
- Great support from Nokia for PC file transfer and firmware updates
- The charger stand is convenient
6302 Cons
- Poor battery life. Needs recharging daily (on a new battery)
- Keys are a bit small, requires attention as to not hit wrong key
BIGGEST CON: Issues with wifi. 6301 has a history of problems connecting to wifi but those appear to be resolved now. Every now and again (usually in the evening) I will get transient cell signal inside the house, especially in my bedroom. Sometimes over the course of an hour I'll see the phone connected to cellular, then back on wifi, then back on cellular, then it won't go back to wifi. I have to try a series of things, turning wifi capabiilty on/off, restarting phone, restarting router, which always gets it back on. Problem is if I don't notice it was off wifi, there is a period of time where I'm disconnected from network completely or worse, I'll start a call on cellular and it will just drop quickly.
- This problem is tolerable... I don't leave the phone near my bedroom window and this hasn't been an issue.
Comparison with Katalyst
The pros of the 6301 well outweigh it's cons. The user interface and hardware interface are so much nicer than Katalyst that it's well worth it. I can deal with the battery life and wifi-cellular issue.
You may want to select a Katalyst if:
- You need battery life of more than 1 day
- You cannot deal with small buttons
- You get cell reception intermittentlyRead full review...
Rugged little nokia. Solid features, Simple usage.
I bought this phone specifically to downgrade to a more simplistic handset for my everyday usage. By trade I use Blackberries, and other PDA smart phones. With that said I chose this handset because of its robust media features such as A2DP and AVRC bluetooth profiles as well as a build in FM radio and 2mp Digital Camera. I also like the large screen boasting 16.7 million colors on its high resolution screen.
Overall this phone should not surprise any buyer with its feature or design, but rather be a simple straight forward handset to make and receive calls while listening to music and media.Read full review...
Nokia 6301 (T-Mobile)
Great phone.. Very slim.
I bought this to eliminate my land line and use as regular home line, since T-mobile offeres unlimited Wi-Fi calling, which is great. The quality is of voice clarity is great, but as Wi-Fi signal is sometimes unstable, phone has tendency of disconnecting while in coversation once a while. The menu options are simple but not best of all. I tried to bring some picture as wallpaper, but still was not able to find out how. I consider myself a computer and gaget gru, but some minor Menu options on the phone doesn't seems to be friendly or widely exposed for easy access.Read full review...
gamer's delight....though not a lot after that
Yeah I have to admit...the whole idea of using my cell phone as a Game Boy just excited me. I had to get this phone just because of that fact. But it's still a cool phone, and here's why.
1) Improved T9Word: I LOVE TXT messaging, so the fact that my phone just emphasized that fact made me happy to keep it. And the T9 can save direct words (that may not be approved for this review) that I use instead of the direct T9 dictionary.
2) All-in-one feel: This is a whole feel, so you can use this plus browsing, MP3 music, and so much more on that case...I loved it, though I never got my hands on a memory card before mine busted.
3) Games! Okay, the fact that I can use my cell phone for gaming is just cooler than life itself :)
Though, the reason I give this a four is because of the small field I had to use...I just couldn't get used to how I had to hold it to answer cell phone calls. But other than that, it's a good phone on Cingular/T-Mobile's network.Read full review...
Good for the Price
I bought this phone for my son (14). The phone works well as far as reception is concerned. It routinely gets the same number of bars as my HTC8925 (Tilt), He was able to get MMS, and after youtubing it, he set up the SMS, and was able to go online with WIFI and the data card. Unfortunately the phone isn't compatible with Adobe Flash Mobile so he can't watch ANY videos online.
The phone is poorly constructed. The tilting function of the keyboard, literally broke within the first 10 days of having the phone. He is able however, to slide the phone up and down to reveal the qwerty keyboard.
Overall, the phone looks and feels great. we are happy with what we have for what I paid and considering the price of the Nokia N97, I think I got a fairly good deal.
I would definitely buy anotherRead full review...
Great gaming phone! Too bad it had a short life...
This phone had a lot of potential. I was stupid for not buying it when I had the chance, but I was never interested in a cell phone until now. Nokia should have stuck with it and pushed it further so that Nintendo, Sony, and possibly Microsoft would join in the fray. They could have made phones out of their current handhelds (Microsoft has the Zune). A Nintendo DS phone would be awesome. It already has the ability to talk to someone through the mic, but only few of the Wi-Fi enabled games utilise it. Anyway, if you are looking for an awesome nostalgic piece of gaming/cellphone history, buy the N-Gage. You won't be disappointed.Read full review...
Great Deal
This phone has an amazing amount of features for such a low price. The wi-fi is very convenient and the slide out keyboard makes texting very easy. The tv works fine but there are very few analog stations in my area. The camera works great outdoors but the quality for indoor pictures suffers a bit. Being able to add a micro sd card (I put in an 8gb) is a big plus for added storage such as music and pictures. Touchscreen also works very well. Overall, this phone is an excellent bargain.Read full review...
N85 pretty good phone
It's pretty good.
Good camera.But flash light doesn't work really well as i thought before.
It's a smart phone including tons of functions. You can use google map and gps free with wifi. And you can download apps from the internet. But generally the running speed is kinda slow. Also, this phone can easily get fingerprint on it. that's awful.Read full review...
AWESOME
This is an awesome phone a must buy for any gamer or music junkie if you like the bluetooth feature they have a bluetooth headset that acts as headphones and are decent quality for no wires ^_^ but the best part is it changed from the original by no more taco talking. I used to have this one and then i had it stolen i had it all tricked out so i bought the newest one and its easier to use i think and its smaller and more reliable with the rubber outside.also if you get the mmc card expander wich i have and buy 2 2gb mmc cards then you have 4 gb on a phone!!!!!! its freakin amazing a computer in your hand just carry your bluetooth pen around so you can transfer data to your phone but if you cant afford a bluetooth pen get an mmc card reader and send your data that way. i would highly recomend this phone to all who are for everything in one. and like 3D N64 looking graphicsRead full review...