Avid infoSync World readers are sure to remember the Nokia 6230 - you know, the phone that held a top ranking on our mobile phones chart for months in a stretch. Having received rave reviews, it's now time for its successor, the 6230i, to take center stage, offering an upgraded set of features in a package that remains almost identical to its predecessor.
Still with an understated sense of style, the 6230i remains a tri-band GSM 900/1800/1900 MHz handset, but in addition to HSCSD and GPRS Class 10 now offers much-needed EDGE support. At 99 g, it's as small and light as its predecessor, retaining the same comfortable ergonomic layout and excellently responsive keypad.
The bright and clear 65K colour screen has also received something of a makeover, and is now crisper than any other Series 40 based handset with a resolution of 208 x 208 pixels; a long overdue upgrade given the pace with which Nokia's competitors have been introducing high resolution displays to their high-end handsets.
Another upgrade is represented by the digital camera, which has gone from 0.3 Megapixels to 1.3 Megapixels. Although an opportunity to inspect pictures taken with it did not present itself, I'd be more than surprised if image quality turned out to be lower than that of 1.3 MP cameras found in a range of Nokia smartphones, such as the 7610 and 6630.
The music player has not seen any changes since the 6230, but as the old adage says; if it isn't broke, don't fix it. With MP3, AAC and AAC+ support, audio quality remains high, but sadly there's still no other means of listening to audio using standard 2.5 or 3.5 mm headsets - which just isn't good enough with virtually every handset maker under the sun preparing to launch dedicated music phones. Granted, audio is not the primary focus of the 6230i, but it remains Nokia's only high-end handset with passable audio playback features - meaning the pressure is on.
Fortunately, users should at least be able to expand storage to their heart's content using MMC cards, for which the 6230i offers support up to sizes of 512 MB. Last, but not least, it's also worth mentioning that Bluetooth is supported, and that users have access to an FM radio of equal quality to that found in the 6230. Due out in the second quarter of 2005, you can expect to plunk down in the range of 350 EUR for the 6230i.
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