| Design | 2.4/5 |
| Display & Interface | 3/5 |
| Calling | 4/5 |
| Talk time | 3.5/5 |
| Messaging | 3/5 |
| Music | 3/5 |
| Video | 2/5 |
| Camera | 1.5/5 |
| Memory | 3.5/5 |
| Web browsing | 2/5 |
| Connectivity | 3/5 |
| Productivity | 2/5 |
| Scheduling | 2/5 |
| Laptop sidekick | 2/5 |
| Navigation | 0/5 |
| Gaming | 2/5 |
| Mobile services | 2/5 |
| Accessories | 3/5 |
| Value | 3/5 |
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Pros:
Calls sound great under Wi-Fi and when reception was strong. Lots of features for a simple calling phone. Included charging dock. |
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Cons:
When reception was weaker, calls sounded bad or dropped out altogether. Small keys made typing difficult. Lousy camera. |
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| Conclusion: |
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| For all its flaws, the Nokia 6301 is still a deceptively nice phone. Under the best conditions, at a Wi-Fi hotspot, calls sounded excellent, and the HotSpot @Home service worked well. We're big fans of this UMA service, as it could save customers a lot of money and provide better reception than normal cellular service. The phone also includes a robust music player with a 512MB microSD card as a bonus, and even some nice messaging options. Unfortunately, the fact that it doesn't use Wi-Fi for data keeps it from being more of a messaging and Web browsing powerhouse, and the tiny keys kept us from carrying on long, textual conversations. The menu also kept many of the best in hiding. Overall, this feels like a low-end phone with a few high-end features stuck on, but for the bargain-hunting HotSpot @Home crowd, those high-end features will simply be a nice bonus, anyway. |
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