Nokia's best communicator adds Wi-Fi to its repertoir - but can this aging breed of device stand up to increasingly fierce competition? Join Jørgen Sundgot as he ventures to find out.
Review summary of the Nokia 9300i Communicator:
|
Gallery » |
 In essence, only two problems bother the Nokia 9300i business phone - yet they are also two of the most vital. Poor synchronization and mediocre performance hinder the full exploitation of the other benefits of this business phone, which among other features incorporates an outstanding thumbboard and similarly impressive widescreen display. Combined with decent software, they make for comfortable document management and best-in-class data entry - all tucked neatly into a highly pocketable package which sadly lacks 3G but otherwise excels at connectivity. Release: January 2006. Price: $675.
Pros: Highly pocketable; superb internal display; ergonomically superior thumbboard; comprehensive connectivity
Cons: Sluggish interaction; poor groupware and synchronization support; no vibrating alert
| Poor |
Mediocre |
Good |
80%
VERY GOOD |
Excellent |
|
|
Full Nokia 9300i Communicator Review:
 |
How long does it take to squeeze the innards of the Nokia 9500 Communicator into a package the size of the Nokia 9300 Communicator? A full year, apparently, with the fruits of Nokia's labour finally hitting shelves as the 9300i. At only a few grams more than its predecessor, the only discernible difference between the two is its updated colour scheme and the inclusion of Wi-Fi - which begs the inevitable question: does the communicator formula remain competitive?
Tea, Earl Grey
Seemingly separated at birth, the physical differences between the 9300i and its predecessor are minimal with identical physical measurements of 132 x 51 x 21 mm and a 5 g weight gain up to 172g. Sporting an arguably more attractive colour scheme, the outside offers up a large and comfortable numeric keypad right beneath an itsy bitsy display running the Series 40 operating system at 128 x 128 pixels and 65K colours. Tactile feedback is excellent, and fortunately audible feedback isn't loud enough to negate a bit of discrete in-meeting tapping.
Void of an integrated camera, the only other external tidbits worth mentioning include a dedicated speakerphone loudspeaker atop the device, and as with its predecessor the 9300i remains held face inward when talking, as opposed to their common ancestors. Also, the bottom conceals Nokia's proprietary Pop-port connector and a charging jack.
Open sesame
Crack the 9300i open, and things are immediately looking up as compared to the dull outside. First off, we find a 640 x 200 pixel transflective display with 65K colours and adjustable brightness which, as is the case with the screen of the 9300, is outright astonishing. Indoor performance is impressive, but the only other devices which look this good outdoors are the 9300 and 9500 - oh, if only it was touch sensitive. Lest we forget, there's also four soft buttons to its right which all applications tie into.
Moving on to the thumbboard, we find an excellent input option with large keys and adequate tactile feedback, with the 9300i also offering several localized layouts and a dedicated numerical row. Additionally, a top row of eight dedicated application buttons provide rapid access to frequently used applications and even a 'My own' key to the far right which users can set to any application they'd like - we only wish there were more than one.
The amount of functionality available through dedicated keys and shortcut combinations is very extensive, and - like its predecessor - the 9300i beats the pants off any other device in this regard. There's more praise to be had, however, as the thumbboard sneakily incorporates both an excellent nine-way navigational pad and four separate directional keys. At first glance, these perform the exact same functions, but in the web browser the navigational pad controls a mouse cursor while the directional keys tend to scrolling: fiendishly clever and very well implemented.
I fi, you fi, we all Wi-Fi
With every device maker and their grandmother integrating Wi-Fi, Nokia's integration of 802.11g connectivity in the 9300i is neither surprising nor a competitive advantage but merely a welcome addition for those who simply cannot live with the bulk of the 9500.
Wi-Fi security is comprehensive with WEP, WPA and LEAP on the slate, but disappointingly, setting up an access point manually is impossible; it must be within range, and cannot have a hidden SSID.
Furthermore, as the calendar shows 2006, the lack of 3G is rather disappointing - but at least remaining connectivity remains comprehensive with tri-band GSM 900/1800/1900 MHz and EDGE. Also present are Infrared and Bluetooth with an adequate set of profiles, as well as Nokia's proprietary Pop-port and USB 2.0.
Parading its likeness with its predecessor yet again, the 9300i offers 80 MB of non-volatile memory along with a now-ancient MMC card slot for expansion - although incomprehensibly, the card slot remains under the battery cover; at least it's no longer placed under the battery itself. Speaking of batteries, the 9300i easily lasts a full two days with extensive use, also delivering above-par audio quality throughout testing.
Wait a minute, this looks familiar
Powered by the same Series 80 platform as the 9300 and 9500, the Nokia 9300i admittedly possesses a certain amount of charm. This stems from its simple and intuitive user interface which, despite its poor utilization of the vast amount of screen estate at its disposal, combines with the application shortcut row to offer delightfully snappy multitasking.
Unfortunately, however, these qualities are hampered by the underpowered processor of the device. In worst case scenarios, applications can take up to two seconds to open, and the otherwise superb web browser of the 9300i is unable to exploit the full potential of the Wi-Fi connection as a direct consequence. Thankfully, with the exception of the web browser, the lack of horsepower is rarely noticed in daily use.
Applications such as the high-quality yet rather basic Messaging and PIM suites are among the less impacted, whilst the Office suite and in particular the Adobe Acrobat viewer tend to tug a little when processing larger documents. Incidentally, we still miss the spell checker and thesaurus that used to inhabit the Documents application on the 9210i of yesteryore.
The most glaring shortcoming of the 9300i, however, is its complete disregard for out-of-the-box groupware support; to enable such functionality, buyers must either purchase additional solutions from Nokia or turn to 3rd party vendors. Alas, avoiding this issue by opting for localized synchronization with a PC is hardly an alternative, as this remains an agonizingly slow procedure which even lacks support for item categorization.
Lastly, the Series 40 interface also offers up a couple of quirks: it does not provide any means of Bluetooth control, and although it notifies users of new e-mail it's not possible to view as much as a subject line without opening the device.
Availability
The Nokia 9300i Communicator is, as of April 1st, 2006, selling for €675 EUR in Europe.
Price and availability
|
|
|
|
|
Archive