Nokia 6301 Cell Phone - Performance
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Overall, performance of this phone was more than acceptable. Voice calls sounded sharp and clear, and network signals were strong and reliable. Sadly, the 6301 displays weakness in two areas: battery life and camera performance.
The camera we can mostly forgive. No one we know who is in any way serious about photography expects to take anything more than casual snapshots with a camera phone, especially a mid-level 2 mega pixel camera phone, and set in this context the 6301's photos were by no means dreadful. The integrated camera offers a choice of six resolutions, three different quality settings and night and panoramic modes, all of which can be further modified by brightness and white balance adjustments.
A multi-shot mode, self-timer and a range of color effects round things off. As always, the digital zoom is pretty much pointless. Video capture capability is adequate but unremarkable. Clips can be shot in a choice of two resolutions, with sound, and can generally be as long as the available memory will accommodate, although clips intended as MMS attachments are restricted to a maximum length of 20 seconds.
Overall, the quality of both still images and video was only fair. The images tended to be noisy, especially in low light. as is broadly typical of phone cameras. Colors are also somewhat less than vibrant, unfortunately failing to do full justice to the excellent display on which you will be viewing them. Nonetheless, this is on the whole a minor complaint.
Of far greater significance is the battery life issue. While the specs claim talk time of up to 3.5 hours and standby time of up to 350 hours (which is over two weeks, for the mathematically challenged), the phone seemed unable to achieve anything even remotely close to these figures in actual use. The 6301 is admittedly a slim phone, which tends to downwardly impact battery performance, and it is commonly understood that manufacturer's claims invariably veer towards the optimistic end of the truth spectrum.
Nonetheless, the claim of 14 days standby time seems to reside in the realm of pure fantasy. Users have reported standby times as low as just a few days, and while our experience wasn't quite as bad as that, caution is advised for anyone to whom long battery life is an important consideration. Having said that, it would appear that battery life can be significantly extended by turning off many of the "extra" features and not using the radio or music player - but then that kind of defeats the object of buying a phone equipped with these capabilities. In the end, you pay your money and you take your choice.
Quality in a neat package
Despite the slight drawbacks we've identified, Nokia seem to have come up with an all-round winner in the 6301. From the sturdy build quality and sleek finish to the exemplary layout and excellent screen, the hardware can hardly be faulted. Add in the extensive applications, the extended feature set and the cutting edge Wi-Fi technology and you have a phone that's hard to beat at this price point. And as if all that wasn't enough, extras in the box such as the charging dock and Micro SD card make the 6301 stand out even further against the competition.
As long as you don't expect unrealistic performance from the battery and aren't hoping to capture professional quality photos or videos with the integrated camera, it's hard to imagine how you could fail to be impressed by a phone that's built this well and packs so many features into its slim and elegant case. I highly recommend it.
Sources:
CNet - http://reviews.cnet.com/cell-phones/nokia-6301-t-mobile/4505-6454_7-33109759.html
Mobile Phones UK - http://www.mobile-phones-uk.org.uk/nokia-6301.htm
Your Mobile Phone Reviews UK - http://www.yourmobilephonereviews.co.uk/nokia_6301_reviews.htm
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