Nokia Dilemma - 6230 Vs 6600. Review on Nokia 6230

Nokia Dilemma - 6230 Vs 6600

To start this off - Nokia Rulz!

With Nokia getting aggressive in its market attitude and waking up to cellphone design demands, what we have for us is a Nokia-Dilemma.

Nokia has been flooding the markets with phones bursting out with features - large display screens, Multimedia Cards, zooming cameras and loads of other funtertainment stuff.

So here we are, waking up to the cellphone-gizmo calls, but one look around to what Nokia has to offer - and it leaves a big “?” on which model to go for.

Anyways, cut to the chase, my goal here is to discuss a feature-war-game between 2 of Nokia’s latest models - the 6600 and the 6230. Hopefully after reading this you may find yourself deciding on what Nokia model to choose.

Before we take the plunge, I shall be restricting myself to the stark functionalities on these models and shall not talk about nitty-gritty’s like Menu controls, looks/covers, and other ornamental features. All said and done, let’s hit it.

Scene I BASICS

The 6230 is a rough superset of 6600. Mathematically -

6600 + FM Radio + Stereo sounds + MP3 player = 6230 + Large screen (176 x 208 pixels)

Both models are edge-to-edge with each other as regards to:

Display: TFT 65K colors 6600 - 176x208 pixels, 6230 - 128X128 pixels

Camera: Picture resolution of 640X480. 6600 - 2X Zoom, 6230 No Zoom

Connectivity: Infrared, Bluetooth (6230 additionally has a POP-Port interface - direct cable connectivity)

Memory: Internal - 6600/6230:6Mb

Multimedia Cards: Default 32Mb cards in addition to support for up to +256Mbs (though for 6230 the manual mentions 128Mb max which is found not to be true.)

Wt & Dimensions: 6600 - 125 g / 108.6 x 58.2 x 23.7mm, 113cc

6230 - 97 g / 103 mm x 44 mm x 20 mm, 76cc

Power: Under full feature usage (Bluetooth, Music, Camera) and average talk time on both phones, the battery power lasts for roughly 45-48hrs; this again varies according to individual usage.

Price: From the local Nokia dealer 6600 – Rs20K, 6230 – Rs18.9K.

So far so good and 6230 seems to be taking over 6600 (ignoring 6600's large screen display).

Scene II ZOOM on TECHNICALITIES

JAVA

Both 6600 and 6230 are Java enabled, that lets the user install games and other applications according to individual needs.

Java applications/games come in the .jar/.jad formats, and can be easily installed/uninstalled on both models.

SYMBIAN

The 6600 is based on the Symbian operating system (OS). Applications for Symbian are available as .sis files, some very wonderful things to use on a cellphone. As an example - with .sis theme files, you cud change the themes on the 6600. Changing a theme involves changing the look-n-feel of your phone UI. With Symbian at its base, the 6600 comes under the SMARTPHONE category allowing you to add features as you wish.

Compared to this, the 6230 is a Series 40 phone, and it wouldn’t let you access its OS. Thus with 6230 not allowing .sis file installation, the user may have to make-do with the default themes as also with other amazing applications available for

Symbian. With the 6230, the user if left with manual-listed features only, not to mention that the given list of features is pretty impressive.

Scene III BUGS:6230

• Small screen, limited wallpaper choices

  
  




• Dark text caller id (invisible with dark background)

  
  




• No Brightness, No Contrast Controls for the screen

  
  




• Accessing caller groups brings you to main screen (bug)

  
  




• Charging indicator bug

  
  

And now to top the bug list, a HARDWARE FAULT on the 6230. This comes from a report on https://mobile-review.com. A hardware chip on the 6230 has been reported to have over-heating effects. Though Nokia at this point has not officially commented, but certain cellphone hardware testers have positively indicated to this bug which my have future ill effects. For the complete bug report you may read the story on the above url. At my end here, as of now I see this as a total RED ALERT on the 6230, unless we hear more about it from Nokia.

Climax

At the end of the story, I would go with the N6600 based on my needs - Symbian features, OS control, large screen etc. But for someone who would not like to experiment with any of the way-too-technicalities of a cellphone, the N6230 may still be a good option, though with a caution on the above mentioned bugs. I would suggest waiting a little bit so as to have the bugs sorted out and resolved in the next firmware release for 6230.

Additionally, for the 3rd quarter Nokia is making a big push to release some cool handsets. My eyes are set on the N6260 and the N6170; these appear to have a mix of features from the 6600 and the 6230. More about them next time.

Cheers...