It’s time again I changed my handset, and found that I was changing my mobiles at a very fast pace, my Nokia 6681 stayed with me for just 6 months, as it was biting dust at home as in BPO’s camera phones have started getting banned, I was only able to enjoy my 6681 on my trips to Mumbai via private Volvo’s when I used to load it with songs and clips to keep myself entertained, camera phones were seeming of being no use for me as I spend most of my time in office.
One of my office colleague brought the Nokia 9300 and I thought it to be quiet a bulky handset and too high end handset with no features, but I always wanted a handset with Symbian OS and without camera, for me I had only Nokia n-gage in sight or to wait for forthcoming Nokia E60 handset.
But I was quiet impressed with the features of Nokia 9300, looked classy and had Symbian OS 80 series, wide screen, though smaller than Nokia 7710, full screen browsing with full HTML support is what created interest in me to go for this handset, I realized it had a quiet good music player also
I managed to sell off my Nokia 6681 for 12, 000 bucks and put in another 10, 000 bucks as Nokia 9300 was priced at 22, 500 bucks in a Nokia Priority shop. I couldn’t wait laying my hands on this phone.
The phone is definitely more of an interest to a business user; still it does not let you down on entertainment value. The handset comes with a charging dock, a charger, a data cable, PC suite CD, hands free with one earphone. Well packaged with the phone functionality working in two parts, when the phone cover is closed, operating handset with external keys is quiet simple, the menu is quiet easy to navigate, keys are big and would give you a steely feeling, rather than pressing “Plastic” type buttons on other Nokia handsets. The handset also has a joystick key in the middle below the screen, a bit stiff to move, the external screen size is 128 X 128 in size.
The real stuff is within, when you open the phone cover; you find a well laid QWERTY keyboard layout, a dazzling 65K colour screen in front of you. Also short cut keys for various functions above the keypad, the phone is quiet easy to operate, the only thing which my bother you is the Symbian OS 80 series, for which there are quiet limited apps available, also the phone comes along with a strong 80 MB internal memory and a 128 MB MMC card along with the phone, I was eager to try out how browsing was working on the phone, I was not disappointed, it worked just like a computer browser, allowing you to read text very well, loading graphics and flash content quiet fast. Not to forget, the processor in the handset is quiet fast, did not hang
The handset has an internal 9 way joystick to navigate web pages while browsing and using functions when operating on the keyboard.
The Music player sounds good, and would not be very loud, still has good audio quality, which did not make me miss my Nokia 6681 offering stereo sound quality, the handset would be a bit bulky compared to other phones, before buying the handset, I read few sites about the handset users reviews who had rated down handset on camera and wi-fi features being missing, which were not of my concern, also the handset does not have a Vibrator mode, now that would be of a concern if you tend to have your buzzing every now and then, and you cannot afford to miss a call, coz while in meetings if kept on silent mode, if you miss the flashing screen, you are bound to miss a call.
I don’t mind that feature not being in the handset, when I’m getting lots of other features, the handset does stand out of the crowd, giving that corporate business look, the phone has good network reception, good sound quality, and wait a good battery life too, even after extensively using the handset for browsing, the battery lasts for more than a day. The handset comes along with a real player too. Since it’s a business handset it does come loaded with office applications for word, excel and PowerPoint.
The phone also supports IMAP/POP3 mail function, with lots of PIM functions, customizing contacts, to do functions, organizer and lots more…. The phone also supports EDGE service based on your network provider, has Bluetooth, infrared connectivity, you can even send fax from your GSM number through this phone. The phone would be a let down as not much themes are available for the handset, though you can customize colour schemes, and set full screen wallpapers.
When you are working on the phone with phone cover open, if you receive a call, you can still keep working and talk on speakerphone, without having to close the phone cover, The phone also has a file manager, a voice recorder, you can keep mp3 tones as ringing tones along with normal polyphonic tones, even true tones can be used with the handset. The handset also provides you with brightness and contrast adjustment facility.
I would suggest this handset for users, who need a power packed phone with no camera frill’s, and with entertainment value Nokia 9300 is balanced on both the ends. This handset satisfies my need to be always connected, coz I keep surfing a lot and access my office mails, which helps me a lot. I added Agile Messenger & Smart movie Player, though I found limited games for the handset, its fine with me, the handset would be available to you for around 15, 000 to 16, 000 bucks in Mumbai in the grey market, but when it comes to buying a handset of such class, why take a risk….
Here are the Nokia 9300 Specs from Nokia Site:
Size
• Weight: 167 g
• Dimensions: 132mm x 51mm x 21mm, 126 cc
Phone features
• Timed profiles
• Customizable profiles
• Alarm clock
• Music player with MP3, MPEG-4 (AAC), real audio and midi
• Wallpaper: Full-screen color image
• Changeable color schemes
• Calculator
• Screen saver: Digital clock in cover
Call Management
• Speed dialing in cover
• Last-number redial from dialed calls list (Dial key brings out the dialed calls list)
• Automatic and manual network selection
• Closed User Group
• Voice recording
• Integrated hands free speaker
• Conference call (up to 6 participants)
• Log viewer for communication: email, calls, MMS, SMS