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Nokia 2300
Gagan Gupta, May 31, 2004 0000 hrs ISTNokia's success in the budget phone market is legendary.
Good FM Radio, Decent looks
Keypad may be troublesome for some users
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Nokia's success in the budget phone market is legendary. The ease of use, value for money and above all compatibility and customisation options make their budget phones hard to resist especially with the younger crowd. Nokia knows what the budget market needs and gives it to them. A couple of years back, buying a phone with a built-in FM radio would have left you short by around Rs. 12,000. But now with the camera phone revolution kicking in on overdrive, Nokia has introduced a new model with a built-in radio at a price that will be affordable for everyone.
Looks
The Nokia 2300 comes in two color schemes - a grey and black color scheme for the guys and a white one with pink and blue buttons obviously aimed at the female market. Both designs look stylish and very different with the unique button layout. I half expected the keypad to be practically unusable, but much to my surprise, it functioned quite well. The smooth surface of the keypad did cause a few annoying slips every now and then, but it wasn't as bad as one would expect from a keypad like this.
The phone is quite small and convenient to carry at 107 x 46 x 21 mm in size and 92 g in weight. The external shell consists of lightweight plastic, which can be replaced with other official or unofficial covers designed for the phone. The monochrome 96 x 65 pixel display has a resolution on 96 x 65 pixels with a lavender blue backlight, which keeps visibility high and is pleasant to look at.
Functionality
The Nokia 2300 contains all the basic features that you will find in other Nokia budget models. You can customise your phone by downloading ringtones, operator logos, screen savers, and picture messages. I personally really like the polyphonic ringer in this phone, as it sounds a lot better than the noisy ringers in other Nokia budget phones. As one can expect, there's a ringtone composer function that lets you compose your own monophonic melodies.
The built-in radio would definitely be the driving force behind the phone. The Nokia 2300 comes with a bundled stereo handset that doubles up as an FM antenna. It also has a hands-free function where you can play FM radio on loudspeaker and also use it as a speakerphone. The sound quality of the radio is quite good and clear, and I rarely encountered static even when travelling with it by a local train.
The Nokia 2300's application list consists of an alarm clock, calculator, countdown timer, stopwatch, and reminder functions, which are more or less the basic requirements from any cell phone these days. The picture editor function has been taken out in this one.
The phone's voice clarity and network coverage is pretty good, as it didn't falter even in low network areas. The battery life stays strong for around 4 days of regular usage.
Conclusion
At its street price of Rs. 5,000, the Nokia 2300 may be a bit pricey for a few since now you can get some older color screen phones for a price similar to that. But then, it all comes down to the kind of features and looks the end user prefers. The phone will definitely stand out of the crowd, the radio quality is pretty good, and overall, it does a pretty good job of being a functional phone. Just a word of caution - guys, please never go for the white and pink model of this phone unless you want your sexuality questioned by people around you.
Test Unit Sourced From: Nokia India.
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