Nokia 6205 Review

Introduction:

Even though Nokia is the world’s largest manufactures of cell  phones, their U.S. CDMA market penetration has been rather weak recently, which is evident as their 6205 model is the only Nokia phone available to Verizon Wireless at this time.  It is a mid-level device, comparable in features and price to the Samsung Gleam, U550, and LG VX8350, and is targeted to the consumer looking for a fashionable phone without the need for high-end features.

The Retail Package includes, the Nokia 6205, standard 1020mAh battery, and wall charger with microUSB plug.

Design:

The 6205 is a standard flip phone and is available in two color variations.  The first is the basic blue and chrome style (used in this review), and the seconds is the all-black Dark Knight Edition, which also includes ringtones, wallpapers, and videos from the movie.  Both versions are constructed out of plastic, despite their metal appearance, and seem more durable that then VX8350.  The flip opens and closes smoothly, but you can still hear the plastic parts moving.  Overall, the 6205 fits comfortably in the hand, thanks to its sleek design, and can be placed in your pant’s pocket without drawing too much attention.



You can compare the Nokia 6205 with many other phones using our Size Visualization Tool.


Located on the front is the 1.28” diagonal 128x128 pixel CSTN display, which is only slightly larger than the 1” display fond on the Samsung Gleam and U550.  Due to its small size, you can only view wallpapers, message alerts, signal and battery levels.  Directly above it is the 1.3MP camera, flash, and speaker (for ringtones, music, and speakerphone), and below it are the touch sensitive buttons used for controlling music playback.  On the left side is the volume rocker, 2.5mm headset jack, and microUSB port, with the voice command and microSD card slot (4GB support) on the right.


The internal TFT display is 2” diagonal with 176x220 pixel resolution and support up to 262K colors.  It is easily viewable in most lighting conditions, but can be more difficult to see while in direct sunlight.  We would of rather of seen this device use the same higher quality QVGA display that is on the Gleam, so images and text would not appear as pixilated.  Located on the bottom flip is the white backlit keypad.  The buttons are of average size, but are smooth and flat, so dialing and texting by touch alone can be troublesome.  The d-pad located at the top is smaller than we would of liked, but we didn’t have any problems using it for menu navigation.

Software:

The User Interface is another area where the 6205 is lacking.  The main menu is laid out in the same Verizon antiquated fashion, categorized by Get it Now, Messaging, Contacts, Recent Calls, and Settings & Tools.  The six included themes are a joke, as they do nothing but change the background color of the main menu (classic, architecture, golf, jazz, metal, surfing), as well as being able to shown in either Tab or List view.  Once again, the Gleam’s FlashUI themes run circles around the 6205.

The Phonebook is also standard Verizon fair, allowing up to 500 entries to be stored, each with their name, mobile 1, work, email 1, group, picture, ringtone, mobile 2, fax, and email 2.  It would make more sense to us if “mobile 1 and 2” and “email 1 and 2” were grouped together, instead of being spread apart.  After a contact is saved, you can assign them to one of 999 speed-dial locations.


Yet again, the integrated 1.3MP camera and flash found on the 6205 were a disappointment.  Outside images taking during the day looked lifeless, with poor detail, color representation and saturation.  Unfortunately, this is common among most 1.3MP camera phones.  Images taken inside looked even worse, having less detail and being slightly blurry do to low light levels since the flash only has a range of 3 feet.  Because of the overall poor quality of the camera, don’t expect to use it for vacation or wedding pictures.  Videos can also be recorded, but are limited to 176x144 resolution, which is only good enough for viewing on a phone.



The music player is the same one found on most other Verizon devices, with it categorizing songs by genre, artist, and album.  The speaker is located on the front flip, so it isn’t muffled as much as one’s located on the back of phones (such are that LG Dare).  Because of this, it is remarkably loud, but some music can cause distortion to be heard, resulting in us turning the volume down.  When the flip is closed, you have to first press the volume button to activate the white backlit touch sensitive buttons on the front.  Once they are illuminated, you can use them to rewind, play/pause, fast-forward, and skip tracks.  However, after 7 seconds they turn off, and you must press the volume button again to activate them.  It would be easier if they were illuminated longer, and could be activated by touching them directly.  Unfortunately, the 6205 does not support Stereo Bluetooth (A2DP/AVRC), which is unthinkable in today’s age, so you are forced to use the built in speaker or stereo earbuds via the 2.5mm headset jack.

Other software features include Mobile Web 2.0, VCast Music and Video, and VZ Navigator for GPS guided directions.  You can also download a wide variety of games and other programs through Get it Now.  The only problem that we encountered (just like with the Gleam and U550) was when using the Mobile Web program and going to large HTML sites, such as PhoneArena.com, the page would partly load, but would only display text and not graphics.  When going to smaller sites (Google) or WAP pages, the browser was able to work without problem.


Additional tools include voice commands, calculator, calendar, 3 alarm clocks, stopwatch, and notepad.  We were able to use the speaker-independent voice commands without issue, and could easily dial-by-digit or by saying the name of a stored contact.  The calendar is similar to other Verizon phones, and will allow you to type in events that you wish to be notified of.

A total of 72MB of internal memory is included with 17MB use out of the box, leaving only 55MB of free space available for storing wallpapers, ringtones, and programs.  Thankfully, you can install a microSD memory card up to 4GB in size, which provides added space for MP3 files and pictures.

Performance:

The Reception of the 6205 was quite good and equal to that of the Gleam, U550, and W755.  We were able to place and receive calls in fringe areas where the Knack, Juke, and VX8350 could not maintain a signal.  Unfortunately, the Call Quality was somewhat disappointing.  Even though it was better than the VX8350, it still was not as good as the Gleam.  Voices through the earpiece speaker sounded slightly muffled, almost like someone was talking with their hand over their mouth.  When the volume was turned up to high, it would cause noticeable distortion, so the medium setting was used.  We also noticed that the speakerphone shares this same distortion at high volumes and cannot be used with the phone flipped closed.  We are unsure as to why some manufactures still require flip phones to remain open while using the speakerphone.  However, people who we called that were using a landline said our voice sounded clear and natural.

The included 1020mAh battery is rated to give 4 hours of talk time or 11 days of standby time on a full charge.  Our testing revealed that the 4 hours of talk time is accurate.

Conclusion:

Overall, the Nokia 6205 is one of the most stylish and attractive phones in the current Verizon line up, and the Dark Knight edition is sure to attract Batman fans.  It is unfortunate that it also has several shortcomings: the call quality is mediocre, camera images are poor, the internal display is not QVGA, and stereo Bluetooth is not supported.  Because of these setbacks, we believe a better choice for a mid-level device would be the Samsung Gleam , but if you prefer the look and style of the 6205 its is still OK as a basic phone.