I bought my Nokia 6300 mobile phone from an Optus Shop for AUS$199 and I use it with my Virgin Mobile SIM. I have read all the best reviews of the Nokia 6300 and hundreds of user comments and feedback about it and created a list of the Best features, Annoying Problems, Tips & Tricks to customise the phone to suit your needs.
Great Features
Beautiful TFT screen: 16 million true colors, 240 width x 320 pixels height (31 x 41 mm)- 5 pin Mini usb port – so you can add custom ringtones, games, wallpaper and move photos off the microSD card quickly and easily.
- Includes Opera web browser for WAP 2.0/xHTML
- 2 Megapixel (1600×1200 pixels) camera that can also take video (176×144 QCIF format) onto the included 128 microSD card.
- FM stereo radio (bundled Nokia Stereo Headset HS-47 brushed black metal look) and MP3/MP4/AAC/AAC+/eAAC+ player
- Easy to use Organiser for meetings & todo items and Java MIDP 2.0 applications like: Calculator, World Clock, Nokia Sensor, Bluetooth Presenter, Converter II
- Bonuses: Flashing blue LED light on each side of the phone if you’ve received an SMS, missed a call or have an overdue ToDo item, Built-in hands free speakerphone, Reliable Nokia Series 40 3rd edition operating system, Customisable Alarm and Reminder ringtone/MP3
Annoying Problems
You have to immediately stick on a screen protector otherwise you will really regret it when the brilliant quality screen gets scratched after a few weeks- USB Port cover is difficult to open – It was so frustrating that I ended up cutting it off
- If used really heavily the BL4C 860mAh battery can go flat within 1 day, with normal use it lasts me 3 days maximum.
If you read old reviews complaining that the battery lasts only 1 day with light use ignore them because the new Nokia 6300 firmware fixes that problem
- The vibrate feature isn’t as powerful as my old Nokia 1600 so it’s sometimes possible to not notice incoming SMS or calls when the phone is set to silent vibrate only
- You need a miniUSB data cable to use Nokia PC suite, add your own MP3 ringtones, wallpapers and themes etc but it’s not included in the 6300 package. You’ll have to go to a computer store and buy it there (less than $10)
Tips & Tricks
- EASY: You can backup your Nokia 6300 contacts details to Gmail very easily. Lots of thanks to Dave Earley for the tip
- EASY: Backup your Contacts and Calendar schedule to a text document VCF (vCard file) using johnd’s FREE Java application MobileBackup-1.0.jar
- EASY: If you’ve lost the 6300 manual you can download it as a PDF
- EASY: To quickly switch between the “General” profile and the “Silent” profile, press the # button for a few seconds
- EASY:The radio port is 2.5mm size but you can buy a 3.5mm adapter so you can use normal headphones.
- EASY: I don’t use this feature but the Nokia 6300 is A2DP compatible with Wireless Bluetooth Stereo Headphones
- EASY:Type *#0000# to bring up the firmware menu and see what version you have. Mine bought in January 2008 was v 5.50 14-08-07 RM-217
- EASY:You can upgrade to the latest firmware using Nokia Software Updater 15MB (Windows 2000, XP, Vista)
- EASY: The camera phone lens needs to be protected from scratches. I bought a white silicone rubber cover for my phone which helps because the lens is recessed a few mm. You can also avoid scratching the phone/camera lens by not putting keys or anything sharp in the same pocket as your phone
- EASY: The camera can take OK shots if there is enough light and your subject isn’t moving around too much. Don’t expect fantastic quality but the photos are good enough to use eg: for a website article, to take photos of signs so you don’t need to write down what they say etc
- MEDIUM:You can backup all your contacts, sms and other phone data to your PC using Nokia PC Suite, also synchronize the calendar and contact entries or use your phone as an internet modem for your PC. Note: Nokia PC suite can communicate with your 6300 via a 5 pin miniUSB data cable or Bluetooth
- MEDIUM: You can download the QR code reader i-nigma to use on your Nokia 6300 for FREE
- POSSIBLY DANGEROUS:BL4C 860mAh battery can be replaced with BL5C 970mah battery with minor modification on the battery. You have to cut/sand off the plastic about 0.5 mm at the top of the battery and then it fits into the 6300. NOTE: Trimming the battery can expose the battery and cause leaks causing the battery to burst and injure you. I would rather have a phone that has average battery life than injuries caused by an exploding battery.
Customising – Themes, Wallpapers, Ring Tones, Games etc
THEMES: – You can choose from 16000+ themes at Mobile9.com – I use the Futurama theme
WALLPAPER: – You can get over 31000+ 240×320 wallpapers from Mobile9.com – I use the Voyage 2 Nature wallpaper most of the time because it matches the Futurama theme.
Other good wallpapers include: Biking Snoopy, Smiling Snoopy, Sleeping Snoopy, Charlie Brown and Snoopy, Earth viewed from Outer Space, Mystical, Moon waterfall and Beach Hammock
RINGTONES: Don’t bother buying ringtones because the Nokia 6300 supports MP3 ringtones which you can put on the microSD card. I use the TV theme for Doctor Who as my Phonecall ringtone and the MP3 theme music of The Adventures of Tintin as my SMS ringtone
SCREENSAVERS, FLASH ANIMATIONS and APPLICATIONS: can also be downloaded from Mobile9.com and Getjar – I use the flash Carbon Fibre clock as my screensaver
Nokia 6300 Unlock Codes
From what I’ve read there is no software or unlocking calculators/units that can unlock the Nokia 6300. The only way to do it is to contact your mobile carrier – but they will most likely charge you eg: for Optus:
“An $80 fee applies if network locking is removed within the first six months of an Optus SIM being activated and used in the phone. Alternatively, if you have recharged to the value of $80 no fee applies”
Vodafone has a similar cost for unlocking their prepaid Nokia 6300’s.
Other People’s Reviews
Our favourite Nokia for years and the only Nokia phone ever to be rated 5 stars by our users. A classic design with a beautiful stainless steel finish. Slim, elegant, easy to use and with a good quality 2 megapixel camera, a built-in MP3 player, memory expandable to 2 Gbytes, and wireless Bluetooth connectivity.
Only the below-average battery life stops this from getting 5 stars. Available in silver, black and white.
– Mobile Phones UK
Nokia 6300 is a good phone. Along with slim design of steel plates it also offers an especially rich functional menu, similar to the functional equipment of all other phones based on the Series 40 3rd Edition platform. It brings along broad personalization options and a great amount of working and multimedia functions.
However, it is not only the design of Nokia 6300 that is worth compliments. Its 16 million color display as well as its miniUSB connector are brilliant too. Users may not like the fingerprints or the low video record resolution.
– GSM Arena
Another day, another Nokia phone. But among the deluge of mobiles the company releases each year you’ll occasionally find a real nugget. The Nokia 6300 is one of these.
– CNET Australia
If a handset boasting golden price/quality ratio and equipped with a brilliant display, good specs, which is reliable wherever you go and is what you seek – Nokia 6300 should definitely be on your short-list.
Nokia’s range delivers even more models of this kind – Nokia 6233 and Nokia 6131. But the toughest competition, as it seems, will take place between the 6233 and the 6300, since it’s quite easy to run around like a madman looking at their specs – Nokia 6233 gets ahead by offering stereo-speakers and better keyboard, but the screen is its drawback, as well as non-minimizable player and on top of that software has less to bring to the table.
Quite challenging choice, isn’t it? So, everything I have left to do now is repeat my own words again – Nokia 6300 is undoubtedly one of Nokia’s best offerings to date.
– Mobile Review (Russia)
I thoroughly enjoyed reviewing the Nokia 6300. It’s the perfect balance between functionality and style, and did everything I needed it to do quickly and easily. The 16.7 million colour display is an absolute treat to use, and all the other features of the handset don’t leave it in the dark ages.
– iMobile Australia
Comments
34 responses to “Nokia 6300 Mobile Phone Review (Camera, MP3 Player, Radio, Organiser) – Series 40”
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My friend also bought this phone..And all I can say is “this is kinds thin dude!”..^_^
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I own a cell phone store in California and had a few customers from down under that reported that cell phone prices were out of control. Is this true?
EDITOR: Anecdotally it would seem to be true for most tech equipment. Most stores say that the reason is simple : our market isn’t big enough to sell large enough volumes to get the discounts the huge USA market gets
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It’s a great way of finding new interesting websites.
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Great review – I like the quick bulleted facts that you include in your review. The tips and tricks you provide are also very handy. I like the slim and compact design of the 6300, which to me is a huge plus.
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Nice site thanks for the tips and links keep up the good work Cheers
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good post!the price of Nokia 6300 Mobile phone is so cheap.
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This phone is really cool! I like the effect you can put on so they make the picturees different.
XD
awesome phone…but a bit expensive. -
wondering how the sound is in quality and how loud when usig the music player. i had the samsung D900i and the sound was fantastic wondering how this is compared otherwise i love this phone
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On my N73, holding the ‘#’ key swaps between General and Silent, but I think that actually that’s because they are the first two profiles on the menu…. so if you alter these profiles (i.e. make Silent into a Vibrate profile – if that’s possible on the 6300) you can swap between ‘different’ profiles than just General/Silent…
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i am so much disturd because of poor camera result of my nokia 6300 in dark light
kindly recomment me what should i do to improve its result -
Great post! Thanks for the tips and valuable information you have shared here. Keep it up!
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I was actually hoping it to be a very good phone… but when my friend first bought it when it was released… it seemed like a disaster to me!
The camera is poor…. and the worst of all is the battery!!
The screen and the design are the only good things in this phone u can write abt! -
the nokia 6300 is very difficult to unlock
EDITOR: I agree 🙂
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hey i was wondering..i have recharged to the amount of $80 but i cant put a telstra sim card in my nokia 6300
EDITOR: Im assuming you bought it from Optus. You have to call them, they’ll confirm that you bught $80 credit and will unlock it.
Not sure how long the unblocking process takes, if you get it done please come back here and tell me how long it was until your Telstra SIM worked in the phone/blockquote>
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I HAVE ONE nOKIA 6300 CAMERA PHONE ,AND NOE WHENEVER I TAKING PHOTOS FROM MY CAMERA PHONE ITS DISPLY SHOWING “CAMERA ON SANDBY “SO PLEASE GIVE PROPER ADVICES ,,WAHT THE PROBLEM AND HOW I RESOLVE …
MOHAMMED
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I was not so happy when I reviewed the phone specs. It didn’t have what I wanted the most among the several Nokia features, the Wifi feature. I also don’t like the phone’s camera.
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Hi all, I have a Nokia 6300. I’m on the Virgin Mobile network in the UK , I got the phone from the Virgin Mobile shop, in the Virgin Megastore in Meadowhall shopping centre, Sheffield.
It was locked to there network, I pay £10 for 300 mins & 300 text a month. but T-Mobile another network in the UK have Web & Walk, which if you have £5 on the sim you can use the Internet for £1 a day all day on pay as you go, this is not WAP this is the internet on a Nokia 6300. Cool.
http://www.virginmobile.com/vm/viewProduct.do?productId=FB7BA21D-9A7D-4B3E-8DC0-FE7D0841BDEB
now the only way to unlock is to get the code from Virgin mobile, and this would work, if you have tryed codes from the internet after 3 trys the phone will not unlock at all and you will only be able to use virgin network, so if you have tryed this for more than 3 goes then rang Virgin mobile to unlock it for you which they chrarge is £15, this will NOT work.
The only why is to get this unlocked from an phone shop in your town, they use a black box. watch the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oPCfzYZ7nM&NR=1
or use a Easy sim, which can be got from Ebay, please watch the video, thanks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uxIDkPFFwA&feature=related
HOPE THIS HAS HELPED (FROM CHRIS IN DONCASTER UK) ENGLAND
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the camara goes on stand by mode to save battery life, if you have left it on, for a long time. to put the camara back on press the, centre button again. thats it done.
HOPE THIS HAS HELPED (FROM CHRIS IN DONCASTER UK) ENGLAND
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At very first time, i thought it’s not a great one and all and then i just read a couple of article and i had decided, ya it’s just okay. But my friend bought this mobile and i just used for some time and am pretty interested with this model such a cute one!!!
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I have owned my 6300 for about a year and i can only say that I bought it cheap and i dont care if the cam is crap. It is tough and does exaxtly what i want…………..ring. Silicone sleeve is a must and forget cables, use bluetooth. My teenage son just bought 1 too and he loves it. his favourite is the mp3 player and says it is great. I give it 4/5.
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good review of the Nokia 6300. you balanced out the positives with the roughly the same number of negatives, which is appreciated. my old Nokia was replaced with an LG, but the newer Nokia models look great, especially those big bright screens. – Stephen
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hey i was just wondering with the $80 unlocking fee or recharge up to $80 if you had to do the $80 recharge all at once. or if you can like just recharge bits at a time until $80 and then swap it over?
EDITOR: I think you can do it either way, check with an Optus store to be sure
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Great review. The main thing I like about the Nokia 6300 is that it actually feels sturdy in your hand, not like a cheap piece of plastic. I’ll have to agree with one of the other comments regarding the camera functionality of it, the camera isn’t the best I’ve seen for a phone.
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I plan to update my Nokia 3310 (yes, it is an old phone but still works!). I rarely use my mobile phone and use pre-paid. I would like my new phone to include a camera for those moments that I wish I had a camera with me. I understand that the 6300 camera is not the best but I want to stay with Nokia and overall the 6300 seems to have a good review. I don’t need GPS or internet access. the Nokia 6300 is $179au which seems a fair price. I have been looking at reviews for other Nokias but it is time consuming. Is there a phone with a good camera but otherwise is similar to the 6300? Or shall I just go with the 6300?
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I don’t like the design of 6300 at all. Its is the next generation of nokia evolving phone design which i don’t like. Well actually i once have this Nokia 6233 where i see it more sophisticated, great design, user-friendly system and nice fonts. It has all the 6300 features, with more added value, especially 3G system and 2.0Mpixel Camera. Anyway, good reviews.
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If you are looking for a good practical mobile camera phone with battery standby time up to 14 days, Nokia 6300 is definitely the choice. It can meet all your needs without breaking your pocket. It isn’t as glamorous as any other rival phones in the market, but it gives you the practicality of enjoyment and convenience.
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I’ve had my 6300 for a little over a year now, and I absolutely love it. It’s pretty, it does what it’s meant to, and it is unbelievably sturdy. It actually reminds me a lot of the good old 3310/3315.
My first phone was a 3315, and it lasted me about five years before the vibrator stopped working regularly (though it’s still fine with phone calls and sms, it’s my back up phone) and I can see my 6300 lasting just as long.
I’m not exactly gentle with phones, and after a year, there are only a few tiny chips on the corners of the black backing, and a couple of scratches on the stainless steel case. I LOVE the screen, it’s still better than a lot of phones being made now.
Battery usually lasts about 5 days, though it’s gone up to a week, when I’m not making many calls. The flashy blue lights are great, both for quickly checking for texts or missed calls AND for finding it when I’ve lost it in my room, left on Silent. lol.
The camera’s better than most, but it can’t really cope when there’s not enough light, even with night mode on, and it can’t focus properly on anything closer than about a meter.
All up, a fantastic phone, definitely recommended.
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Good looking model with attractive features and style….Quality 2mp camera and easy to use… Best Recommended one to buy….
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This is a fantastic phone; I had one of these when they first come out. Its very simple and very easy to use. I still sometimes use this phone and I it never ever goes wrong. This is one of the best phones that Nokia have ever made. Well done. Why don’t they make phones like this anymore?
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6300 is sexy (design wise) but myself coming from a Sony Ericsson before it I must say that the camera is a complete disaster. Typical of Nokia. Forget taking pictures without shake. My old sony was a typical point and shoot and you get very good pictures. 6300…even if you hold your breath, you still get shake. Otherwise phone is nice. (Yes battery lasts little time as well)
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It’s funny how just a year and a half later, this phone may as well be the “Zach Morris phone.” Wait, do you guys know Zach Morris in Australia?
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While this isn’t the most advanced Nokia handset out there, it has a strong casing, a decent all-round feature set and an elegant. I have been using it for almost 1 year I hope my comment is still relevant on this one-year-plus posting 🙂
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While this isn’t the most advanced Nokia handset out there, it has a strong casing, a decent all-round feature set and an elegant. I have been using it for almost 1 year I hope my comment is still relevant on this one-year-plus posting 🙂
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im using 6300 and i found it easy and very convinient to use, slim design makes it more txt efficient and gives the phone the sophisticated design,the casing is stainless steel, so no need to worry about the crackling scenerio. crystal clear display makes it more attractive and elegant, im so loving it right now, if youre a simple outgoing person and has a busy life style nokia 6300 is the right choice for you…..
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does the Nokia 6300 allow you to put MSD of 2Gig and above only,because my 1Gig is nt even seen by the phone after inserting it
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