Superb Design of the Nokia 6300
Mobile phone buyers are very often forced to choose between form, function and value. It is virtually impossible to find a phone that possess all three of these virtues. At the top end of the market you may find a gorgeous smartphone with a massive screen that screams of excess, but for most, finding the required funds for this type of phone will just be infeasible. At the bottom end you will find phones that work perfectly well and cost very little, but they will also look as cheap as they are, with a plastic finish that just isn’t appealing. These are sacrifices that everyone makes at one time or another. However, the Nokia 6300 is one phone that seems to get the balance between the three almost spot on. The features and functions are competitive for its price bracket, so in terms of function and value it is hard to criticise. However, it is the Nokia 6300 design that will have the biggest potential impact.
The Nokia 6300 design is modern without looking completely alien. It is a standard candy bar shape which has been popular for years and on the front there is a 2 inch screen and a generously proportioned numeric keypad and selection of navigation keys. This is unremarkable on paper, but for anyone looking for a phone experience that deliberately avoids any significant deviation from a traditional formula this will certainly be considered a benefit of the Nokia 6300 design. It allows for the phone to look slender and elegant, whilst most phones which integrate newer interfaces such as touch screen displays or full QWERTY keypads look bloated and businesslike. The 6300 is also just over 1cm thick, which adds to its impressively statuesque vital statistics without making the phone feel flimsy or anorexic.
The Nokia 6300 is encased in stainless steel, which covers the back, the sides and even extends across the numeric keypad. This gives the phone a reassuringly weighty feel in the hand and of course means it can withstand the rigours of frequent use without breaking or wearing. The screen and the navigation keys are formed of glossy black plastic, although it is also available in red and white if you shop around. A phone that was completely made of metal would look a little odd and be cold on the ear. Thankfully the 6300’s makers thought about this and so the ear piece is integrated into the plastic area.
On the rear of the 6300 a 2 megapixel camera is also integrated into the same plastic section which extends around to the sides and covers the top third of the phone. Like the metal base of the 6300, the corners are rounded at the top, improving the look of the phone and also making it easy to place into a pocket or pull from a bag without it snagging on anything. On the left hand side there is a volume rocker made of the same glossy material, but otherwise the phone retains its clean, uncluttered look throughout.
Charging, USB and headphone sockets can all be found tucked neatly into the base of the 6300 and this is the only area of the phone that has a matte plastic finish, although this is to be expected of the functional end of the handset. Nokia’s advertising of the Nokia 6300 design focuses on the simplicity and the beauty of the device, claiming that the two are interchangeable and since beauty has been conclusively proved to be true, it is almost impossible not to concur with Nokia’s positioning.
Tags: nokia, nokia 6300