New cellphone for me

Various Internet shops did not expect my new phone to arrive before the beginning of August. But to my surprise, it arrived much sooner than that. So check out the picture below to see what I'm talking about...It's the brand new Nokia 6233.

A picture of the new Nokia 6233. Notice that this is just a picture,
and that that hand is not mine ;-)

You can treat it as the successor of the Nokia 6230, a very popular business phone. I own the 6233 for about two weeks now, and I must say I'm very happy with it. I also have the 6230 as my corporate phone, but the differences are huge. The body is partially chrome and partially made of some kind of expensive soft plastic. It is a bit heavier than the 6230, but it feels very robust compared to most phones. I had a Samsung D500 prior to this one, and I hated its small keys. Especially the ones near the four-way button were difficult to use. Well, the 6233 does not have this problem. The keys feel extremely comfortable and solid. To only thing is that because of the material, the keys reflect light easily which makes it sometimes difficult to read the labels.

The display consists of a 320x240 TFT screen supporting 256K colors, and is comparable to a friend's Samsung D800. Nokia has put a lot of effort in getting its operating system to take advantage of those capabilities. For many years, Nokia's OS has been quite dull compared to those of Samsung or Motorola, but this changed. Just check out one of the latest phones for the ladies (my girlfriend has one) such as the Nokia 7370. Nevertheless, I must admit that the fonts the've chosen for the standby mode are not always that readible with all background images. But a little tweaking will help. The camera sits on the back and allows taking pictures of up to 2 megapixels. I haven't had much experience yet, but the few tests I've tried look great. Especially the high-resolution display is very convenient for taking pictures in landscape mode.

The stereo speakers provide a very loud, but clear and crisp sound. The supplied 32 MB mini-SD card contains a lot of nice tones and MP3s out of box that clearly demonstrate the quality of the speakers. Of course, standard features like Bluetooth, infrared, a headset and a built-in radio are included as well. I've even configured it to automatically synchronize its calender and notes with Outlook. As soon as I open up my laptop it start the synchronization.

The mini-SD card comes with an extra application that you can use to control your Bluetooth-enabled laptop or desktop. Just install the Nokia Presenter software and launch Powerpoint or Windows Media Player. The display of the phone will list the songs or slides and allow you to navigate between them. Great for listening on the couch or providing a presentation in front of a large group.

I haven't seen many reviews yet, and even Mobile-Review hasn't posted anything yet, so I suppose it is not available in all countries yet. Anyway, up to now, I really recommend it if you're looking for a 6230 successor.