Hello,

I just got the Nokia 6301 from TMO today and I wanted to share some thoughts.

The phone was the last 6301 in stock at any of the T-mobile stores in my area and I was told it was being all together phased out by T-Mobile but that in the mean time it was only being sold on the TMO website.

I had been looking for a metal cased phone for a while(had a Moto V60 once and loved it) and I was enticed by the Metal cased Nokia 6700 Classic that Plemix.com gave a pic review on HOFO but the cost for me at this time is a bit much so i made do with the Nokia 6301.

Price: $179.99 with tax if bought outright with no commitment. $14.99 for Open Box with 2 year plan and $29.99 for new with 2 year plan.

I have AT&T so I bought it for the $179

Things in the box
1. Phone
2. Battery cover
3. 512mb memory card
4. Charger
5. Charging dock
6. Battery
7. Booklets

I need to get it unlocked with code so I can use it with AT&T but for now I have a TMO pay as you go SIM in it to play with it.

CONSTRUCTION
The device is made mostly with S. steel and feels both good in the hand and you can grip it without fear of creaking or crunching.

Buttons are close together but you get used to them really quick and they feel both sturdy and not like they are going to break.

On both sides there is a skinny LED light that flashes if you have a call missed, Voice mail or a text message and seems to flash for a good while (as I type the lights on mine are blinking for over an hour.

Battery cover is metal and takes a bit of pushing to remove. Inside the battery compartment is a memory card slot. It came with a 512mb card but I found that to small and it currently has a 2GB card in it which works perfectly

Size wize it is a small phone(about the same size as a AT&T Pantech c120) but has some heft to it.

This phone is a UMA phone which allows you to call using a wireless router to make calls.

I am still playing with it and will update my review after I have used it for a few days.


This phone has been replaced in T-Mobile stores with the 2330 which is a very cheap and plasticy phone for their lone Nokia bar phone offering. If you can grab a last remaining 6301 at your local TMO store or get it online, I say go for it. I had to go to 5 TMO stores before I finally got mine but the drive was worth it.

You may already know this, but the 6301 is lacking the 850 GSM band that is used widely on the At&t network. You will not get full coverage and reception all over the United States. You would be better off getting the 6300a (not 6301) unlocked somewhere online. They can be had for less than $179.00 if you shop around.

Wrong, wrong and wrong.
The 6301b, which is sold by T-Mobile and Fido, operates on 850, 1900 and 1800 bands.
The European model is the one that lacks the 850 band, and has 900 instead.

Proof

Sorry I had no idea. It still doesn't make sense to me to purchase a 6301 branded to t-mobile to use on at&t when you can get the phone unlocked for cheaper.

T-Mobile will unlock your phone for free, just call up the customer service and they will allow you to fax in a copy of the receipt to prove you purchased at full price and they will email you the unlock code. Don't try to do it in store b/c most reps are not helpful (unless you are a prospective customer) plus I don't think they can really do much in this department.

That, of course, is something I can't answer. You probably do have a point there.

Hello,

I can understand your confusion about this.Sorry I will explain I have a account with T-mobile which is a pre paid account and also service with AT&T.

I am done with AT&T(i.e. on contract) in December 2009 and am dropping service and signing up for non contract Post Pay with T-Mobile(you can do this if you use your own phone) because over the last year AT&T service(when using a phone with 850 and 1900) was poor in my home. I would have to use to TMO prepaid account to make calls with. AT&T has never been able to fix this and since I am done in December it was not worth leaving and ETFing them. I will be going to T-Mobile because in my area T-Mobile has a better signal.

The T-Mobile 6301 is a tri band 850,1800,1900 mhz phone which works in NA

I chose to pay full price for the following reasons.

1. I wanted a brand new one and not a refurb. When I checked eBay the only new 6301 being sold at that time was by a seller in HK that I had the misfortune of buying from 3 months ago(Seller claims phones they sell are new but in reality they are refurb junk with new imitation covers) and they wanted $169 shipped for it.
2.All the new 6300's were the non-B versions with 900 mhz instead of 850mhz and the cheapest one I saw(at that time) was was $149.99 plus shipping.

So in the end I chose to pay $179.99 plus tax for a phone I knew was new at a local store so that if something goes wrong with it I can simply take it back in the allotted time and exchange or return.



I have owned it for about a week and I don't regret buying it at that price.

After owning the phone for a few more days since I last posted, I will give you all some more thought on it. It is an 850mhz, 1800mhz and 1900mhz NA phone

This phone is very solid and battery life is great. I texted all day Thursday and only had to put it on the charger at about 6pm on Sat.

The buttons are solid and give a great tactile response. The buttons take really no effort to push but also don't feel loose and wobbly (like my N90's buttons did)

The battery cover is firm and does not creak, rattle when texting like my 802SH's one does.

I was able to get it unlocked by calling TMO and they texted the 6 digit code to my phone with in 10 mins and tried it with both AT&T and T-mobile

Display is great and calls are loud and clear. In fact it the volume of the ear piece is quite loud. This phone seems to be a RF beast and I am able to get full bars with TMO in my home and one bar with AT&T ( which is amazing because I can't get AT&T in my home most of the time)

Outside my home TMO and AT&T get full bars on this phone.

The only thing I am not used to is the key lock. You have to push the ok button and then the * key really quick to unlock or it will stay locked. I guess this is to help prevent pocket dialing.

The only cons I have is that it is a pain to get the battery cover off the change mem cards and that the steel construction makes the phone too cold to the touch some times.

Other then that the phone is well worth the money (at least to me) I have a screen protector and silicon cover for the phone coming in the next week or so.

If you are looking into a nice steel phone and you can not get the Nokia 6700 Classic, I would look into this phone or the older 6300B (this model has the 850 MHZ). As of this time the 6301 is being sold only online at T-Mobile (although some stores might have stock left(I got mine after going to 5 stores) ) T-Mobile is discontinuing this phone.