Nokia 6131 Review

Yes, today SunCom has the 6126.

• $129.99 - 2 year
• $199.99 - 1 year
• $229.99 - month to month

Apparently this is not exactly a no-contract price, as you need to pay the $35 activation fee and $29.99 for at least one month's service. So it raises the $229.99 to $294.98.

 

Got my 6131 yesterday morning. It is a sweet phone. First complaint is that if you jam it in your pocket and you have a wad of bills there, when you pull it out, it sucks some out with it and distributes it to the wind. I guess that's a downside to the great feel of the finish.

Also got the RAZR v3i. They both have great reception compared to the moto c139 pos' they gave us. Sound a 100% better. The only problem I have encountered is the dreaded VMI no-show. The RAZR is fine. The phone has V 03.72 and the asian characters on a few keys. It is using a Nokia SIM, with no real distinguishing characteristics--its white with part numbers. The local Chinook Wireless CS rep couldn't give me a better idea of what kind of SIM it is. It is the same one that they are going to be using with the upcoming (Sept. 18) launch of their data services, so I expect it is a 64k 3G. The upside is that this is a unique data point for the great VMI mystery. And the CSR says that their tech people would pursue it up the line to see what the problem may be. So maybe having an unsupported phone in a new market has its advantages? At least they didn't blow me off by saying it's unsupported.

I'm just getting used to the phone, and don't have a whole lot to say except that it has great sound, it is loud, the build seems to be solid, and everything I expected it to be--except for the VMI issue, which I can live with for a while. I guess I never had VM notification for the first ten years I had VM on my land line--or never figured out how to turn it on and use it. As usual, I have to get to know this beast inside and out before I'll quit playing with it for a while. No pet peeves yet. Couple quirks in the themes that I need to figure out.

The kid loves the RAZR v3i. Nothing like being the only kid in your high school with a RAZR with iTunes to gather attention! She says that the kids either have an iPod and a phone, or just a phone--and not a phone that plays music with another player. I guess Apple's got a great lock on the market if they ever launch an iPhone (which we may hear more about next week!).

Speaking of Apple, no problems doing a quick iSync mod to get support for the 6131 in OS X. Bluetooth File Exchange Browser works great for moving files on and off of the phone. Trying to get PC Suite running in either Parallels under XP in OS X, or in the just released CrossOver beta that allows Windows apps to run directly in OS X. But I can't manage to get OS X to let go of the bluetooth handle so PC Suite can grab it. Might have to break down and partition the drive, install Boot Campt and do a full XP install. Love my toys.

Later, Jim

 

Charlyee,

Did I imply I wanted the 6126? No, the 6131 is unlocked and I want the IrDa, radio too.

Just curious, always, on how Cingular is thinking.

 

Sorry - Wasn't trying to imply you don't have the perfect phone. Outside of the dang "pops" on 850 I would certainly agree with you. I was just trying to supply information.

 

I called SunCom and the rep verified that the 6126 they sell would be unbranded, as shown on their website (only the Nokia branding, not SunCom). He believed that it would be locked.

It should be noted that he did not know about the 6126 initially. When I pointed out that it was on the website, he looked it up and admitted that it was the first he had heard of it.

 

Why does "hearing impaired" mean no radio?

Charlyee, I might get a 6126 or 6131 and then resell it to replace it with the 6131H or 6126H. I might do that if it is worth it. If not, I'll just keep it. The latest batch of 6131s coming out appear to be ok. I don't hear anyone complaining about the audio anymore. I am more inclined to get the 6131 because it has FM radio which is something I want. But money is the primary factor holding my purchase at this time, so I am being "forced" to be patient . When I get over that in a few weeks, I will just pick one up from Ebay.

Now that Suncom and Fido are selling it, we have to give it a few weeks and we'll see 6126's floating around on Ebay.

 

Well, as a friend of mine once said, "We strive for perfection - we accept excellence." I would tolerate a small gap if it helps protect the screen, but that's just me.

 

LOL, just a joke on my part, meaning that the impairment is that no radio is part of the phone.

I don't know how much of a pain it will be to 'free' unlock these new Nokia's...so I like the idea of getting mine unlocked in the box. Also, the 6126, being modified, may have fresh bugs in it, and as you said, the 6131 has been around a while now.

With the FCC just approving the 6126H, it could take some time to be released. It's not even on the Nokia web sites.

But it is expensive $$ to buy out of contract. I took some time to decide. But I would have saved only $150 (Cingular was planning to sell it for $149), and now I save my upgrade options for the future phones...maybe 3 G

It's was a hard decision, but the impluse buying virus got the better of me...until my better half finds out.

I really wanted a better screen than the 6230, plus Quad instead of Tri, Nokia only, and more camera pixels. That was the main things I was looking for.

viewfly

 

Guilty...caught with my finger in the candy jar. It a nice refreshing break from the real world.

We need to catch up wiht hofo's 150+ pages. But it's content, not page counts.

?? I thought your initials were I. B. C. - as in Impluse Buying Charlyee

 

Ok, You guys are really silly here . I like it.

Well, after days of obsessive "window shopping" (read forum, reviews and price/availability devouring--that's half the fun) for the 6131, and finally getting it in my grubby little hands, I really had some fun last night. Of course, 2/3 of the way through the manual, getting to the point of explaining about themes and profiles, I had to break and prowl around and find a theme I liked. And lo and behold, on HoFo, there is a discussion about a Mac OS X theme a guy built for the 240x320 screen on the Nokia's. And of course it was beautiful.

You see, I'm not an ordinary cell or pc user. I'm a Mac evangelist. What can be better than making your phone look like a Mac? So when I theme'd my Nokia up with all of the Mac UI goodies (and getting to put the bluetooth and everything to use for the first time on my new laptop [Mac + Nokia is a match made in heaven, BTW, us real Mac users will never forgive moto the days of AIM hell, Freescale notwithstanding]), it felt really, really good. There's that endorphin rush that keeps us going through the night, giving our eys laptop burn . Good enough that I had to run to the Nokia developer site and register and download Theme Studio and whatever else I might find to make it even better. Of course, it's PC software, but my new MacBook has an Intel processor, and I'm loading it via CrossOver and It Just Works(tm). And the creator of the theme had already bared his soul to create it on a PC. So long story short, I stayed up way too late playing with themes. And in trying to figure out if there's a way to port over an iTunes like player to the Nokia. But I really don't know if I want to go that far in learning some new PC dev tools. Turning your inner geek to the dark side can really only go so far, before reality comes tumbling in.

In any case, Mac OS X theme on the 6131 makes it the perfect phone in my mind--sans VMI, for sure, but 's always a tradeoff somewhere it seems. And I can't wait until next week for Chinook to start rolling out their data services. I do run a bunch of network servers on the side. Might have to put up a site for mobiles.

Jim

 

Just had a brief moment of clarity regarding the T9 input on the 6131. I've been complaining to Charlyee that the British T9 dictionary on the 6131 (and other euro-asian phones) wouldn't work for me. But it just occurred to me that if the American spellings are in there too, it may be fine. That is, the key sequence that produces "color" is different than the one that produces "colour". So just as long as color, honor, center, program, etc. are actually in there (even if they aren't the first match offered), it may be fine.

Could someone test this for me? Thanks!

 

I have the asian version. It has both english and american versions of the words you mention above, plus a lot more common ones. It is easy to add new words to the dictionary, as while you are clicking the * to cycle through the possibilities, it gives a spell option so you can just click into the dictionary and spell a word however you want and it will add it to the dictionary. Works good for me.

Jim

 

Thanks for verifying this! It sure took me a long time to figure this out. :O

So I guess Charlyee is right - better to have the version with the FM radio, than without. Now, about that warranty....

 

I didn't think to check this before, but even my made-for-USA market Nokia 6230b (850/1800/1900) is fine with both spellings of color/colour,etc. It must be part of the standard English build for the T9 programme. And yes, adding new words to the dictonary is very easy, as they come up. I've used it a bit over the years.

I'm not too worried about the warranty...Nokia's have been very good. Plus I figure there is a way to send it back to England (I'm buying a UK market version) for repair.

 

The UPS truck just pulled up as I read your post. I have it! Now I will let it charge for 2 hours while I sip my tea and watch the blinking lights

It looks nice, light and small, smaller than I thought.

dark screens a bit until I get it going.
vf

 

Enjoy your new 6131. Hopefully there will be no "blowenfusen und poppencorken
mit spitzensparken".

 

Yea, well I have a lot going on today. Plumber is here, wife broke her foot last night and is getting a cast.

...but the VM indicator works fine in CT, and the audio receiving is crisp and clear...better than 6230 as you said.The little play in the flip doesn't bother me, since it will not move by itself, only if i force it.

I'm not sure about the button to open the flip. Seems stiff, but maybe it will clear up...going to load settings now

The camera is great and so it the screen. I like the way it is easy to hold sideways to shap a photo.


Did you get a memory card with yours? Oh btw, the shippment of the UK plug convertor is delayed...good thing i bought those nokia adapters.

vf

 

Oh yes, the 6230b is a great back up, when I have a messy job to perform. Plus, I have an extra cover for it.

I have everything working, except email and I haven't tried mms yet.

Love it. P.S. you can just open the flip manually too.

At first i was confused by the Cingular or Cingular ISP choice of settings. The first is the correct one

 

Phonescoop offered a very positive review of the 6126/6131/6133 today. Their only issue was with the questionable battery life. They had a few other minor quibbles, but overall, the phone got high marks.

The review mentioned that a hearing aid compatible version (the 6126H?) is due to be released soon, but it also mentioned that it is not clear which major carrier will release the phone...

Here is the review: Phonescoop's Nokia 6126 Review

 

so,oo,oo what are these 6131's selling for now a days,:loony: im getting bored with both my new phones, and not ready to go back to my 6682, just yet.:browani:















but on a side note, im now ready for 3g, if and when it comes to the okc area.

 

The one thing the review didn't mention was the Auto Keypad Lock. I never set this on mine. It was on as a default.

My clock does the same thing as yours. It is squarish, digital numbers on a white background as the time-out screensaver (plus it moves around the display every couple of minutes or so). The outside display never goes blank.

As far as the Power-Key options, because of the auto keypad lock, I have to open the phone to deactivate it. Once that's done, pressing the power key for a couple of seconds brings up the "Power Off" option as well as the Profiles. To move through them I kept pressing the power key. When I chose a selection, I pressed the power key for as long as needed to activate that profile or to turn the phone off. I really only use the power key to turn the phone off. I'll change the profiles another way. Hope this helps, Charlyee.