Nokia 6131 Review

Have no clue. After putting this phone through its paces as you said, I can only think it might've been some disagreement/dispute between Nokia and Cingular over the 6126. Maybe some deadline that Nokia couldn't meet or maybe some services Cingular wanted on the phone that Nokia couldn't offer. Who knows? It's all my speculation. I can see nothing wrong with this phone. Cingular has approved and released much worse devices than this.

By the way, I took my 6131 tonight to firmware v5.5 all by myself. Everything went great. The most difficult part was to get the software installed and running properly on the computer, but once that was done, the flash was a breeze. It took about 10 minutes.

Two things I noticed right away, there's an option to display the date on the standby screen (I don't remember having this before unless you had the Active Standby screen activated). The date can also show on the external mini display, however, only the time will show when the mini display goes to monochrome/power-save mode. Another thing, and the most important, the Bluetooth bug with the Motorolas is solved with this firmware.

In addition to that, I find that the phone has more free memory after the upgrade. This is something that was somewhat a concern for me because I like to load my phones with lots of ringtones and wallpapers, and now Themes. I've found some sites with nice free themes out there.

Another minor thing I noticed with 5.5 is the Music Player buttons had a small facelift. It is now easier to tell which button is selected. Also, the "memory full" bug when using MediaNet search has been fixed. I will be listing other new findings about the 5.5 firmware as I come across them.

 

By any chance, do any of you have the original wallpapers and themes that came with your 6131? I deleted mine to free up more memory and I didn't back them up. If you have them, let me know and I will PM you my email address.

Thanks.

 

I did the same thing a couple weeks ago, but when I tried backing them up first it wouldn't let me...some sort of copy protection. Figured I wasn't going to be using them so went ahead and deleted them anyway.

 

Bobolito, does the 5.5 firmware get rid of the popping/clicking noises? That itself would be worth upgrading

Thanks in advance.

 

I am not sure what type of popping noises people are talking about because I've heard noises like that on every phone that uses AMR-HR codec, whether it is Motorola, LG, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, etc.. Maybe if you can make a recording for me with an explicit indication of what the noises are and I can tell you if I've heard the same thing on my phone, and if it is caused by the codec or not. If caused by the codec, it wouldn't have anything to do with the phone and hence upgrading wouldn't make any difference.

Now, I only upgraded last night so I have to use it for a few days to realize whether those sound artifacts have been reduced or gone completely. So far the calls I've been on since last night have been clear, but the popping/clicking noises I heard were also present on the Motorola V400, V600 and V635 I've owned. They only get eliminated when forcing the phones to use the Full Rate codec.

Just to update on one more thing I've noticed is that with the 5.5 firmware, the clock is now visible at all times. I remember that with previous firmware if you went into the menus or the Media Player the clock was not visible. Can anyone confirm this?

I also have noticed an improvement in EDGE speeds with the new firmware. I got 148kbps with 0.759s latency on the mobile speed test at http://www.broadbandreports.com/mspeed. Prior to the upgrade I would always get speeds around 100kbps.

 

The Alert Tones, Ringing Tones, Themes and screen savers are copyrighted. They seem to get backed up, but cannot be copies to another phone. I can't copy them by just using the mounted 'phone disk' either, bypassing Nokia Suite.

The wallpapers, clip-arts and frames can be copied and saved however..

Did you lose those with the upgrade, or just deleted them before?

The 5.5 upgrade sound good and fixed some bugs for you. I will go for it probably in Jan, when I'm up in Boston again. I'll have more time then.

No, the clock is still visible in the menus and media player.

Charylee, glad that you haven't given up yet, but get what suits you the best!

 

bobolito, thanks for all of the information you (and others) have provided. It is beginning to sound like an upgrade to 5.5 would be worth the effort. I've had 3.72 since I got it a couple months ago.

This past Sunday night I was on my way home from visiting family over the Thanksgiving holiday and for the first time noticed the popping and clicking people have been talking about. It doesn't seem to be an issue in my local/home area but about 50 miles out of town there were definitely some popping noises. It wasn't all that bad though...not like it disrupts conversation or anything. Could be a network thing, or a combination of network + 6131 in certain areas...possibly 1900 vs. 850 Mhz.

 

Thanks for the info. bobolito.

Yeah, the popping noises are very annoying. It seems like when I first got the phone, they were only occurring when the phone was dialing (not during a conversation). Now I hear them quite often during conversations.

I have version 3.5. I'm thinking also it might be worth upgrading (what's the easiest way to upgrade by the way?) I don't have a data cable, so is sending it to evan @ iunlock pretty much the best alternative?

Thanks in advance!

 

Yeah, Bobolito, I have the data cable. Where can I get the software and 5.5 upgrade package?

vf

 

I never heard anything unusual during ringing while using 3.7 and now using 5.5 either. The only thing is that the first ring always sounds weird, like weak and it almost sounds like with interference. Its hard to describe. The second and subsequent rings sound normal. This happens on every call, no matter who I call and it's the same on both 3.7 and 5.5 firmwares

The clicks/pops etc. happen during calls, but as I said, that happens on every phone that uses the HR codec.

BTW, I will take some time tomorrow to post an overview of what's needed and where to get it to upgrade your Nokias.

 

This has been bugging me for a while now. I could swear when I first got my phone there was a menu item for "Download phone softw." under phone settings. But when I go to that menu now it only shows "Current software details" and "Install software update", which is greyed out.

I know an OTA update probably isn't going to work for now anyway, but it is baffling why the menu item isn't there. Again, I thought it was there a couple months ago, but I suppose it is possible that I was imagining it. Does anyone have any ideas as to why the download option would be missing?

 

Theoretically, every GSM phone made in the past two years (probably more) will use AMR-HR codec because the network requrests the phone to use that codec. If you want to know which one your phone is using, make a phone call and while the phone call is active put your phone near an active speaker, such as the one on your computer, your cordless phone if it has a speakerphone built-in, your TV set if it is on, or your car radio while it is on. You will hear the buzzing interference from the phone and if it sounds like the audio link #1 below, then you are using FR. If it sounds like the link #2 below, then you are using HR.

Link #1: http://www.vaciloneros.com/sounds/GSM-FR.mp3
Link #2: http://www.vaciloneros.com/sounds/GSM-HR.mp3

This may be hard to hear if you are in an area using 1900Mhz, but if your area uses 850Mhz it will be relatively easy to pick up.

 

The download option is available in my phone, but I tried it many times and while it had the 3.7 firmware it always said that no updates were available. Now with 5.5 it still says the same thing. Go figure.

 

Well, I am almost to the point where I can confirm that the 5.5 firmware fixes the popping noises. I haven't heard any popping artifacts since I loaded 5.5 in my phone, but I just want to be sure it is not just coincidence.

 

Thanks bobolito. I just want to be sure b/c I'd have to pay $35 to pay for the upgrade. I don't have a data cable.

 

I just picked up a data/charger cable from eBay and am holding out hope that I can get the process figured out and do it myself. If nothing else I can use the new cable to charge up at work.

 

If you can use that cable to charge the phone, that must be the fake CA-70 they sell on Ebay. I couldn't find the original CA-70 on Ebay so be careful. I would recommend using only the original CA-53 for flashing. Those fake imitations are ok for PC Suite and most other applications, but I wouldn't risk it by using them for flashing.

 

Good point, bobolito. Last thing I need is a $250 paper weight!

 

If you want to upgrade your 6131, please follow the instructions here:

You need to download a few things:
-Diego 3.07
-Phoenix 2006 and its dongle crack (otherwise you need to buy a dongle)
-The flash firmware file.

Basically, they recommend to uninstall PC Suite and all Nokia drivers your your PC and as an extra precautionary step, clean your registry from any orphaned entries from previous Nokia software.

First, you install Diego. Once you have that running, install Phoenix 2006. During the installation you'll need to run the Phoenix 2004 dongle crack to fool the program into thinking you have a dongle. After installation is done, you reboot your computer. Upon boot up it will register a bunch of things in your Windows registry. Then you install the flash firmware into Phoenix. This will make the flash available to Phoenix when flashing the phone. Then you open Phoenix, set up the connection (USB) and test your connection to the phone. After that you start flashing. Total time for flashing is about 10 minutes. Getting all the software dowloaded and installed will certainly take far more time than that. Trust me!

Since my installation and flashing went seamlessly, I wouldn't know what to tell you in the event something went wrong with your trying to run Phoenix. I've read many people having trouble, error messages, etc. Since I have no experience with those, I have to say that I am totally clueless.

That being said, there is a good tutorial you can follow with a step-by-step guide on how to get everything installed and running. Its called BB5 Reaper and you can download it here:
http://rapidshare.de/files/24185931/Setup.rar.html OR
http://www.badongo.com/file/952817

The BB5 Reaper will help you along the process and will give you links to download anything you need. Please note that the 6131 is an S40 device, not S60.

Please don't install Phoenix 2004 even though BB5 Reaper says to do so. Just follow the BB5 Reaper instructions if you need some hand-holding, but skip the step where Phoenix 2004 is installed. They have yet to update that part. It is no longer needed. Follow more closely the instructions on the quote below. However, to install the crack for Phoenix 2006, please follow the BB5 reaper instructions TO THE LETTER!

If you have trouble finding the flash file or something else, let me know. The size of the flash file 5.5 is 139MB!

Here's a quote from a post found in another forum. I am not taking any credit for these. Sorry for the poor English, but I didn't write any of this:

 

Thanks Bobolito! It's a great sense of accomplishment to get that done by yourself. I've been there when I downloaded software to unlock Nokia phones and did my 6230 and 6340i, and a few for others.

But that's a long pc process and software to load up, as you say. I spoke with iunlock.com. I can walk in to the Boston office and have it done in less than 1/2 hour, so I will do that. At least I won't lose the phone in the mail for very long. $35 is not too bad

Great post, thanks!

vf

 

Yes, thanks, bobolito.

I don't have a data cable for my 6131, but thank you very much for listing the steps to upgrade. I know that took some time for you to post that, and especially, perform all of that on your phone.

Congrats on the successful upgrade, and thanks again!

 

Thanks for all the details bobolito! I'll probably be going through this once I get a decent data cable.

Out of curiosity, have you tried using the Nokia Software Updater?

 

I wasn't aware of the existence of the Nokia Software Updater until after I upgraded the phone. So I don't even have that program. I can research where to download it if you want to try it but I can't post a direct link here as it is against the rules.

After being on the phone yesterday and last night for close to 3 hours using AMR-HR I am now convinced that there are no popping sounds anymore during a conversation after my upgrade to firmware 5.5. The other AMR-HR glitches still remain, such as the annoying brief audio interruptions preceded by a short "fart" sound that sometimes happen every few seconds (check the link below to listen), plus some nasty handoffs that cause brief moments of garbled audio. But there's nothing the phone can do about known network problems.

Listen to this audio clip to hear the audio interruptions that often happen during a call using AMR-HR. These happen on EVERY single GSM phone I've used (Sony Ericsson, Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, LG) as long as they are using AMR-HR. They happen on most phone calls but not all, and on a good day sometimes you can go 30 to 45 mins on a call without experiencing any of these. On a bad day, they can happen constantly as is on this recording. This was recorded using my V635 and my computer line-in input:
http://www.vaciloneros.com/sounds/AMR-HR/VoiceInfo-News.mp3

 

I downloaded it from the Nokia UK website. When you select the Nokia 6131 the only method they offer is "Update over-the-air". The "Update via PC" option is grayed out, but if you choose just about any other phone model in the list you can download the Nokia Software Update program.

In all the searching I've done, all I can find is people who've selected the 6131 and gone through the suggested "Update over-the-air" option (which doesn't work)...but I haven't been able to find any reports of someone bypassing this option and going the NSU route with a 6131. I'm really curious if the Nokia updater will 1) identify the phone correctly, and 2) allow a firmware update to 5.5.

If anyone has tried this could you let me know?
Thanks!

 

You're welcome Charlyee.

Xeriph, I have encountered the same scenario where I've tried to download it from the Nokia Europe site and the option is grayed out when you select the 6131 and it wants you to do the OTA procedure which, as we all know, does not work.

 

Today my VM indicator showed for the first time!! Didn't know what was happening when I got the message to "Listen" to my voicemail. Got the nice little curly que icon. Chinook just released the 6126, so I guess they must have done something on their VM system to make it compatible. I didn't do anything on my phone. Now I just need to call CS and get them to suspend sending me a text message everyt time I get a VM.