Camera Phones Plaza

The Nokia 6233 is the successor to the very popular 6230i. It retains the same classic bar form factor, but ups the ante in the specifications department. Sporting a 2 megapixel camera, a QVGA (320x240 pixel) resolution display, and stereo speakers, the Nokia 6233 is set to take the market by storm. It is a dual mode phone, featuring WCDMA/GSM operation, and tri-band GSM coverage (GSM 900/1800/1900MHz and WCDMA 2100MHz networks). The 6233 is capable of switching automatically between bands and modes. This review will be about the Nokia 6233's GSM capabilities, as I still have no access to 3G networks.

The guys at mobileburn made a review of this phone. Here are some ideas. As you can see, the Nokia 6233 has a very simple design, yet Nokia has managed to make such a plain Jane look into something that oozes class and quality. I really like the mixture of stainless steel and soft touch paint. Add this to its weight of only 110g (3.88oz) and dimensions of 108mm x 46mm x 18mm (4.25" x 1.81" x 0.71"), and the Nokia 6233 is quite a attractive phone.

The Nokia 6233's screen is great. With a QVGA (320x240 pixel) resolution and the ability to display up to 262k colors, displayed pictures look fantastic. Under harsh sunlight, colors appear slightly washed out, but readability is not affected at all. Fonts look smooth and sharp on the 6233's beautiful screen.

The 2 megapixel camera on the 6233 is used with the phone in a landscape position. This effectively lets you use the phone just like a normal camera. The white balance system is pretty spot on most of the time, though as the camera isn't an auto-focus model, the pictures appear slightly out of focus, especially when sceneries are photographed. The camera's noise reduction system also goes overboard by smudging details - some photos looked as though they were painted. In poor lighting, the night mode managed to capture decent pictures, but the amount of noise is horrendous. The 6233's camera is also capable of 8x digital zoom, and it zooms by way of cropping the larger 2 megapixel photo in order to maintain image quality.

Overall, the images taken by the 6233 were of decent quality. The lack of an auto focus mechanism really made a negative impact on the image quality, and details are lost with the noise reduction system. However, pictures captured still looked decent, and would be great for candid shots.

The 6233 is capable of taking videos up to 640x480 pixel resolution in 3GP format. Video length is limited only by the amount of memory available, and this should prompt users to get a higher capacity card to use with the 6233, as the phone only comes with a 64MB microSD card. The internal memory of only 6MB is a real shame. Fortunately, the memory card slot is compatible with cards up to 2GB in size. The 6233 does not have a second front facing camera, and as such does not support video calls.

The conclusion is that the Nokia 6233 is certainly a worthy successor to the 6230i. However, with the Eseries and Nseries keeping Nokia occupied these days, I feel that the S40 series of phones is dying a slow death. Although the 6233 has a lot going for it, I am baffled by the fact that it has less on-board memory than the Nokia 6131. Granted, it does come with a 64MB microSD card, but the tiny amount of on-board memory is still unacceptable by today's standards. Users are most likely to get a higher capacity card anyway, and in the end, business users who prefer bar phones might feel short changed.

In conclusion, I give the 6233 a Recommended rating, as it just does not pack enough punch to stand out amongst the rest of the S40 phones, unlike the 6230i or 6230 before it. If you need to make 3G video calls and prefer slimmer phones, the Sony Ericsson K610i and upcoming K618i might interest you more. Otherwise, the 6233 has a lot going for it, especially with its stereo speakers.

Via mobileburn.