Nokia 6300

You may have thought the days of mobile phones sturdy enough to beat a mugger about the head with were over, but the 6300 feels very solid indeed. It’s made from a combination of tough stainless steel covers and glossy, expensive black plastic.

Fortunately, the 6300 is more Van Damme than Schwarzenegger and comes in at a hard but slim 12mm deep. It’s comfortable to carry around in a jacket or trouser pocket and unlike other metallic handsets it doesn’t feel that heavy.

The 6300’s 320×240-pixel (QVGA) color screen displays up to 16 million colors and is good for viewing photos, watching videos and reading text messages or emails on. Measuring a relatively large 30mm wide by 40mm tall, you won’t need to squint when looking at it.

We were relieved to see the 6300’s keypad features large keys, making it easy to use. Our only niggle is that the four-way navigation key above the keypad feels a little on the thin side and can be awkward to press.

At the bottom there’s a small charging port that fits the new Nokia chargers, a 2.5mm headphone jack and a mini-USB port that lets you connect the 6300 to your PC, which means no more searching for the proprietary Nokia USB cable.

One noteworthy design feature is the blue lights on either side of the 6300, which glow when you have an unread text message–hardly essential, but we like it nonetheless.