Nokia 6030
Average Ratings
Good basic phone
I've had this phone for about three years, and it's been great. It's very basic, but that's all I care about.
Pros:
+ Long battery life - 3 days before it even comes off Full
+ Good voice quality, incoming & outgoing
+ Good user interface: easy to text, easy to get to Inbox, fast, good button placement & feel
Cons:
- Dust gets inside (but it's easy to pop off all the outside plastic & wipe it off)
Log In to rate this review or report it as inappropriate.
My ever-faithful back-up phone
I received this phone in May of 2006 as a GoPhone, purely to use in case of emergencies that should occur while driving. I had just gotten my driver's license, which led to getting a phone.
Once we dis-continued my GoPhone usage and started me on a plan, the Nokia was placed in a drawer and seemingly forgotten about.
Recently when my previous phone, a Samsung A727, lost its battery, I dug the Nokia out and used it again. And it was ready and willing to send the thousands of texts that I do monthly.
This phone is rather basic, of course. But when I'm at my wits end with my current phone and just need something that works, the Nokia serves me excellently.
It gets great signal, has a very easy user-interface, is very easy to text on (buttons protrude from the surface of the phone), has a very loud ringer for noisy environments, and is rather durable. I've dropped it many times and it's fine.
The only quirk this phone has is that it randomly shuts off. But in the week to two week spans I usually have to use it, it will only shut off maybe twice. I attribute it to the phone being almost three years old and not accustomed to my heavy amount of texting and calling.
Log In to rate this review or report it as inappropriate.
AD more reviews below...
Back in Black
I recently signed up with Cingular's top Pick Your Plan tier in order to talk to family members on opposite coasts with the unlimited mobile-to-mobile deal. Instead of going with one of the low-end Nokias like the 6010 or the Moto V173, I paid full retail for the 6030 and haven't regretted it one bit.
Pros:
+Great loudspeaker, even better than the Razr and V710
+Sleek, stylish blackness
+Strong reception
+FM radio through speaker (with attached headset)
+Small and lightweight
+Good battery life, even in low-signal areas
Cons:
-Battery cover doesn't seat well, feels creaky when handling phone and pressing buttons
-Prone to smudges and fingerprints
-Screen could be brighter
-Signal and battery indicators difficult to read
Some of my gripes might seem like nitpicking, but that's a testament to the phone's overall quality. I fixed the creaking problem by inserting a sliver of 3x5 index card between the battery cover and the frame (not touching the battery). There isn't anything to be done about the signal indicators or the screen, but these are minor complaints when compared with the phone's glaring strengths.
If you're in the market for a phone's phone and respect simplicity, you could do much worse than the 6030; it knows its role and performs it very well.
Log In to rate this review or report it as inappropriate.
Nice Little Phone
Pros:
Good call quality
Long battery life
Nokia menu easy to use
FM radio
Speakerphone
Cons:
None
Nokia put a lot of thought into this little device. It works the way you would expect.
The menu is very well designed. Battery life is excellent and will last several days with moderate use. Call quality, tested in different cities, is very good with adequate volume. You can send and receive text and IM. Using T-Zones, you can check your account status and latest news. Believe it or not, you can change the exterior shell.
One last point. A lot of otherwise good phones can be ruined by a carrier putting their own junk on it resulting in confusing menus and buggy software. Fortunately, TMO has not meddled with the software and it works fine.
Highly recommended.
Log In to rate this review or report it as inappropriate.
Very Nice Basic Phone
This phone is cute, and downright tiny -- it fits horizontal in most of my shirt pockets, which keeps it from falling out when I bend over, so for me that is a great feature that keeps my phone safe without needing a case.
The back battery cover is very loose, so I put 2 Post-Its on the inside of it, and now the cover sits tight. I can pull it off, but it no longer does so on its own.
The Battery and Signal indicators were difficult to see, so I changed the Contrast to lowest setting, which should really be called Brightness, IMO. Then I changed Dislplay Color Scheme to "Red" which gave me excellent readability againts the blue wallpaper. But this only works best when changing the Contrast.
Speaking of Signal : I live in the hills, and have trouble with some radio signals, and many TV signals when using an antenna, but have had no problems with this phone's strong signal.
The Ring tones are few, but I just want a reliable phone, not a toy :-) Some of them Vibrate as they ring.
The FM Radio is pretty cool, and sounds good with the 4-Section headset. (The Sections on the plug; standard "Universal" stereo headset and phones have 3 sections on the plug).
That brings me to the non-Universal Headset. I have tested with 3 different Universal (3-Section) headsets, and the Sound comes from the phone itself -- not the headset. But my voice does enter into the headset microphone. I have never used a MP3 music phone, so 4-Section headsets may be becoming the new standard.
I tested the my "cheap" little Nokia 6030 against my $400 TREO when placing a call to my answering machine -- with, and without -- headsets. My answering machine played them all back pretty much the same, although both phones sounded better without the headsets -- with this caveat : sound quality to the recipient can be better or worse, depending on the distance and angle you hold the phone to your mouth.
Summary: For me, a phone is not a toy. Nokia 6030 is small, stylish, reliable,
Log In to rate this review or report it as inappropriate.
6030 is Great
Nokia has done it again--provided simplicity and fun in a nice, small black phone called the 6030. If you've been thinking about getting this one, go for it!
PROS:
--GoTo options are customizable.
--Right soft key and navigation key are customizble. This avoids the ever-annoying mistake of getting into the Media Mall unintentionally.
--Great reception and usual Nokia quality.
--Sharp, crisp display.
--Excellent battery life.
--Nice compact size.
--Much better looking than the 6010.
--Good speakerphone.
CONS:
--Only one, and this is probably Cingular's fault, but there are only 6 ringers and 2 wallpapers included with the phone. They used to have 20-30 rings, but I guess they're getting greedy and thinking I'll buy more from them. Thankfully I don't need anything other than a normal ring. This one has a desk phone ring and an old phone ring which work for me.
No bluetooth and no camera are not cons as this is not a high-end phone, so I don't count off for that. For the person who just wants a phone to make calls and text message with, you can't go wrong here.
Log In to rate this review or report it as inappropriate.
Excellent Work Nokia... Next Stop, BLUETOOTH
I must say, this is an awesome little phone. For a phone as inexpensive as this one, I haven't had this much bang for the book since.... ever. This phone handles all of the daily chores of any other entry level phone, but Nokia style. Anyone who has ever owned a Nokia, know what I'm talking about. The reception on this thing is outstanding, the screen is very crisp, and the voice quality is as good as I've had. The form factor is perfect (not to big or small) and the buttons are raised just enough and easy to hit even if you have big hands. Oh and for the teenagers out there, yeah it does play MP3 ring tones as well! But I really wish that Nokia would come out with a version of this phone that had BLUETOOTH! They could really make a killing, especially on Cingular, by coming out with a low end BLUETOOTH phone w/o camera. But that aside this is would be a great phone for anyone. I give it the Nokia 6030 for Cingular a 4.5 out of 5!
Log In to rate this review or report it as inappropriate.
2ND Generation Nokia 3120
This phone is the latest version of the super little mighty mite Nokia 3120, with an FM Radio added, 1800 band removed, pop-port changed, standard barrel headphone jack added and screen resolution(crispness) improved from 4K to 65K pixels. Size is same.
I am submitting this review to reinforce all the positives already mentioned about this phone and to answer those wishing for this phone with blue-tooth. It is the Nokia 6021.
With blue-tooth, mp3 player, and camera it is the Nokia 6230 or later 6230i(these two have had some reliability issues, see reviews).
For the reviewer complaining about the signal level gage, set wallpaper to NONE and set color scheme to Orange. This will increase viewability in all screens by 10 times.
For those who never can never seem to get enough receive volume from a phone, as soon as the call you made has answered on this one, or you have answered an incoming call (both indicated by LOUDSPEAKER text label showing up in place of HEADSET text over the upper right soft key), select LOUDSPEAKER and adjust the volume using the right and left navigation keys. You will be impressed. Warning: do not select LOUDSPEAKER then put the phone directly to your ear before checking/setting volume. It is a loudspeaker first and can be adjusted down for a loud receiver.
Log In to rate this review or report it as inappropriate.
A Good Basic Phone
I bought this phone for $25.00 used to replace my aging Nokia 6010. The reason I chose this phone besides the price is that it has a speaker phone. Although it has a built in FM radio, I have not tested this feature because it requires a stereo headset to work (my mono headset from my other phone would not work).
Pros: Good RF section, very few drop outs. Speakerphone. No learning curve for previous Nokia owners, I was able to use this phone without looking at the manual once. Very good battery life, my sample goes for two weeks without recharging (note that this is mostly standby time). Built in calendar is a nice feature. DTMF tone duration totally controlled by how long you press the buttons, an important feature if you need to operate a "Sine Systems" controller or similar remote control unit.
Cons: FM Radio requires special accessory to work. Speakerphone must be used in quiet environment in order to hear it. A limited choice of default ringtones, but this does not bother me as one of the defaults is an old fashioned telephone bell. This is how phones are supposed to sound! If I wanted to hear music, I'd buy an MP3 player. Too easy to press the arrow buttons instead of the center command button, although I eventually got used to that.
Bottom Line: While the con list may seem longer than the pro list, these are minor annoyances compared to the good qualities of this phone, and you can't beat the price. Even if you own the "latest and greatest" smart phone, it's worth picking up one of these as a backup phone.
Log In to rate this review or report it as inappropriate.
I have one of those nokia 6030's and..
I HATE THIS PHONE
i forget how long i've had it for, but it has horrible volume on it, i can hardly hear when i'm calling someone, i have to be in a closed off room absolute quiet to hear from it oh and i got it on a goplan
I live in perkasie PA, n/nw of philly
Pros-
-really good battery life, usually lives for a week or 2 for me
-a lot of random features
-looks pretty decent
-pretty good screen
Cons-
-where do i start, first off i can't hear anything on it, my ringtone is louder then the volume is when i'm talking to people
-really shaky design, kinda flimsy and breakable.......
-back screen wont stay bright for more than 3 seconds
i'm only 14, so i don't know a lot, but this phone is truly horrible
sorry
Log In to rate this review or report it as inappropriate.
Have a question about this phone? Ask in the Forum ›
Ready to buy? Shop for this phone ›
