Nokia 6233

A stylish 3G mobile with an attractive stainless steel finish, the Nokia 6233 is a mid-range handset with a sleek and business-like design. It offers a 2 megapixel camera, Bluetooth and infrared connectivity as well as expandable memory capacity thanks to a microSD card slot.

The 6233 doesn't offer anything new in terms of its design, but most users will appreciate the curved edges and sleek look. The handset is available in two colours - classic black or silver alloy. Measuring 108 mm x 46 mm x 18 mm, it is one of the smallest 3G phones currently available on the market. Despite the stainless steel finish, the 6233 still manages to weigh just 110 grams, so it won't add much bulk to your pocket or bag.

The candy bar shape of the 6233 still manages to allow for a sizeable display and an excellent, well positioned keypad. The keys are sturdy and adequately spaced out and very easy to press. The keypad is separated by horizontal strips of chrome, adding a touch of class. Above the keypad is a simple set of controls - a five-way navigational pad, two selection keys as well as answer and end call buttons. The QVGA display has a resolution of 320 x 240 pixels and is capable of displaying 262,144 colours. It's very crisp and clear and has an excellent viewing angle, but suffers slightly in direct sunlight. One of its best features is the fact that it doesn't seem to attract as many fingerprints and smudges as other mobile phone displays.

The 6233 includes a 2 megapixel camera, but this is let down by the lack of autofocus and a flash. The handset design and placement of the camera button means photos can be taken in landscape mode - just like a regular digital camera. The photos snapped are acceptable, but naturally aren't good enough to replace a stand alone digital camera. Like most camera phones, high levels of image noise were prevalent, as well as a significant lack of detail in most of our test shots. The camera includes 8x digital zoom in addition to grayscale, sepia and negative effects, night mode, a 10 second self-timer and white balance adjustment. It can also record short VGA video clips that can be attached to MMS messages.

The 6233 has a fair list of multimedia features for a phone in this price range, but as perplexing as it sounds there is no camera for 3G video calling. 3G phones are known most for this feature so it is surprising to see its omission from this handset. Nokia have obviously attempted to make up for this by offering a media player, music player supporting both MP3 and AAC files as well as a stereo FM radio and voice recorder. For music, there's a seven preset equaliser and random and repeat play options, but no standard 3.5mm headphone jack - you'll have to make do with the proprietary Nokia headphones. You can also listen to your music through the phones speaker, but the quality is below average so this isn't recommended.

You can store files on the 70MB of internal memory, or the 64MB microSD card which is included in the sales package. The card is well concealed on the left hand side of the handset, and best of all, you don't need to remove the rear cover or battery to access it. Other features include support for Java, WAP 2.0, polyphonic and MP3 ringtones with vibration alert, a clear and loud hands free speakerphone and SMS, MMS and email messaging with T9 predictive text input.

According to Nokia, the battery life of the 6233 is rated at up to four hours talk time and 340 hours of standby time, but this is using a standard GSM network. The talk time drops to just over three hours using 3G. We found ourselves charging the unit every second night with moderate usage or every night when we made a few extra phone calls or messages.

Overall, the 6233 is a solid 3G handset that lacks the video calling feature but should serve you well in most other areas thanks to a pretty comprehensive features list, all complemented by a stylish design.