Nokia 6102, 6103 and 6102i; Camera Phone

Not long after introducing their 6102 model (6103 for T-Mobile) cellular telephone, Nokia put out the 6102i, essentially adding in the feature they must have forgotten with the 6102, Bluetooth capability. They didn't add Bluetooth in exchange for any of the winning features that made the 6102 and 6103 so popular.

Unless you have a very keen eye for detail, you won't notice any cosmetic difference between the three models. With conservative lines and a traditional clamshell closure, the 6102 family of phones is very sleek without being flashy. 

As with many of Nokia's clamshell phones, you can see basic information, such as battery level, signal strength and time on the external LCD screen with capacity of up to 4000 colors.

On the 6102i Bluetooth model, you'll find the infrared port along the right side of the phone. The volume keys are on the left where previous Nokia owners will find very familiar. The speakerphone can be found along the spine of the phone and the pop-port connection is along the bottom. 

Once you open the 6102, 6103 or 6102i you'll find the easy to read 65K color screen.  Sure, you could spend more for 262K color or even 16.7 million color screens that the higher-end models are boasting of. 

Taking photos is quick and easy with Nokia's 6102 line. The lens is located at the top of the camera when closed and just above the pivot when open. Once you've triggered the camera, you can begin snapping shots with the phone open or closed just by aiming and pressing the dedicated camera key. The .3 megapixel won't take Ansel Adams images and does come up a little lacking compared to other standard middle-of-the-road mobile devices that are now including 1.3 megapixels with up to 3+ megapixels found in many higher-end models. Don't expect to make prints of any pictures you shoot. If you use the camera capabilities to make phone wallpapers or send to friends on their digital devices.

Your still shots can be up to 640 x 480 in size with settings for high, normal and basic image quality. When the camera is set to high resolution, all .3 megapixels will be used. Fewer pixels are used to create the image when set to normal and fewer still when on the basic setting. 

There are timer and night mode functions included in the 6201 line of phones, but they are mediocre at best. No digital zoom, artistic filter, exposure or brightness adjustments and lack of color balance all make the camera feature a bit more disappointing than previous and more recent Nokia models.

Video recording resolution is 128 x 96 pixels and is encoded in 3GP codec format. You can send video recordings to friends and family, but don't expect to win any Emmy's for your direction or capture of the event of the century. Even if you could capture it, the blurriness and overall low quality of the video clips would render it almost useless. Bottom line, if you want to take pictures or video with your camera for usefulness rather than novelty, look to another Nokia model.

Just as the Nokia 6102 falls short in the camera and video department, so it does in the audio department. There's no MP3 player and the quality is downright inadequate. The saving grace is that this device does include an FM radio with the capability to preset up to 20 stations and it supports MP3 and downloadable ringtones.

As mentioned earlier, sending text messages is pretty easy with this phone. Nokia bridged the gap between messaging and chatting by adding AOL Instant Messenger (AIM), Yahoo! Messenger and MSN Messenger capabilities to this phone. Chatting by phone takes on a whole new meaning. 

You aren't limited to text-only messages, you are also able to send and receive multimedia messages in the form of pictures. The recently introduced Nokia Xpress will allow you to send video as well.

The package of applications on the 6102 line of phones is very similar to other Nokia phones: a phone book that holds up to 500 entries, an alarm clock, calculator, timer, calendar, notes and to-do list. The 6102i is equipped with POP3, IMAP4 and SMTP protocols to allow you to check your email without much work. The 6102 line is Java compatible.

Storage capacities are less than stellar, with just 4.2 MB of internal memory. This might leave you wanting more if you are a shutterbug, like to store email or text messages or just like to download games and ringtones in your spare time. There's no expansion slot, either, so you only get 4.2 MB.

If you are looking for a quality phone without flashiness that comes with many updated devices, the Nokia 6201 line might be for you. With Bluetooth and a solid design, you'll find this little nugget to be handy and sturdy with Internet capabilities without a lot of other fancy gadgetry to pay for.