3GSM 2006
The 6131 clearly takes some of its design, or at least its engineering cues from the RAZR - it has that thin and wide form factor, and the bottom half is longer than the lid because the antenna is below the keypad - among other similarities. However unlike most of the phones one might call RAZR knockoffs, the 6131 looks distinctly like a Nokia; there is nothing Moto about it.
Since the majority of Nokia's clamshells are the same, boring, rounded rectangle, the 6131 stands out as a stylish choice. Nokia fans will welcome the evolution, but even those who don't normally consider Nokias will likely be attracted to this phone.
You can see the auto-flip button in the upper right of many of the photos above. This worked well on one of the models and poorly on the other. It is likely still being finalized. The action is fairly smooth and the button does not require much force to press. However when Rich tried pressing the button with his thumb, the lid would get caught on it. This was not the case for Eric, despite the fact that his hands are bigger.
The other oddity on this phone is that the pop-port is at the top, however this will enable wired-headset users to go hands-free without having to keep the phone upside-down in their pocket.
The 6131 runs Series 40 Version 3, which includes a number of improvements we have shown earlier, including the new active home screen shown here. Also present on the latest S60 phones, the Active home displays shortcuts to 5 applications, the next appointment for the day and any notes you have entered on the home screen.
Here, and in other screenshots below, you can get an idea of how absolutely incredible this screen is. Not only is it a QVGA feature phone, it is a 16 million color screen. It is probably the only feature phone with a screen this good outside of Japan.
Nokia makes use of the enhanced resolution in other ways, such as allowing you to view text in a variety of sizes. Font size is now separately adjustable for the contacts, messaging and web applications. Although the large font is clearly larger than the normal size, you can see you only lose one contact in the list view with it.
The 6131 will be available first in black, which will be the primary color for this handset. However it will also be available in a silver-white, which will be a more limited edition color.
Although Nokia considers it mid-range, the 6131 is fairly feature-packed, including quad-band GSM, EDGE, stereo Bluetooth, a megapixel camera, and a microSD card slot.
Review: Nokia 6126
Helio Hero Video Tour
CTIA 2006
CES 2006
Samsung Refreshes Galaxy S Series with S Pen, New Cameras
Pantech Hero / PN-8300
Samsung SGH-i320
Nokia 6126 / 6131 / 6133
