Nokia 6205 - blue (Verizon Wireless)
Manufacturer: Nokia Corp. Part number: 6205BLUVZW
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- Bottom Line:
- The Nokia 6205 barely lives up to its multimedia phone promise, but it's a decent choice if you want an affordable 3G phone with good call quality.
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| store | customer rating | inventory | tax & shipping | price |
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 |  | In stock Free with 2-yr Contract | Enter zip code to get total price: Price +Tax +Shipping =Total price | as of 12/08/2009 |
CNET editors' review
Nokia 6205 - blue (Verizon Wireless) price range: $0.00
- Reviewed by: Nicole Lee
- Reviewed on: 07/18/2008
- Released on: 06/13/2008
The good: The Nokia 6205 is a simple phone with a music player, a megapixel camera, and EV-DO. It's quite affordable, and has excellent call quality.
The bad: The Nokia 6205 lacks stereo Bluetooth support, has a nonintegrated music player, and has a flat keypad.
The bottom line: The Nokia 6205 barely lives up to its multimedia phone promise, but it's a decent choice if you want an affordable 3G phone with good call quality.
Nokia is one of the world's most popular handset manufacturers, but you wouldn't know it if you took a look at the North American market. Part of the issue might be that it is primarily a GSM company, focusing most of its efforts in the European and Asian markets, leaving the CDMA side to mostly wither away. Now and then, however, Nokia attempts to step up its CDMA presence in the U.S., and the Nokia 6205 is one such handset. Though it has EV-DO, a megapixel camera, and a music player, it's still not quite as strong a multimedia phone as say, the LG Chocolate 3. However, if you want one of the cheapest multimedia phones around, the Nokia 6205 certainly fits the bill at only $69.99 with a $50 discount and a two-year service agreement.
The Nokia 6205 is available in two versions; a normal light-blue version, as well as a special black Dark Knight edition handset that will launch prior to the movie of the same name. The Dark Knight edition is essentially the same as the light-blue version, except that it'll come with movie-based ringtones, a preloaded trailer, and a special Batman logo on an optional back cover.
Design
We have to say right off the bat the Nokia 6205 has quite a boring design. It has the typical boxy clam shell form factor and even the Dark Knight edition handset doesn't look at all like the kind of phone Bruce Wayne would carry around. The mostly plastic body has accents of a faux brushed-steel surface, which makes it look a tiny bit fancier. As mentioned, the Dark Knight edition is in black, of course, with an optional battery cover that has the Batman/Dark Knight logo etched on it. Measuring 3.62 inches high by 1.77 inches wide by 0.72 inch thick, the Nokia 6205 is slim enough to slip in one's pocket, and at 3.3 ounces, it won't weigh you down either.
We're pleased to see an external display on the 6205. It measures 1.28 inches and it has support for 65,000 colors, which isn't that great, but it's good enough for photo caller ID and music player graphics. Our only issue with it is that it sits in the middle of a reflective mirror finish--it's great for checking out your makeup, but not so great when you're trying to read the screen under bright lights. As mentioned, the display can be used for caller ID, plus you can use it to view the album art when the music player is activated. It also shows the date, time, signal strength, and battery life. You can change the wallpaper and clock style, but nothing else. The display also acts as self-portrait viewfinder, but you have to first access the camera option, and then you have to keep the phone in an open position to take a photo of yourself, which isn't too comfortable.
Underneath the display are three touch-sensitive music player controls that only show up when you activate the phone. They consist of rewind/previous track, play/pause, and fast forward/next track. You can also hold down the play/pause key to activate the music player. They're definitely welcome, but we're generally not fans of these touch controls, since there's no tactile feedback at all between the keys. That said, at least they're isolated only to the music player controls.
Above the display is the camera lens, a speaker, plus an LED flash. The headset jack, volume rocker, and charging jack sit on the left spine, and the voice command key and microSD card slot sit on the right.
Flip open the phone and you'll find a pretty decent 2-inch 262,000 color main display. It's not the best display we've seen, but for a simple phone like this, it works just fine. Images look sharp, and colors are nice and vibrant. Unfortunately, the 6205 is saddled with Verizon's much-maligned tab interface that makes it a little tricky to access frequently used functions like the music player and the Web browser. The only other menu style option is a list style, which wasn't much better. You can adjust the backlight time, the contrast, the clock format, plus the size of the dialing font.
The navigation array underneath the display is pretty standard. It consists of two soft keys, a square navigation toggle with a middle OK key, a dedicated speakerphone key, and a dedicated camera key. There's also Send, Clear, and End/Power keys. The up, left, and down directional keys on the navigation toggle double as shortcuts to three user-defined functions, while the right directional key leads to a My Shortcuts menu that you can customize with up to four shortcuts of your choice. We found the overall keypad to be a little too flat to the surface, though there are slight delineations between each key so it's not unusable by any means. We just wouldn't recommend dialing by feel.
Features
The Nokia 6205 comes with a 500-entry contacts list, which is pretty dinky for a phone these days. Each entry holds five numbers, two e-mail addresses, plus you can pair them with a caller group, add a photo for caller ID, or use one of 16 polyphonic sounds as a personalized ringtone (The Dark Knight edition has six extra movie-related ringtones). Other basic features include a vibrate mode, a speakerphone (which you can activate prior to a phone call), text and multimedia messaging, a notepad, a calendar, a calculator, an alarm clock, a world clock, a stopwatch, plus voice command. More advanced features include PC syncing for music, support for several Bluetooth profiles like dial-up networking and phonebook transfer, a wireless Web browser, mobile e-mail (only for Web e-mail services like Hotmail, AOL Mail, Yahoo, and Verizon.net) and instant messaging, plus support for VZ Navigator, Verizon's location-based navigation service. Do note, however, that the Nokia 6205 does not have stereo Bluetooth support, so you're stuck with a wired headset if you want to listen to tunes.
The 6205 also has EV-DO support, meaning it has access to Verizon's 3G services like V Cast streaming video and V Cast Music with Rhapsody. With the latter, you can purchase and download songs over-the-air directly to the phone for $1.99, and a simultaneous download to your PC is included in the price. However, the 6205 doesn't have a true integrated music player--it essentially relies on the V Cast Music interface for all its music player functions. This can feel a tad clunky, since it takes about a second or so to start the player up, and the interface looks and feels like all the other V Cast services. This is why even with the dedicated music player controls on the 6205 we can't call it a true music phone, especially when compared with the LG Dare or the LG Chocolate 3.
The 1.3-megapixel camera on the 6205 can take pictures in four resolutions (1,280x960, 640x480, 320x240, 160x120), five white-balance settings, and six color effects. Other camera settings include a self-timer, a flash, the choice of three shutter sounds plus a silent option, and brightness. You can also adjust the capture mode to be in either portrait or landscape mode. Photo quality was quite mediocre. Though colors looked alright, images looked blurry, and there was a slight overcast effect. There's also a built-in camcorder, which can record clips in 176x144 up to available memory. Camcorder settings include brightness and white balance, plus an option to turn on the LED as a recording light. Video quality was pretty horrible, with pixelated images and jerky movements. The 6205 has a very limited internal memory of 58MB, but there's a microSD card slot that takes up to 4GB cards.
Personalization options are plentiful with a variety of wallpaper, screensavers, display themes, and sounds, plus you can always download more via Verizon's Get It Now service. There aren't any games included, but you can also download them via the Web.
Performance
We tested the Nokia 6205 (CDMA 800/1900; EV-DO) in San Francisco using the Verizon Wireless service. Call quality was very good--callers hear us loud and clear, and vice versa. They could still tell we were on a cell phone, but that did not deter from the overall sound quality. Our only complaint is that voices tended to sound a little robotic. Speakerphone quality was fine as well--callers couldn't tell much of a difference in sound quality. On our end, the speaker quality sounded a little hollow and tinny, but that's to be expected. Volume was loud enough, and that was enough for us.
EV-DO service was strong in our area. We managed to download a 965KB song in around 50 seconds, which is not bad. Web pages loaded in mere seconds as well. The music quality was passable. There isn't a lot of bass, and the speaker quality was frankly quite dismal, especially with the lack of stereo speakers. It's better if you use a headset, but one isn't included, and you only have the nonstandard 2.5mm headset jack so you have to get a special adapter. And as we mentioned, there isn't stereo Bluetooth.
Streaming video quality is the same as most other V Cast phones, with very blurry and pixelated video clips. That said, there was little to no rebuffering needed.
The Nokia 6205 has a rated battery life of 4.5 hours talk time and 11 days standby time. It has a tested talk time of 4 hours and 55 minutes. According to FCC radiation tests, the 6205 has a digital SAR rating of 0.94 watt per kilogram.
User reviews
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My Review!!
by mudslinger83 on January 4, 2009
Pros: Just About Everything
Cons: Battery Life, Speakerphone
Summary: i really like this phone, just switched from t-mobile to verizon and glad i did, i bought the LG Voyager on contract and decided to buy this Nokia at retail ...
Summary: i really like this phone, just switched from t-mobile to verizon and glad i did, i bought the LG Voyager on contract and decided to buy this Nokia at retail cause i just had to have it and its not disappointed me a bit, ringers are loud enough to hear but downloaded ringers are really loud and clear which i like, if my phone is ringin i wanna hear it, reception is amazin, i can hold a call anywhere, camera is pretty good, the battery life on the other hand is not really good, a nokia used to last days on a charge and this one may last a day if im lucky, its a good thing i have 3 spare batteries, outside MP3 buttons are kinda annoying but its not a big deal, and the speakerphone crackels some but all minor things, and i dont see why everybody hates this phone idk maybe they just got bad ones, but this is a very good phone and i would recommend it to anybody, so there is my review.
2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Good call quality, but the minor details are retarded
by canaryturd on November 7, 2008
Pros: Decent battery life, good call quality and reception, nice, sleek design
Cons: The little things - phone exterior buttons, camera flash, etc
Summary: Basically, this phone is a decent phone, but there are small details that make me want to take it back and trade it in. For example, you can't set ...
Summary: Basically, this phone is a decent phone, but there are small details that make me want to take it back and trade it in. For example, you can't set text tones for individual contacts. You also can't use sound files as ringtones, you have to text them to yourself to save as a ringtone. The exterior sound volume button only works when the phone is open, so you can't adjust the volume when the case is shut. The exterior display has a reflective surface, which makes it hard to see when you receive a message. The vibrate is weak and the flash on the camera is essentially useless as it turns the entire picture white. Also, there is no self portrait option - what the camera sees does not show up on the exterior display. I don't need fancy player options, I just want the basic media functions and this phone is failing in that respect.
2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Do not waste your time with this phone!!!
by AuburnNichol on August 13, 2009
Pros: I do not like anything about this phone.
Cons: Very poor sound quality. Terrible battery life. Speaker sounds good but people on other end say they can't hear me. Scratches very easily, very cheap construction.
Summary: Very cheap phone, seems bottom of the line. Poor battery life. Poor reception which is the MOST important thing in a phone conversation!!!
Summary: Very cheap phone, seems bottom of the line. Poor battery life. Poor reception which is the MOST important thing in a phone conversation!!!
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BAD PHONE NOKIA 6205
by mmbarrow on April 28, 2009
Pros: The only thing that I like the phone is how it set up. When you open the open it is easy to understand. You do not need to read the manual.
Cons: I received the phone for free because I reactivated my account at Verizon for another 2 years. I don't usually use the phone but the battery goes down too fast. I have to keep re-charging every night even I don't use the phone that day.
Summary: I returned the phone to Verizon because I can't put up with the constant re-charging everyday. I emailed Verizon about my bad experience and they were very helpful. The ...
Summary: I returned the phone to Verizon because I can't put up with the constant re-charging everyday. I emailed Verizon about my bad experience and they were very helpful. The customer service waived the $35 for exchanging to another brand. I don't receommend Nokia 6205 unless you don't mind charging your phone every night. My new phone is Samsung which I am much happier with. The Verizon is very helpful meeting my needs.
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Looks & Feels CHEAP. Horrible sound & battery
by srambus on April 18, 2009
Pros: Very lightweight. Does weigh my jeans down.
Cons: Sound quality is very poor. Looks like a toy. Scratches super easy. Battery life is ridiculous.
Summary: My LGVX8300 went thru the washer and did not survive. I took advantage of my New-every-Two and shopped online at Verizonwireless.com. Since I couldnt see or feel the phones ...
Summary: My LGVX8300 went thru the washer and did not survive. I took advantage of my New-every-Two and shopped online at Verizonwireless.com. Since I couldnt see or feel the phones in real life, I read every review and decided on the 6205. All I wanted was good sound quality, excellent battery life, a flip phone, and I wanted one that was Free. The editors reviews said this phone had great battery life and sound, so I went for it. I was sooooooooo disappointed when I got it. It does not feel good in my hand. There is no backlight on the keypad to dial when youre in the dark, and the keypad is almost completely flat so you cant really dial by touch. The sound, unlike the review says, is horrible. Its like youre talking to someone thru tin cans. And to make it worse, 75% of my callers said they could hear their voice coming back thru, echoing to them. The speakerphone for some reason kept turning on, I think the button is too easy to accidentally push. The battery was advertised to last 240 hours on standby, but I had to recharge my phone every night and I rarely even use the phone to talk, never use the camera, and dont text. Bottom line, DONT get this phone! Verizon was gracious enough to take it back with out charging the restocking fee, and I ordered a Motorola Moto VU204 instead. I love it! Great sound, feels good, and easy navigation around the menus/settings, etc. Hope this saves someone the frustration I had.
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"DOA" - "dead on arrival"
by zemut on March 22, 2009
Pros: can't really think of any
Cons: It wasted my time
Summary: I wanted to like this phone for its best features that it can offer, but after only 2 days, yes 2 days, it stopped working. I called and spoke to ...
Summary: I wanted to like this phone for its best features that it can offer, but after only 2 days, yes 2 days, it stopped working. I called and spoke to a Verizon's customer service representative. I told her the phone turned itself off twice within 12 hours. I asked if there was any setting I had accidentally set up which allowed the phone to turn itself off, but she confirmed the phone is defected.
Hopefully this problems only happens to me....I'm not going to even think about exchanging it for the same model. I truly don't think it is worth. I'm so disappointed. -
Good SOLID phone,Can Be used as MP3 Player
by chpgadgets on February 20, 2009
Pros: Good Call Quality.Excellent Speaker Phones, unbelievable battery life with extended batterry
Cons: nothing particular
Summary: Was able to downloas Mp3 songs to phone. Put the empty SD card into Phone FIRST. take a picture. My Music/My Pic folder appears, when you insert the same ...
Summary: Was able to downloas Mp3 songs to phone. Put the empty SD card into Phone FIRST. take a picture. My Music/My Pic folder appears, when you insert the same Card into your computer.now copy your songs. Pair it with a wireless bluetooth stereo head phones--- MP3 player
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This phone sucks!
by atoucheque on November 25, 2008
Pros: I like the make of the phone. The design and the displays are good, and I like the keyboard.
Cons: The signal quality is horrible, the earpiece and speaker are terrible and the battery life sucks! I can't believe the money I paid for this piece of crap.
Summary: Nokia used to make some darn good quality phones, but this one is way under par!
Summary: Nokia used to make some darn good quality phones, but this one is way under par!
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Fragile, bad music player, Limited MicroSD
by Contradictorian on November 12, 2008
Pros: Good camera, great size. Awesome reception - made a call from a place where no one has been able to.
Cons: Fragile, music player inadequate; Micro SD is limited to 4 GB, no vibrate and then ring capability
Summary: The front screen shattered for no reason after 2 weeks - everything else is intact; the clamshell feels flimsy.
Every time I start the music player it either adds songs ...Summary: The front screen shattered for no reason after 2 weeks - everything else is intact; the clamshell feels flimsy.
Every time I start the music player it either adds songs to my music or deletes them even though there were no changes on the micro SD card
Micro SD is limited to 4 GB -
Good reception, Battery has no life!
by ejame307 on August 16, 2008
Pros: clear call quality. easy to read menus and panels. Large font. Keyboard is easy to dial.
Cons: The battery life is a huge disappointment. The battery completely drained after only 1 hour and 20 minutes of calls. This happened twice already. By my carrier's own admission, this seems to be happening to a number of customers.
Product series
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Nokia 6205 - blue (Verizon Wireless)
Manufacturer: Nokia Corp.
Specs:
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Nokia 6205 Dark Knight Edition (Verizon Wireless)
Manufacturer: Nokia Corp.
Specs:
Manufacturer info
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