It's lightweight at 112 grams and yet manages to feel substantial, the rear covering is not cheapo plastic but a textured warm rubber covering that oozes quality and gives you a good purchase at the same time. Measuring 92 x 48 x 20 mm we have to say that this is the perfect dimension for a flip phone and it is easy to open and close the flip especially with Nokias quick open button, it's been a while since a phone had a snazzy opening, in fact it was the Nokia Matrix phone that last had stockbrokers showing off their mobiles in the office.

However stockbrokers are unlikely to go for this model as they'd be picking a Smartphone with all the gadgets, whereas the Nokia 6131 lacks some of the top end features like WiFi but this does not make it a lesser phone, just one that's good at making calls. Power up the Nokia 6131 and the outer screen springs into life, this colour LCD shows the basics like time, battery life, signal strength and profile name plus it will show the caller ID of incoming calls.

Open the clamshell and the large Nokia screen is the first thing that draws the eye, this type of QVGA screen with 262k colours is normally kept for the Smartphone range but it has made it into the 6131 and it does a great job. In the lower half of the flip is the keypad which has large keys with good tactile feedback and the customary 4 way D pad. During our tests we became big fans of the keypad, it is very easy to operate without having to stare at it, plus even our big fingers could text without hitting the wrong letters. Things get better still with a good loud ringtone selection and a strong vibrate option to ensure you don't miss your phone.

The quad band coverage afforded by the 6131 means its good as a global traveller to allowing you to roam almost anywhere, plus its data compatibility and inbuilt email client means that you can use some basic data services to keep in touch with the office without having to carry a brick like smartphone. What the 6131 does lack however is 3G so data speeds are limited to what the 2.5G network can deliver and that's why most business applications are missing from the phone.

Storage is not massive at 32mb onboard but with a micro SD slot included it is possible to get another 512mb card added to give you a reasonable level of space which you can then fill with pictures form the 1.3 mega pixel camera or more likely a bulging address book. Connectivity is taken care of with Nokias pop port USB function and also the now standard Bluetooth allowing you to connect a headset or to a car kit.

Multimedia is given some room and there is a quite passable media player which will handle MP3, MP4, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, WMA audio although you'll need to use a Nokia headset as once again there is no 3.5mm earphone jack. There is limited video playback which looks quite good on the large screen but this isn't really a multimedia phone it's more of a jack of all trades.

Battery life is excellent and like the latest batch of Nokia phones it has the BL-4C battery which can provide up to 240 hours standby time, in our tests a 3 day stint dropped the battery to about 70% with minimal phone calls so in an area of good coverage the full spec may just be possible. Real life use would see the average business user recharging every 3 days.

The series 40 UI makes using the 6131 simple and on a par with the 6280 we reviewed a month ago combined with the large screen, great keypad and the overall look and feel the Nokia 6131 is a middle of the road phone that could be used for almost any purpose. Priced at around £170 SIM free it makes  great option for anyone who has to pay the full upgrade price from their own pocket.

More Nokia Reviews

Published - 20/08/2006

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