Classic Nokia look, keypad, good battery life and support for Google Maps, Facebook and other modern apps? It still sounds pretty good.
Nokia has a little, for better or worse, gone its own way in the mobile phone world. With the phones 6300 4G and 8000 4G they try something as tricky as cheap phones with good battery life and modern features of the type YouTube, WhatsApp and Facebook.
Why I choose to take a look at both models in the same text is because they are exact copies of each other in terms of performance. The difference between the two units and the reason why 8000 4G costs SEK 990 while 6300 4G goes for SEK 690 spelled a better camera, a slightly larger screen and a (according to Nokia) more exclusive look. Let’s dive in.
Appearance and first impression
Although Nokia 8000 may look more lavish than little brother Nokia 6300 the phones generally feel about as plastic. Something that is not very strange as both are made of just plastic, where the smoother surface of 8000 is particularly fond of fingerprints. The sleek look of Nokia 8000 also means that the cheaper phone of the two is actually the one that fits best in the hand, due to increased friction in the choice of material. That all buttons except the navigation ring have the same height at 8000 further makes it feel a little more difficult to use. Simply because it is not always easy to know which button is which.
In terms of connectors and connection options, the two phones are identical and offer both 3.5 mm headphone jacks and micro-USBconnectors for charging. The included chargers are unfortunately not of the detachable type with a standard one USB-A at one end. Without it there is wall contact to micro-USB which concerns. The standby time is set at a generous 25 days 4G activated. During calls, both phones last just over 3 hours 4G. Too common GSMsignal, call times are better by just over 8 hours for both models.
Under the battery (which can be easily removed on both models) there is room for two SIMcard and one microSDcard if you want to expand the built-in storage memory of 4 GB. The phones use the open-source operating system KaiOS where the focus is on giving simpler mobile phones access to smartphone features.
Functionality and use
Unfortunately, it is also just KaiOS which is the biggest reason why I am initially not overly fond of either Nokia 8000 or little brother 6300. Although the ambitions of the operating system are ambitious, they do not quite match.
Something that is especially clear in the general toughness that is found, regardless of whether it is about just starting the phones to navigate menus or using one of the built-in apps and functions.
However, I still have to give Nokia a compliment for having so much on the phones after all, and of course there is something cozy about actually being able to watch YouTube with a phone that looks 15 years back in time. Aside from YouTube fixar KaiOS including WhatsApp, Facebook and Google Maps, which are installed from the beginning. Also features such as the ability to create one Wi-Fi hotspot and listening to the radio are built-in.
It is possible to download new apps via the built-in store, but as far as I have managed to find, there is basically nothing of value at all. KaiOS also does not support either Swish or BankID, vwhich feels limitingly boring. The majority of the apps that can be downloaded are also demo versions. Which is also true for the games that are pre-installed on the devices. To top it all off, the demo games cannot be deleted either.
To use Nokia 8000 and 6300 is a mixed bag, but unfortunately the toughness of the operating system shines through all the time. Although it’s fun to apps like Facebook and YouTube still can be started I would not say they are fun to use. In the price range, I fully understand the small screen with a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels, but unfortunately the whole experience feels too unpolished and many apps are purely difficult to use.
A fun bonus, however, is that Google Assistant is built-in to perform searches and the like. Unfortunately, Swedish does not seem to be supported on any of the phones, which spoils the experience a lot.
Camera features
The big difference between the two phones is that said Nokia 8000 has a better camera. However, it is not good. But better than the one at Nokia 6300 which has acquired a classic VGAcamera with a resolution of 640 x 480 pixels. Nokia 8000 has in relation a 2 megapixel camera with a resolution of 1600 x 1200 pixels. There will be no super quality in the pictures from any of the phones. But just like with the screens, it is still relatively understandable in the price range.
However, it feels like a mistake that none of the phones have a front camera, perhaps especially when the key words for them are “conversation starter”. Something that could otherwise have been the basis for a simple video call phone.
Buy It Now
Confusing target group
I completely buy that both phones need to have compromises in the form of such screens, half-baked cameras and to some extent also that the processor does not really have the strength to run all apps properly. But what I can not really find in this is a target audience for the phones. Something that in the long run makes them just feel unnecessary.
If you want a really simple phone to just call with, there are cheaper and better alternatives (especially from just Nokia). If you want a really simple and equally slow smartphone, the price is pretty much the same for another model there Google Play is integrated. If you want to risk your phone and are away for weeks on end, you probably want something more robust.
Do you most want one Wi-Fihotspot you probably get better results with a regular (and cheaper), mobile 4G-router.
Despite a solid attempt to push as many features as possible into as small and inexpensive a device as possible, I have a hard time seeing where Nokia 8000 and Nokia 6300 really should fit. 20 years ago they had been super cool. But today, unfortunately, they feel most unnecessary.
