Nokia 6160 - a Classic easy to use phone
Written: Feb 06 '01
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Pros: Great overall phone - easy to use and many accessories available
Cons: Poor headset design and no internal vibrate alert on phone itself
The Bottom Line: This phone is probably the easiest to use on the market - you can't go wrong with this phone.
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| chrisraimondi's Full Review: Nokia 6160 Cell Phone |
I have had a Nokia 6160 for about two years now. It is an excellent phone and I would not hesitate recommending it to a friend. There are several great features about this phone that I detail below.
The Nokia 6160 is a tri-mode phone made for the AT&T Wireless network. Tri-Mode means it works in the Digital PCS band (~1900 MHz) as well as both Digital and Analog modes on the Cellular band (~800MHz). The digital standard it uses is TDMA which is what AT&T uses as well as South Western Bell and Cellular One. The phone is programmed over the air, which means that someone at a computer at AT&T sends out a signal that will program the phone. This programming will also tell the phone which towers to look for. The way this works is that it will look for an AT&T signal first, and then if it doesn’t find one it will search for a signal that AT&T has an agreement with. There are two Cellular bands and six PCS bands in the US – not all (in fact most) are not TDMA, so it will search the bands in order to find a signal on its list. I used to work in the cell phone industry and while this phone is not perfect, I believe you get a wider range of coverage with the AT&T plans than with any other service. This, of course, will vary from are to area.
One of the best things about this phone is its popularity. Most accessories for this phone will fit any 5100 series or 6100 series phone. The Nokia 6110 is made for Europe, the 6120 is an analog US phone the 6160, 6161, and 6162 are all tri-mode TDMA phones and the 6185 and 6190 are also US versions of the phone. These phones are all very similar in that the batteries are all compatible, as well as power adapters (for US models), headsets, and cases. This means you will have almost no problem finding accessories for this phone.
One of the other great features of this phone is its easy to use - intuitive menus. When using the phone two of the buttons are almost always acting as soft keys. They are sometimes labeled “OK”, “Menu”, or “Exit”. These change based on what you are doing and make the phone very easy to program. For example there are several ways you can store a number. By default, on the main screen, you can push the soft button labeled “Names” and then scroll down to “Add new” and choose the soft button that now says “Select”. You are then prompted to add the name and phone number. This is only one way you can do it – as the phone is designed to be easy to use at any point.
Let’s say that you have the number, but want to enter it in before you forget it. No problem – just dial the number like you normally would, but instead of pressing “TALK” you simply press the soft key that now reads “Save” to get the same prompt to enter the name. It WILL NOT ask you for the number again, because you have already typed it in. Another example on how to save a name and number is if someone calls you and their number shows up on your caller id – you do not have to reenter it. Simply go to your call log and view your received calls. Find the one in question and now hit the soft key for options and you will again be able to add the name without having to re-enter the number. The phone is an all around smart phone.
Another example of how smart it is - is the alarm feature. They didn’t just slap together some cheap alarm feature – they made it smart. I use this as my standard alarm clock now. It starts off soft and gradually increases in volume until you shut it off. Want to shut the phone off so you won’t be disturbed? No problem – the phone is smart enough to turn itself back on to wake you up – and then even asks you if you want to keep it on!
Anyone who can use windows will have no problem using this phone – you will be able to use all the features of the phone without reading instructions – it is that easy.
There are some other cool features – it has 4 games, a calculator and even different rings tones that you can assign to profiles. Let’s say you spend time in a library. Do you want a loud ringing tone interrupting you? Of course not, but the phone can be set up to make a very short quiet beep tone instead.
There are so many features this phone has that it would take pages more to describe it all. There are only a few things I do not like about it. First of all – the headset adapter has a poor connection design. It cannot stand up to much stress (which if you are careful – should not be a problem) and I have seen some of these break before (I used to sell these). Second, the phone does not vibrate as many new ones do, but you can get a vibrating battery for it. This is a poor solution, because you have to be using that battery for the feature to work. Nokia has fixed the headset problem and has incorporated the vibration feature into newer models such as the 8260. It is not worth it to me to upgrade to that phone, but might be to some people who don’t have one at all.
If you are looking for a cell phone make sure you consider the 6160 – you won’t be disappointed.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 199
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Epinions.com ID:
chrisraimondi
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Reviews written: 3
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