Nokia 9300i Communicator reviewed

Maybe we're a bit spoiled with our Treos and our HTCs, but when All About Symbian concludes that despite lacking a number of popular features Nokia's upcoming 9300i clamshell smartphone is a good device for business users on the go, it automatically gets knocked off of our short list. The 9300i is exactly the same as the 9300 in every way save for the addition of WiFi, which turns out to be a mixed blessing because the pokey 150MHz processor can't render pages as fast as the 802.11 can pull them down. Like its sibling, the 9300i lacks 3G data capabilities, a camera (which makes sense for the targeted audience), and a usable joystick/rocker, although it gets high marks for the rest of the keyboard ergonomics, the sharp LCD (albeit with an odd 640 x 200 resolution), and implementation of Symbian Series 80. This device also does all of the usual multimedia/office functions you'd expect from a smartphone, and sounds like it does them fairly well, but in the end it seems like it will probably be resigned to serve as a safe choice for Finnish corporate IT buyers.

[xbit @ Feb 3rd 2006 8:11AM]

It looks OK, but I'd rather have a Sony Ericsson P990i.

[NikiaisJUNK @ Feb 3rd 2006 8:33AM]

this thing even looks like a POS. What the hell is wrong with Nokia?

[PEZ @ Feb 3rd 2006 9:03AM]

Already dated in design, what do you think? It just looks old, thats all. Nokia definately needs to go either Xscale or Aalchemy. This is the biggest cimplaine wth the 7700 and 770 devices. Not to mention the orginal 9500 and 9300.

I hope their *E series has more pep. I love that E70!

[Jim Hughes @ Feb 3rd 2006 9:49AM]

Yeah, so it's a tad boring, but that's entirely its intended niche audience.

Is that a good reason to be so scathing in your "review"? It sounds like Nokia have aimed this at a specific audience and met this requirement well.

Who are the Treo's target audience? The aesthetically challenged?

[pld @ Feb 3rd 2006 11:39AM]

i've had the 9300 for about 2 months and one of my biggest complaints, besides no wifi, is that the keyboard isn't backlit. the design on the outside is old looking and the interface is old and ugly. it looks like it was designed 10-15 years ago with the stuffiest of businessmen in mind. plus, the device weighs a ton. i'd take my qtek 9100 over the nokia 9300 any decade.

[fopkins @ Feb 3rd 2006 4:54PM]

The 9300 series does not have a vibrating alarm. This makes the phone almost useless to me.

[JK @ Apr 16th 2008 11:23PM]

Yes, i have agreed with your opinion. I think the engineer of NOKIA have been careless about it (Vibrator alarm)

[Matt G @ Feb 4th 2006 12:24AM]

Nokias are sleek but i love my Treo (650, i hate microsoft)...

[teknogreek @ Feb 4th 2006 5:41AM]

Of all the 'keyboard' devices, this has the best weight AND balance distribution.. And I have played with every single 'keboard' device, it is by no means perfect.

Beauty is subjective, processing power is not.

Vibra is vvvvvv.annoying but the Jabra vibrating earpiece compensates a bit... and as for the backlight, (not my justification) but if your not in lighted environment then you should probably not be working, however, simple solution that I found was to tilt the screen further forwards and the light is enough to see, for that quick note/text/email.

[Tony Hayes @ Feb 15th 2006 4:17AM]

I've had the Treo 600 for 10 months. Crappy phone. "I can't hear you" cited my callers after the non-replaceable battery went downhill. I tried the O2 for another 8 months. Crappy phone. Same story as Treo. Now, my 2 month old 9500 processor is slower, but for business needs it is the best. And I can hear my callers and they can here me. Yes, I'm older (46) and the hearing is going from my rock an roll hobby. The 9500 is not a toy like the others. I was hoping the 9300i added vibrate mode with the WiFi, so I could switch. Nyet! So I'll stick with my brick!

[ihart @ Feb 19th 2006 10:42AM]

Not many people realize the power Symbian operating system in N9500/9300/9300i.

I've been using Nokia Communicator since the N9210i, now I am using N9500 and N9300i.

These are the best features that you could never find in WindowsMobile, Palm and other operating system:

1. You can add fields, such as more then one mobile phone number per person. WindowsMobile only provide one mobile phone field.
2. Sending options > Scheduled message sending. You can schedule when to send the SMS/MMS/email.
3. You can search contacts database by almost any fields in the contact database. Windowsmobile and Palm OS only can search First, Last name and Company name.

[Colin Mackenzie @ Mar 5th 2006 3:23PM]

This is primarily a business phone - so a camera is often not required. Why would I want 3G for business? I'm not interested in video, TV etc. On the other hand, WiFi is a must. I can now dump my 9500 and go for a 93001.
If you prefer a touch screen and a pen then go for something else.

[Aniruddh Borrkar @ Mar 6th 2006 2:03AM]

I fail to understand why Nokia does not incorporate a vibrator in the 9500/ 9300i series. Also the asthetics could be improved upon.

[Ranjeet @ Mar 10th 2006 3:24PM]

This is the best phone/PDA combo I've ever had.
As chairman of a growing company I need the accessibility and even the "pokey" screen has enabled me to show presentations on the go, crunch business logic and have thousands of contacts without lugging the even chunkier palm brick around. God bless symbian and nokia!

[Robert Bakre @ Mar 15th 2006 1:25PM]

please how do i get the mac address off my nokia 9300i?

[Glenn @ Mar 15th 2006 10:23PM]

By far this is no toy! I have happily used my 9300 for over a year in the US now after getting it through an online auction WAY before anyone else here and it has made my communication life SO much more efficient. I have been able to do so much I could previously only do with my laptop in a hotspot while on the road. Complaints: No direct sync with Mac OS, third party mobical.net works great. Flash Player has been a challenge to get for this phone (although it was reportedly pre-installed on the 9500??) still no luck with that. MS Office programs work great, memory card works great, MP3 sound quality with Nokia stereo earphones (pop-port) is GREAT. Video (RealPlayer) is so-so, especially when compared to ipod, but so is everything else. T-Mobile has cheapest data plan anywhere, but coverage can be an issue. But I would still have no other phone except maybe the 9300i. Size of the phone is FINE. Don't listen to the flip-phone/touch screen junkies. This phone fits fine in a pocket, front shirt pocket, business suit pocket. No vibration a drag but with the speaker on this phone YOU DO NOT NEED IT. BUY THIS PHONE IF YOU WANT REAL FUNCTIONS AND A VERY SOPHSTICATED PHONE!!!

[Sami Lonka @ May 17th 2006 9:10AM]

To Robert Bakre:

please how do i get the mac address off my nokia 9300i?

Posted at 1:25PM on Mar 15th 2006 by Robert Bakre

If you are still finding the mac address, you can find it under the battery. There's a printed label under it.

[Busithoth @ May 27th 2006 6:43PM]

I've been loving my Nokia 9300 since I got it.
I wanted a 9290 when they were released, but got sidetracked by the HTC PocketPC phone releases.

Now that I've got this Nokia in my hands, I'm not letting go. I never used my phone cameras, except to demonstrate to people how bad they look.

I used it in London & Morocco on my last vacation, and appreciated its humble appearance from the outside. It doesn't attract a lot of attention until opened, but most functions needed can be accessed while closed.

My RAZR sits rotting in a drawer at home now.

[francesco @ Jun 14th 2006 12:20PM]

I had a 9500, then 9300 and now a 9300i, I have a blackberry connect international service on it, it is simply the best buisness phone around, and make the blacberry look second choise

[schalliol @ Jun 22nd 2006 7:33AM]

I just wish that it had vibrating alert and faster data access. Colin, my current phone serves as a Bluetooth conduit for my MacBook Pro and allows me to get online wherever I am. This is definitely a business need.

[saunderscc @ Aug 20th 2006 8:54PM]

I've been using a 9300 on TMo in the US since June of 2005. It's great for how I use it. In fact, while I was in Scotland, people called my phone and it worked like a champ. Most didn't know I was out of the country. Vibrate hasn't been an issue for me. If I'm in a situation where I need to turn the ringer off, I don't need to know about a call until I'm finished with whatever I'm doing. Lack of camera? Who cares? Picture quality on phones suck, anyway. My single beef about the phone is that it could use more computing horsepower. With the addition of WiFi on the 9300i, I may be tempted to upgrade. I'd rather have an updated CPU, though.