Nokia 6131

Expected Q2 2006
13th February 2006

There's no doubt that Nokia have developed a house style when it comes to clamshell designs. The Nokia 6131 looks very similar to the already announced 6125 and new 6136 phones, with an emphasis on clear layout and ease-of-use.

Unlike many similar Nokia clamshells, the 6131 actually comes with a good display, with a large 2.2" 240x320 pixel resolution in 16 million colours. On the outside is a smaller 128x160 pixel display and a 1.3 megapixel digital camera. The Nokia 6131 also comes with expandable memory using microSD cards, Bluetooth, a stereo FM radio and a multimedia player. The Nokia 6131 also has a web browser and email client.

It's a quad-band GSM phone with GPRS and EDGE data. Physically, the 6131 measures 92x48x20mm and weighs 112 grams. The 6131 has up to 3.4 hours talktime and up to 10 days standby time.

The Nokia 6131 is definitely Nokia's best attempt at a clamshell to date.. but we have to say that they still don't seem to quite "get it" when it comes to this kind of device. It may be an easy handset to use, but the Nokia 6131 is deadly dull to look at. It's also relatively heavy at 112 grams, and the battery life seems to be short. Again, Nokia haven't included external media controls on the outside of the 6131 which is a shame.

Overall though, the Nokia 6131 seems to be a good device if you can live with its faults. Perhaps soon we'll see a clamshell with a better camera, longer battery life and a little bit more passion when it comes to design.

Expected to be available in Q2 2006 at an unsubsidised cost of around 275 Euros in Europe and some other regions. A version for North America will be launched later in 2006.

 Subscribe to our newsletter for more news on upcoming releases