Nokia 6010 - Silver (Unlocked) Cellular Phone

When eBay asked me to write a review on the Nokia 6010 cell phone I was rather surprised. Then it dawned on me that I did indeed have enough information to write an important review for those who lived where there was poor reception. The first mass production of cell phones was those huge bag phones. We have a small cabin on the Suwannee River and a remote house in the foothills of the Ozarks in Arkansas. I was also traveling around Florida to various professional meetings. For a little old lady, that bag phone became my security blanket to get help if I broke down. My first big bag phone could handle most of the phone calls but there were still some “dead” areas. Our cell phone service forced us into the small cell phones when the analog service was upgraded to the new standards. I still keep my old bag for in the car for emergency. It has the most power.

My husband upgraded to the earlier version of the 6010 and just about always got good reception. I went for a much nicer smaller cell phone with great graphics and a speaker phone. After a year of dropped calls, garbled calls and no calls, I was ready to throw that cute little phone at the clerk in the cell phone store. So I paid off my contract and bought a larger phone – but not the 6010 -. still had dropped calls, etc. Finally, I bit the bullet and bought that larger yucky 6010 on eBay with the poor quality graphics, no speaker phone, no camera, BUT I now get my phone calls and can hear them!! If you travel off the main roads, or even live in a part of town where the reception is very poor (that’s me, too) then you should seriously consider trying the 6010. It’s not perfect but it appears to be better than the fancy ones for reliable reception. For one thing it has a more powerful battery. Now, purchasing my Nokia 6010 on eBay is another long, long, long story. But buying an UNLOCKED phone on eBay is cheaper, as far as I am concerned, than giving in to those contracts with the service providers.

When it is said that a NOKIA 6010 is UNLOCKED - Most sellers mean that it is UNLOCKED for use with any GSM 850/1900 MHz Wireless Service Carrier's SIM Card for Voice Services ONLY!

The NOKIA 6010 may or may NOT be unlocked for data services depending on which Wireless Service Carrier's BRAND is on the phone.

In the case of a T-Mobile branded phone, it is FIRMWARE LOCKED to T-Mobile for Mobile Internet (t-zones), Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) and other data services. A T-Mobile SIM Card is required to use data services.

I have verified that an Unlocked NOKIA 6010 T-Mobile branded phone will NOT work with AT&T/Cingular Mobile Internet, Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) and other data services. ONLY Voice Services will work.

Find out the actual BRAND on the phone you are considering to purchase, many sellers are not disclosing the actual wireless carrier branding in their listing, (if there is a brand, it could be a NOKIA 6010 un-branded, unlocked, and non-firmware locked phone). A branded phone has the wireless carrier's brand painted on the plastic case. My research has found that Cingular branded phones are NOT firmware locked for data services and will work with any wireless carrier's data services. I use a Cingular branded phone with AT&T, so I CAN NOT VERIFY the preceeding statement.

I bought two Nokia 6010 phones because my wife and daughter both had wireless plans that used the old analog technology that will soon be phased out by our wireless provider. Also since we owned our phones our wireless provider simply installed new SIM cards and we did not have to sign a one or two year contract.
We like the phones because they did not have a lot of frills and features that we did not want,it is small but easy to dial and use,has good sound quality and battery life, and almost never drops a call. If you do not just "have to have" a flip phone with a bunch of extra features and frills but simply want to make and receive calls or send text messages,you should be well pleased with the Nokia 6010.

My co-worker/friend had one of these phones, a Nokia 6010. He dropped it in the toilet. He used a hair dryer on it to get it going again. Worked great. His dog tried to eat it. It still worked great. Later the dog ate it up into little pieces. It didn't work anymore. I never had a cell phone in my life. Didn't really want one. My daughter talked me into geting one. We went to Cingular and we got 2 Nokia 6010's for free with a 2 year contract. We use our phones alot. They work great. My wife wanted a cell. So I purchased one on Ebay for $35(shipping included) for a Valentines Day gift. Took it to Cingular and had it added to our family plan at a nominal set-up charge and about $15 a month for the third line. 12 month contract. We love these phones. They are almost indestructible, no nonsense easy use. No flips to break. No cameras. Large easy to read display. Large seeable buttons, especially if you are like me and remember Laugh In. If you want a combination MP3, Camera, TV,dog washer, toothbrush cell phone, well this one is definitely not for you! If you want an easy to use, well built unit that can take a WHOLE lot of punishment (that is up to an extent) for a very low initial investment, buy one of these. I know if mine was lost,broke or ate by a dinosaur I would definitely buy another one if I can find one. Unfortunately, Nokia doesn't make 6010's any more. At least that is what the guys at Cingular told me. If it is true it's Nokia's loss.

THIS PHONE IS DESIGNED FOR THE CUSTOMER WHO WANTS A SIMPLE AND STYLISH PHONE WITHOUT THE HASSLE OF UNWANTED FEATURES. THIS PHONE IS VERY BASIC AND EASY TO USE. IT HAS A VERY EASY TO READ SCREEN, DISPLAYS LARGE NUMBERS ON THE SCREEN, AND IS EXCEPTIONALLY EASY TO NAVIGATE. THE VOLUME OF THIS PHONE IS MUCH LOUDER THAN THE AVERAGE CELL PHONE FOR CUSTOMERS WHO ARE OFTEN IN AN ENVIRONMENT THAT PREVENTS THEM FROM HEARING ON AN AVERAGE CELL PHONE, OR FOR THOSE WHO MAY EXPERIENCE HEARING LOSS. THIS PHONE IS GREAT FOR ANYONE WHO WANTS TO USE A CELL PHONE FOR WHAT IT WAS ORIGINALLY DESIGNED FOR....JUST TO TALK!!