Display & Audio
As mentioned, the Nokia 6131 has two screens: The main internal display and a mini external display. The main screen is a 2.2" active TFT capable of 16 million colors at QVGA (320 x 240) resolution, while the mini display is a 1.3" active TFT capable of showing 262,000 colors at 128 x 160 pixels. Both screens are bright and easy to read, and the mini external display is put to better use on the 6131 than secondary screens on cell phones usually are. But it's the internal display that's really one of the highlights of this handset. The screen is flat-out beautiful, and makes navigation, game playing, and photo and video viewing a joy. The screen also performs better than average in direct sunlight and other bright conditions.
Call quality on the 6131 was average to good. I experienced a strange clicking noise during calls on many occasions, including in my home office and other locations where I regularly use other handsets with no similar problems. When this wasn't an issue, voice quality was good over the standard earpiece, speakerphone, and included handsfree headset. I appreciated the in-line volume control on the handsfree module though I'm not a big fan of its necklace-style earphone cords.
I also tried the phone with a Bluetooth headset. The 6131 easily paired with the headset, and audio quality over Bluetooth was good. Stereo audio over Bluetooth is not supported.
The quad-band 850/900/1800/1900 MHz GSM radio performed well on T-Mobile's network, pulling in reception on par with other quad-band phones I've tried on the same network here in the San Francisco bay area.
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