The 6300 isn’t the cleverest mobile on the block: there are plenty of other phones with higher specifications. It’s not even a 3G 
handset, just Tri-band GSM with GPRS, so any data related tasks are relatively slow to accomplish. But it is extremely well designed, very small and comfortable to use, and has little by way of brash showiness about it. Even the blue lights on the left and right edges of the casing which flash when an SMS arrives feel muted and useful rather than simply being bling.
The immediate appeal of the Nokia 6300, is the slim candybar build and solid design. At just 91g it is as close to a featherweight as you’ll get for a phone with so much metal in its casing. A good proportion of the front fascia and the back battery cover are made of cold silver metal. The front buttons are silver plastic, while the upper third of the back of the casing, screen surround and shortcut buttons are black plastic, the latter punctuated by a silver navigation key. The colour scheme and use of metal lend an air of sophistication to what is essentially a low cost, mid range handset.
In size terms the Nokia 6300 gives Sony Ericsson’s W880i a run for its money. It is 106.4 mm tall, 43.6 mm wide and 11.7 mm thick. That doesn’t quite match the W800i’s ‘Size Zero’ 103 x 47 x 9.4mm but it gets close enough for me, and very importantly, this phone beats the W880i hands down on the all important factor of usability.