Nokia 6600 Review

Overall Rating

Really nicely put together
Keypad feels soft
Tough as old leather
Expandable memory
Decent camera

Cranky start-up (see below)
Not 3G compatible
Chunky
Smooth design means it's like holding a bar of soap, so easy to drop
No pop port connection, so not compatible with Nokia data cables

Having been desperate to get my hands on a Nokia 7650, I was really pleased when Nokia released the 6600, and even happier when O2 let me upgrade for free 2 years ago.

Open the box and you're confronted with something akin to a black and white bar of soap. It's a nice shape to hold, but it's thinner at the bottom than the top, so I found I kept dropping it. It didn't seem to affect the phone at all however, and because it's black the chipped plastic is barely noticeable.

Turn the phone on, and the Nokia logo jerks, which isn't great on a new phone. It's not particularly important, as the phone is otherwise pretty quick (for an S60), but that stuff should get sorted out at the R&D stage.

The keypad is a really nice one. In fact, it is one of the best I've used. Soft, smooth keys. My only complaint would be that a few of the bottom keys are a little fiddly for fat fingered folk like me.

Being a Symbian phone, chances are you'll want to take advantage of its expandable memory and wide range of available applications. What might slow you down is the lack of a pop port connector, meaning any applications you want to install need to go on via infrared or bluetooth. Both are slower and less reliable than a pop port connection.

The other thing is the naff software you get, which is bespoke for the 6600, unlike other Symbian phones which use the standard Nokia Data Suite. There are better applications available than Data Suite, as I'm sure most phone gurus know, but I'm lazy!

Over the course of a year's ownership the phone was subjected to some decent abuse, and it survived it all. Upgrading to a 128Mb memory card didn't slow it down either. It has since gone to New Zealand with my brother, and the abuse has continued. It's looking a little scratched, but it's survived well and still works, which is more than could be said for his 7610 which gave up the ghost before its year in his ownership was up.

This should be pretty cheap to buy now via eBay, and it is a really good phone. Highly recommended.