Nokia’s 6600, the company’s third Symbian smartphone, is based on the Series 60 platform. It succeeds the 3650 with its quirky circular keypad, which in turn replaced the 7650 -- Nokia’s first camera phone.
Design
First impressions of the tri-band, GPRS/HSCSD-compliant Nokia 6600 are of a wide-bodied, two-tone handset that thankfully dispenses with the circular keypad seen in the 3650. At 58.2mm, the 6600 is 9.5mm wider than Orange’s SPV E200 Microsoft smartphone and also 1.2mm wider than the Symbian-based P900. Nevertheless, the 6600 weighs in at a manageable 122g.
The blue backlit keypad still has some idiosyncrasies that take a bit of getting used to: for example, you can end up playing ‘hunt the power button’ if you miss its position in a thin black rubber strip along the top. Another design peculiarity is the menu key’s placement on the left-hand side beneath the green call key -- you would expect such a commonly used key to be placed centrally. Even odder is the positioning of the two soft keys: these are usually placed directly beneath the screen, but on the 6600 they have been lowered so that you find yourself ineffectually pressing the blank border under the screen where you expect the soft keys to be. The five-way joystick works well enough, although it has a stiff action.
Top marks go to the 6600’s large, bright 2.1in. TFT display, which delivers 176 by 208 pixels and 65,536 colours. If you are ‘inactive’ for 10 seconds, the screen goes dark to preserve battery power.
Themes play a big role in the 6600’s display, and Nokia now offers a 22.6MB download that allows you edit and create your own themes with the Series 60 Theme Studio. For anyone with the time or inclination to create personalised mobile graphic interfaces, this is an ideal opportunity. The 88-page PDF guide will help.
Features
The back of the 6600 is home to a VGA-resolution camera with a 2X digital zoom, plus night mode and time delay settings. In video mode you get about nine seconds of recording, with audio and zoom options. An embedded RealOne Player provides video streaming and playback. In the settings panel you can specify whether to save the camera’s output to the phone’s 6MB of internal memory or to the removable 32MB MMC card supplied.
To play video clips on your desktop or notebook PC, you need to install the bundled PC Suite application and connect the 6600 via Bluetooth. PC Suite backs up your contacts and calendar, as well as synchronising and transferring files. Also bundled is the Nokia Multimedia Player that plays .3gp video files from the 6600 on the desktop.
Although the Nokia 6600 is described as a smartphone for business users, both Word and Excel are lacking as standard features. However, PowerPoint can be remotely controlled via Bluetooth using Nokia Wireless Presenter on the 6600 -- after you’ve paid 39 euros for the software download. Nokia Wireless Presenter lets you browse slides, read speaker notes and manage PowerPoint presentations wirelessly.
Other business benefits are that the xHTML browser supports secure email access via 128-bit SSL encryption and a mobile VPN, using permanent TCP/IP currently on O2 and Vodafone networks. A Nokia wallet application stores encrypted personal information. You can record calls or make voice recordings; another nice touch is that when you set the alarm, a message appears stating the length of time remaining before it goes off.
You get a full version of the Opera 6.1 microbrowser, which uses Small-Screen Rendering (SSR) technology to reformat Web sites to fit on diminutive phone screens. You can’t use a WAP gateway as your Internet access point with the Opera browser; instead, you’ll need to specify an 0845 ISP and your password.
A ‘Try & Buy’ folder has nine third-party programs that give you three tryouts each. Included is Wayfinder Mobile Navigator, Photographer, video utilities, a Word converter, a multi-lingual text translator, plus a Zip file compression program. It’s a shame that these mostly useful programs come at an additional cost.
Other items of interest in the menu are a Bluetooth print program and support for Java MIDP 2.0 downloads. According to Nokia, the only printer currently compatible with the Nokia 6600 is the HP Deskjet 450wbt, which uses the BPP protocol (Basic Print Profile).
The Nokia 6600 is available on O2, Orange and Vodafone networks at prices ranging from free to around £480 (inc. VAT), depending on your chosen tariff.
If you require a tri-band GPRS Bluetooth phone with a bright screen, versatile camera, removable memory, and calendar and contact syncing with your desktop, then the Nokia 6600 is definitely worth considering. Good points also include eight Bluetooth profiles that work faultlessly, video clips with sound, and support for the Opera browser. The downside is the lack of USB connectivity and desktop email syncing, and having the MMC card located underneath the battery.
Specifications
| Connectivity / expansion | |
|---|---|
| Docking cradle | No |
| Wired connections | no |
| Expansion slot | MMC (32MB card supplied) |
| General | |
| Form factor | candy bar |
| Dimensions (W x H x D) | 582x237x1086 mm |
| Weight | 122 g |
| Memory | |
| Memory expansion | Yes |
| On-board memory | 6 MB |
| Messaging & data | |
| Messaging services supported | SMS |
| Email client | Yes |
| Email protocols supported | POP3 |
| Networks | |
| 2.5G | GPRS |
| OS & software | |
| Software included | Calendar, Address Book, Notes, Tasks, Email client; xHTML browser, Opera browser, RealOne Player, Wallet, Nokia Wireless Presenter |
| Synchronisation software | yes (PC Suite, SyncML) |
| Phone | |
| Vibrating alert | No |
| Speakerphone | Yes |
| Voice dialling | Yes |
| Voice recording | Yes |
| Display | |
| Native resolution | 176x208 pixels |
| Colour depth | 16 bits |
| Power | |
| Talk time | 2 h |
| Standby time | 150 h |
| Expand | |
Images
Member reviews
It's real good: try it out -- you'll be stunned...just like me ;-)
- 8.50 out of 10
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9.00 out of 10It's dead slow. At least two seconds to get the calendar kicking. UI sucks -- its pretty, but way too complicated for a phone. Symbian's fault I suppose. As a phone user I dont want to concern myself with open and closed applications. Neither with phone vs. memory card memory. I couldn't care less.
Sucks. Don't spend the cash. I should have gotten myself the Ericsson T660 (but at least the Nokia takes better pictures).
- 3.50 out of 10
3.50 out of 10Gorgeous!
- 10.00 out of 10
10.00 out of 10- 8.50 out of 10
8.50 out of 10Loads of features, pity the demos all cost as they would make it a superb gizmo. Shame the Sound recorder will only play 1 track at a time, spoiling it for music files, stereo headphone option would also have been good.Bit easy to scratch.Overall excellent package.
- 8.50 out of 10
8.50 out of 10I have recently bought the 6600 and I must say it's very impressive. The connectability and sync software is ideal. Infrared transfer works well, and I aim to buy a Bluetooth headset soon.
Overall I recommend the 6600 to anyone wanting that little bit 'more'.
- 9.50 out of 10
9.50 out of 10- 9.50 out of 10
9.50 out of 10- 8.00 out of 10
8.00 out of 10The operating system is slow, but the ability to run N-gage files on the 6600 makes it more appealing to non-business users.
- 9.00 out of 10
9.00 out of 10Phone is a bit slow on some applications. Some problems with the PC connection (Bluetooth only)! Recommended purchase.
- 9.00 out of 10
9.00 out of 10- 9.50 out of 10
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10.00 out of 10Awesome phone, clunky shape. I was going to get the P900, but decided to save 300 for nearly the same functionality.
- 8.00 out of 10
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10.00 out of 10The only negative point I have noticed is that the battery is not strong enough -- it only lasts for about 3 days with the 850mA Li-ion. Nokia may produce another battery with maybe 1,100mA for it.
- 7.50 out of 10
7.50 out of 10Man, this is like the best phone ever. Dont think I will get a new phone for a long time! Peace Out My Brothers!
- 10.00 out of 10
10.00 out of 10- 9.00 out of 10
9.00 out of 10It does all I dreamed about. It replaced my Palm.
Got it a week ago and it works like a charm...
- 9.00 out of 10
9.00 out of 10Now I can navigate efficiently -- I don't know how I ever lived without it
- 10.00 out of 10
10.00 out of 10This phone is the greatest on the markt at the moment!
- 9.50 out of 10
9.50 out of 10Ideal until the 9500 is available ... my 9210 was begining begining to show its age (3 and 1/2 years) and this is a viable alternative. The T9 and "copy" and "paste" facilities are useful. GPRS is good too and the installed Opera browser is a dream ...
- 9.00 out of 10
9.00 out of 10This phone is the greatest phone I've ever had!
- 10.00 out of 10
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10.00 out of 10Everything is excellent, but the phone is a bit heavy for those used to a smaller unit.
- 8.00 out of 10
8.00 out of 10- 8.00 out of 10
8.00 out of 10Plenty of conectivity problems, like with the Tungsten T3.
- 5.00 out of 10
5.00 out of 10A hollow feel, slow, unintuitive, needlessly complex with far too many menu levels, aesthetically awkward... this phone was a massive letdown. Ergonomics were wholly ignored in the design, particularly of the key configuration. Far too many niggles (limited video record time, horrible keypad, one-second time lag when pressing buttons) to overlook. I returned it within 3 days. Massive disappointment; both thumbs down.
- 6.00 out of 10
6.00 out of 10- 8.50 out of 10
8.50 out of 10- 9.00 out of 10
9.00 out of 10- 9.00 out of 10
9.00 out of 10I have no complaint. This is the best phone that I ever owned (previous phones I owned: n5510, n8850, n8310, n6610, p800, n6600).
- 9.50 out of 10
9.50 out of 10This phone is ideal for those wishing to sync their busy lives away. It has a perfect little calendar and easy to use contacts list, it also syncs with isync on the Mac.
The camera is of quite a good quality and so is the video recorder. It is a little pricey but if you hunt around you can pick it up for next to nothing. If you need conectivity and like gadgets this is the phone to buy.
- 6.00 out of 10
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10.00 out of 10- 8.50 out of 10
8.50 out of 10I was sold this phone as a business tool, and in that respect it has been OK. However, the one big drawback is the fact that Nokia have not yet devloped a mobile vpc that enables me to access my work emails.
- 6.50 out of 10
6.50 out of 10- 10.00 out of 10
10.00 out of 10- 9.00 out of 10
9.00 out of 10I had reservations about upgrading my trusty Nokia 6310i, however when the time came for a free upgrade I couldn't resist the Nokia 6600. Browsing the features on the 6600 takes a little getting used to, the handset is little heavy compared with other models. The good features include:- browsing joystick, large screen, bluetooth, VGA camera, memory capacity, email, text messaging to name but a few. There is also an excellent help feature available. I would certainly take the time to know how to get the best out of this phone using the manual, because in the long term, it'll be worth it. The Nokia 6600 is an excellent addition to the already excellent Nokia range.
- 9.00 out of 10
9.00 out of 10The instant thing you will think when you see this phone is BIG! Much larger than other phones with similar features. I am lucky if the battery lasts me 2 days - I was used to a 6310i, so this is very disappointing -- the phone will lose its reception and the only way to get it back is to restart the phone (takes 30s+); its Bluetooth connection will also similarly fail.
- 6.50 out of 10
6.50 out of 10- 8.50 out of 10
8.50 out of 10Video image is great, zoom in feature, MMC card, Bluetooth, although some useful programs you need to pay for, but if you could afford it, it's a phone that is fun to use and very handy as a business phone.
- 8.50 out of 10
8.50 out of 10I used to own a 3650 earlier and this phone is certainly better than that. It's got everything you need and more. Integrates with Outlook -- even notes and to-dos are updated. I use it with DBT-120 (Windows Bluetooth stacks) and it works perfectly. It is a Symbian Series 60...so you can always get software for it. Software avalilable for this phone and the Series 60 in general makes this phone one of the best.
The screen is brighter than 3650 and also with 65K colors this phone certainly shows better graphics an themes was a wonderful idea.
- 9.30 out of 10
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10.00 out of 10Absolutely BRILLIANT!
- 10.00 out of 10
10.00 out of 10This is built for you, you add your own apps and this phone becomes what you want it to be.
- 10.00 out of 10
10.00 out of 10Just but one load of programs!
- 10.00 out of 10
10.00 out of 10There are several problems with this phone.
When you are editing a contacts field, there is no way to undo mistakes. For example, if you delete the last digit by mistake, you can't cancel the editing mode. In the (really old) series 30 phones, all you had to do was hold the "delete" button for a couple of seconds, and the changes would be cancelled. Here, if you do the same, you only manage to delete even more information.
There is a field in the contacts to add the contact's birthday. However, that birthday is not displayed in the agenda (calendar), so it's more or less useless. In the agenda you can also add birthdays, but there is no way to link them to the contacts. Also, the agenda doesn't accept birthdays before 1980, and will not tell you how old someone is. In other words, the "birthday" option simply adds a note to that day, with some custom text (where, presumably, you put the person's name). You can't even tell it to warn you about the birthday X days before; the only option is to add an alarm on the day itself. This is no better than series 30's "reminders" function.
There is an application called "Go to", that is supposed to be a list of shortcuts to other applications and documents. The default items take you to the notes, agenda and message box. There is, however, no way to add more items to it directly. Instead, individual applications and documents must implement an "Add to Go to" option in their menus. And, guess what, of the applications included with the phone, almost none do. You can create a shortcut to individual pictures (how useful is that?), but you can't create a shortcut to the clock or the calculator.
The clock is another good example of how this phone is a downgrade from series 30. That's all it is: a clock. Series 30 phones had a clock, a stopwatch and a timer.
- 5.50 out of 10
5.50 out of 10I have one 6600 and i like it very much.Great phone.
- 9.50 out of 10
9.50 out of 10The absent of a USB port made the handset fall short of it being the best in the world.
- 8.50 out of 10
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8.00 out of 10