Nokia 6500 classic

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While the thin-phone trend has been going on for some time (first with the Motorola Razr V3, then with the Ultra Edition series from Samsung), Nokia has been slow to adopt this form factor in its phones. It chose only to introduce the 6300 in late 2006 as one of its slim offerings. Subsequently, the success of the 6300 has led to the Finnish mobile phone giant to introduce more lanky handsets. That can be said even for its enterprise range of devices such as the E51, but that's another story.

One of the most promising phones to date is the 6500 classic that fits into the super-slim category alongside the likes of the Samsung Ultra Edition 8.4 and the Sony Ericsson W880i.

Design

Although the 6500 classic is positioned as a design-centric phone, what really strikes us is its lean form factor. Certainly, there's much to like about it. At just 9.5mm, it is the slimmest Nokia phone we've come across so far, even thinner than the 2630 at 9.9mm.

While it may not be as thin as the Samsung Ultra Edition 5.9, the 6500 classic looks sleek and rests comfortably in the hand. We favor the anodized aluminum frame in the top-half of the phone which gives it a solid feel, though some people may find the lower-half cover (that slides out for the battery and SIM card) a mite plasticky. Like most sub-10mm cellulars, it should also fit easily in shirt pockets and small bags.

On the ergonomic front, the alphanumeric keypad is average in size. The keys are lit in white and that goes well with the black/silver color scheme of the handset. There's a tiny, raised strip of silver bar below each button that helps to separate the rows of keys, though we find it more distracting than its actual purpose. Bumps like these usually represent the area that can be pushed, but on the 6500 classic, the area to tap is, in fact, above the raised edges.

That said, the buttons are generally easy to press and provide reasonable tactile feedback, so it wouldn't bother most users unless they have really big thumbs.

While we like the idea of a single micro-USB socket on the 6500 classic which gives the phone a more streamlined profile, providing just one port for charging, data connectivity and audio makes it impossible to multitask. For example, we cannot synchronize the data on the phone while using the wired handsfree headset. The data cable, if lost, would also be more troublesome to replace compared with one that uses a more standard mini-USB connector. The convenience is that the bundled data cable trickle charges the handset when plugged into a PC.

Besides the 2-megapixel camera, LED flash light and onboard speakers on the rear, there's really not much to talk about. You won't even find dedicated volume keys on this handset--the directional pad takes on this role instead.

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