Nokia 6600 fold

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By Joseph Hanlon, CNET.com.au
Nov 17, 2008

When this reviewer was a young boy he owned a pop-up watch, a plastic wrist watch with a spring-loaded screen that was released by pressing a button on the side. His favorite time of day was the when someone asked him for the time, giving him an opportunity to show off his cool low-tech gadget. So as a disclaimer, this reviewer has a strong bias towards any product that snaps open at the press of a button, like switchblades and Nokia's 6600 fold.

Editors' note:

This review is based on tests done by our sister site CNET.com.au. As such, please note that there may be slight differences in the testing procedure and ratings system. For more information on the actual tests conducted on the product, please inquire directly at the site where the article was originally published. References made to some other products or telcos in this review may not be available or applicable in Asia.

Design

There's no denying that Nokia's 6600 fold is eye-catching. Its glossy metal surface and two-tone coloring are bound to stand out on the wall of a mobile phone store amongst the masses of cloned black-plastic handsets. Our review unit featured Nokia's "sophisticated purple" color scheme, the front of the phone appearing like petrol floating on water with a dark, almost-black purple running through from rose to silver. The plastic elements of the handset, the battery cover and the areas surrounding the screen and the keypad, are colored in a rich, chocolate-like mauve.

Unlike many flip phones, the fold is spring loaded and held in place by magnets. On the left side is a one-touch opening key that disengages the magnets and flings the top half of the phone upwards. As ridiculous as this sounds there is something genuinely satisfying about answering a call this way.

The internal QVGA OLED display is excellent, with strong contrast and sharp rendering of the menus. On the outside, concealed under the top half of the flip Nokia have included a secondary display for showing the time and a few key notices such as unread messages. This screen remains unseen until you double-tap on the lid to activate it. It is a very classy touch but we have noticed it is completely invisible when viewed under sunlight.

The numeric keypad is usable without being outstanding; its flat, shapeless design is easier to navigate than those on other recent Nokias, particularly the N96. Like its 6600 sibling, the slide, the fold features a front-facing camera for 3G video-calling, and a rear-mounted 2-megapixel camera with an LED flash.

Tags: Fold, Cell Phone, Nokia Corp., Camera, numeric keypad

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