Nokia 6600i slide Review

Nokia 6600 launched in April last year received a facelift, even though the handset is no older than one year. The new device is called Nokia 6600i slide and features just about the same technical specifications, as well as design. Still, the few differences between the two might tip the balance in 6600i's favor, as it has a longer battery standby time, Flash Lite 3.0 support and a better 5 Megapixel built-in camera. Add to that a revamped designed and you have a genuine slider capable of good market sales. Small and chic, Nokia 6600i slide can be a good choice for those looking for a simple phone, but yet powerful and sturdy. The metallic surfaces of the handset make it highly resistant to possible drops or scratches, so this is just another advantage that you get for a not so high price.

Design
The resemblance between Nokia 6600 and 6600i sliders is astonishing. Both have the same sizes (93 x 45 x 14 mm), even the same weight (110g including battery). The only thing that looks different is the four buttons surrounding the D-pad. While the 6600 slide features two buttons arranged on two vertical plates, the 6600i slide has its four buttons arranged solely around the D-pad. I think this makes it easier to use the keys, as well as the D-pad. The metallic cover that encloses the device is just another guarantee that the phone will last longer than the usual plastic covered handsets. The sturdiness of the device is unquestionable, as well as its closing mechanism, which seems to work smoothly and doesn't jog at all. Its small size is another advantage, as it will perfectly fit in any pocket, the only issue probably being the weight.

Display and Camera
Nokia 6600i slide benefits from a 2.2-inch TFT display that supports 16M colors and a 240x320-pixel resolution. Taking into consideration its target, the size of the screen doesn't bother too much. The colors, contrast, as well as the quality of the image displayed are some of the best. Add to that the perfect sunlight eligibility and you get an excellent display that can meet any user’s expectations. The phone also benefits from the accelerometer feature, but only for the clock and turn-to-mute feature. These can be activated by tapping the back of the gadget twice when it's in standby mode. The clock will be displayed on the screen for a few seconds. The accelerometer doesn't work for any other feature in the phone.

Menu and Software
6600i slide runs on an S40 6th Edition interface, which is the latest user-interface coming from Nokia. One of the most user-friendly interfaces on the market, the S40 seems unchanged on the surface, and offers the user an excellent experience. Still, there are some tweaks and reshapes, which are taking this experience to a new level. The icons of the menus have been changed, but the 3D animation has been taken off.

Communication
Nokia 6600i slide is fully compatible with GPRS and EDGE Class 32, as well as the 3G networks. Benchmarks revealed that the device attains good scores in terms of the data-transfer speed (EDGE 148 Kbit/s download and 77 Kbit/s upload; 3G only 322 Kbit/s download and 93 Kbit/s upload), but that may greatly vary depending on the location and carrier.

Processor and Memory
The slider is powered by an ARM11 family processor running at speeds of up to 465 MHz. While not the fastest phone on the market, Nokia 6600i slide features the same CPU that is usually embedded in the latest Nokia smartphones. The handset will not lag even when running a music player or radio in the background.The Nokia 6600i slide phone embeds 20 MB of user free internal memory, which can be expanded up to 16GB, as it has a microSD slot card. The memory is not hot-swappable, as you must pull out the battery to be able to access the microSD slot card. The sales package also contains a 1GB microSD memory card.

Multimedia
As Nokia 6600i slide is not a music phone and does not target those looking for this kind of handsets, do not expect too many multimedia features. It only features the soon universal microUSB port together with some poor wired stereo headset (WH-203). Furthermore, as there's no 2.5mm to 3.5mm adapter included in the sales package, you won't be able to change the headphones.

Battery
The 1000 mAh Li-Ion (BL-4U) battery has an officially stated life expectancy of 348 hours (300 on 3G) in standby and about four hours (three hours on 3G) in talk-time mode. If you're a heavy phone-talker, you will need to charge it once every two days. Overall, I'd say that the device's autonomy is not that good.
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