Nokia 6650 clamshell phone
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Review On the surface, the Nokia 6650 is a rather unassuming clamshell phone that borrows a lot from the Motorola Razr's book of styling.
As it uses the third edition of the Symbian S60 operating system, we can't help but compare it to the Nokia N95 and N96, and surprisingly, feature-wise it's not that far off – with Wi-Fi being one of the few missing elements. But as this phone can be found free on contracts as cheap as £15 per month, this could certainly be considered an affordable alternative. That said, the 6650 is currently exclusive to T-Mobile.
Nokia's 6650: stylish and well-constructed
Physically, the 6650 is fairly slim and rounded, at around 16mm thick. Weighing in at 113g, it could be considered middle-weight, but it slips nicely into your pocket and it certainly doesn't feel like it weighs you down.
An important design aspect of any clamshell phone is the hinge, and this has been well made – backing onto itself for a solid lock with little room for snapping. The exterior has a combination of brushed metal panelling and black plastic.
The centre section of the keypad has a thin, round, backlit rectangle that changes colour depending on what you're doing. It's of no real practical use, but will please any magpies out there. We quite like the look of the phone, but of course style is subjective.
COMMENTS
£15 a month free
Here you go:
http://www.beepy.co.uk/mobile-phone-deals/nokia-6650-silver-black-t-mobile-combi-15-18-month-ab-motion-trainer-with-v-fit-twist-stepper/
Even comes with a couple of freebies too
The supplier seems OK too, I have just order a second new handset from them and all in all it has been pretty painless
Nice phone
I've just swapped to one of these from an N95. I got fed up with the bulk of the N95 and wanted something more pocket friendly, which the 6650 is.
Comparing the two: obviously the camera is nowhere near as good but then the N95 camera was pretty rubbish (good pixel count, horrible delay between pressing the button and the picture being taken) as well.
HSDPA, which is what I use it for most, works perfectly.
GPS is a revelation compared with the N95. I quite often get a fix indoors which the N95 never managed.
The FM radio actually works.
Battery life is much better. Uses the same charger so I now have a spare.
Comes with a useful set of apps that run using the cover display so will work while the phone is closed. The music player was mentioned in the review, but there is also a stopwatch (which multiple split times) and a count down timer which is really useful.
Cons: headphones are really uncomfortable - they don't fit my ears and keep dropping out. Speakerphone mode is pathetic - the single biggest weakness for me.
Watch out for the usual T-Mobile left-hand right-hand non-aquaintance: they have an offer of Combi 30 contract, free 6650, free web'n'walk and free bluetooth headset at the moment. They were fine about letting me switch to this contract and about letting me pick the phone up from a shop (rather than have it posted which would have been inconvenient). But the shop said the bluetooth headset was for new customers only and I would have to contact T-Mobile. T-Mobile say that it is for all customers and I have to go back to the shop. <rhetorical> Just how hard is it to run a simple business? <rhetorical/>
Happy with the phone though.
Had one for four months now
It's not a bad phone at all - install Opera Mini and it becomes a really rather good web browser. Obviously not up there with the iPhone or WM devices, but usable enough.
I sometimes find that Symbian has a wobbler, and it will reset itself, but it's never done it on a call - only with Opera Mini - and it's entirely possible that it's Opera with the problem I suppose.
Looks are subjective, but I like the relatively subtle design. Feels nice in the hand too.
I'm not sure about the comment about the speakerphone though; I had my bro on speakerphone stepping through stripping down the washing machine [didn't want to have the hands free cables dangling around] and there weren't any problems understanding what he was saying, although more volume would have helped. For music though, it is a bit tinny, but then aren't they all?
Overall, really not bad at all. Also, don't forget that if you hook up the Nokia software to an XP Laptot/SCC, you have a 3.6Mbps modem, there and then. haven't had that work on Linux yet though, but I understand it is possible with a *lot* of work.
I like my 6650d.
Steven R
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