Nokia 6600i Slide

The Nokia 6600i Slide is an updated version of last year's Nokia 6600 Slide and it is identical in almost every detail except for an upgraded camera and a shiny new case.

Priced at a very reasonable €200 before tax and subsidy, the 6600i Slide offers quite a lot of features for the money. This is a 3G phone with a 2.2" 240 x 320 pixel display, the five megapixel camera has dual flash and autofocus, microSD cards are supported up to a maximum of 16GB, the 6600i Slide supports Bluetooth 2.0 and USB connectivity, there's a fairly standard multimedia player and an FM radio too.

Video recording is either VGA resolution at 15 fps or QVGA resolution at 30 fps. We think this is disappointing for a 5 megapixel camera phone, normally we would expect to see at least 30 fps for VGA video capture.

Software includes a fairly standard set of Series 40 applications, but the 6600i Slide is not a smartphone so choices are a little limited. One novel feature is tap control, so certain applications can be controlled just by tapping the phone.

The standard sales package includes a 1GB microSD card, a stereo wired headset and a data cable in addition to the phone, charger and battery. That offers better value than the old 6600 and it is certainly competitive.

The main drawbacks are that the Nokia 6600i Slide does not support 3.5G data, and owners of the previous model complain of poor battery life and a susceptibility to scratches, especially on the keypad.

Perhaps the biggest problem of all will be finding someone to buy the Nokia 6600i Slide. Despite the mid-market specifications, sales of the old 6600 Slide have been tiny, barely scraping into the top 100 Nokia handsets at Amazon. Yes, the 6600i has a better specification, looks a bit nicer and is slightly cheaper.. but we think that the main problem is that the 6600i is not exactly a very exciting or cheap mobile phone.

Nokia say that the 6600i Slide should be available sometime during the third quarter of 2009 in Silver or Black brushed stainless steel colour schemes.

Nokia 6600i Slide at a glance

Available:

Q3 2009

Network:

GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 + 
UMTS 850 / 2100

Data:

GPRS + EDGE + UMTS (3G)

Screen:

2.2", 240 x 320 pixels, 16m colours

Size:

Medium slider
93 x 45 x 14mm / 110 grams

Bluetooth:

Yes

Memory card:

MicroSD

Infra-red:

No

Polyphonic:

Yes

Java:

Yes

GPS:

No

OS:

Series 40

Battery life:

3 hours talk / 14 days standby (3G) 
4 hours talk / 14 days standby (GSM)