Mobile phones’ manufacturers are fairly creative setting up their market strategies in the pursuit of attracting greater attention towards their products. As a rule, Nokia phone models have been known for their “letter-number” codes, yet complete names have also been introduced recently. This is a good move to accentuate a specific product (or series) with the goal to facilitate its fixing in the customer’s mind. Developing the idea further, the Finnish announced two new models with identical number codes but different extensions: 6500 classic and 6500 slide. The name itself gives a hint at its type. This is an attractively designed up-to-date unit that belongs to the upper medium class, featuring the well-known Series 40 user interface, enabled to operate in 3G networks, and disposing of a 3.2 megapixel Carl Zeiss optics camera.
Design
As you can see, the Nokia 6500 has a plain design, underlined by the black glossy plastic and the stainless steel, which adds to its stylish and pleasant appearance. At the very first touch one will feel the coolness of the metal, which, in addition to the 123 gr weight, calls forth the same sensation as the one we experienced at the first touch of 8600 Luna – that of luxury and perfect quality. The above feeling is also enhanced by the fact that all the inscriptions on the metallic part are in high relief rather than being simply cheap drawings.
The slider’s dimensions are 96.5 x 46.5 x 16.4 mm and it is just 30 mm longer when unfolded, which is compact enough not to embarrass the user while carrying it. Sliding relies on spring support to easily open the unit; and in order to save the trouble of guessing the right spot to press with your thumb, Nokia constructors have placed a rubber tape just above the company logo. The connection between the two parts is very secure and without any play (as in many other sliders), which testifies to the precision and accurateness of every one construction detail.
The display is 2.2" QVGA (240 x 320 pixels), supporting up to 16.7 million colors and very well visible at even direct sunlight. Colors of the screen image are saturated and bright; as for setting the brightness – this is done by a light sensor depending on the surrounding illumination. We notice the trend that the new high and medium class models of the company should feature this type of display (variously sized). Besides all the above qualities, they have a very good visibility angle in each direction.
As with most sliders, the buttons here are also distributed between the upper and the lower part, which means that you will not have to open the 6500 unless you need the numeric keypad. Its flat buttons are arranged tightly next to each other and in order to be more easily recognizable, they have a round edge, bordering the row line. Control keys at the upper part of the phone are equally tight. Both the soft and the call/end keys are large and flat, whereas the five-position navigation button is in relief and has raised edges, allowing for effortless detecting by touch and distinguishing it from the rest. Backlighting all the keys is white, with only the control ones lit in their respective colors. All buttons are very easy to press and despite the medium tactile feedback, controlling the unit is pleasant and trouble-free.
We wish we could say the same about the volume key, located on the side, but alas, things are different here. The button itself is almost at the level of the panel so one can hardly feel anything on the surface. Deciding to increase the volume during conversation will trigger a long search on the side and in case one manages to accidentally find the key, there is the second setback: pressing it. You have to choose between the two options – either using the tip of the thumb with less effort, or its soft part, but exerting a much stronger pressure. For us, the first approach proved less inconvenient. During the entire period of our usage of the phone, we were not able to find an easier mode of operating the above button. This may serve as a good example of how the desire to strictly adhere to a certain design concept will result in inconvenience. The camera button is on the same side, only slightly lower, almost at the end of the corpus. This one is comparatively big, so once in position to take pictures you can easily and conveniently press, no matter which part of the finger you use – the soft or the tip.
There are no buttons on the other side – only a small hole is clearly visible. Initially it is quite easy to mistake it for a loudspeaker opening, but after removing the back lid one can see that this is where a hand- or a neckstrap should be tied. The loudspeaker openings are quite far from here – they are actually the five lines on the back panel.
The whole rear section of 6500 is so constructed, that taking pictures should be made as easy as possible. The objective of the 3.2 megapixel camera as well as the LED flashlight are located in one of the corners, thus securing the easy grip and eliminating the likelihood to place a finger before them. The lens is covered by a protective glass and the entire objective – encompassed by a metal frame, literally welded to the steel lid. The camera button is at the most proper place indeed – under the index finger when you are ready to take a photo.
For the sake of not spoiling the look of the handset, constructors have even “concealed” the additional memory card slot under the back lid. The microSD can be inserted/removed while the device is on, but the phone will automatically cut off all access to it at the very opening of the lid - it is as if it were non-existent. It has been made with the purpose of securing more reliable data storage and higher safety when handling an additional memory.
One very clever move – we saw it in 7500 Prism as well – is concentrating all the connectors at one location, in our case on top of the phone. This facilitates the usage, putting an end to the “groping” all over the sides of the unit when one has decided to charge or connect it to a PC, for example. Here you will find the microUSB port, the charger connector, 2,5 mm Audio Video socket, as well as the eject button for opening the lid. This is the place where we are accustomed to finding the on/off switch, but in this case its role has been taken by the red receiver key. Of course, it cannot now grant something we are also used to - fast access to the profiles menu.
About the only thing left is locating the second (videochat) camera and the microphone. Although this is a joke, it may well be that one faces the need of such a search. The camera is so small that the constructors have managed to insert it right next to the loudspeaker grille on the side, opposite to the light sensor. The microphone also features a similar “hidden” position – exactly between the 4 and 7 keys (on their left).
User interface
Nokia 6500 slide brings no surprises in terms of user interface. Series 40 looks the straightforward choice for feature phones, and we're dealing with its 5th edition. We have to say navigating and controlling the phone are almost the same as with the previous UI editions and identical to, say, Nokia 7500. The phone still offers a vast number of configurable options but that somehow complicates the menu structure and navigation.
We are already starting to get tired of the same look and feel of this user interface. What good it is to buy a new phone that has a interface exactly as the one in your old phone. Perhaps some change in graphic appearance would be beneficial. When in stand-by, the display as usually visualizes the pre-selected wallpaper plus signal strength, battery status and time in the top bar. Beneath the top bar are the operator logo (if any) and the date.
The bottom bar is reserved for the descriptions of the functions assigned to the center of the navigation key and the two context keys. The center of the D-pad opens the main menu, while the context keys can be assigned a function of your choice. The font on the main display can be of any color.
You can also turn on the active stand by mode if you want to. It consists of several parts that can be edited or relocated according to the user's preferences. In the most common case, the top area is reserved for instant access to favorite functions indicated by their respective icons. The central area provides instant access to the music player and radio. At the very bottom events from the calendar are displayed set for the current day.
A cool feature here, that even Nokia smartphones do not have straight out-of-the-box, is the possibility to add a note to the active stand-by. The two soft keys' functionality can also be varied if necessary. The main menu in Nokia 6500 slide can be displayed in four different ways: a grid of icons with or without captions, a list of items, and tabs. While each of them has its pros and cons our personal choice remains the typical grid view with legends. If you prefer more icons to appear simultaneously, you can go for the grid view without text, as it displays a 4 x 3 icon grid.
The icons themselves haven't been changed at all, keeping the well known stylish design. The selected icon is animated. The icons can also be freely reordered within the grid. The submenus follow no consistent pattern. Some items have captions, others do not. In certain cases, you'll be even able to see tooltips, so you will not need to step further into another menu level. As usual, the menu items are intuitively accessible through keyboard shortcuts. The color background of the entire menu, as well as the wallpaper on the display, can be easily modified by applying one of the pre-installed themes.
The menu responds quickly, without lagging or holdups. We wouldn't expect anything else from a Series 40 device anyway. Also, we didn't experience any halts or unexpected restarts for the time of our review.
Phonebook
The Phonebook is visualized as a list of names, but there are two other options: name and number and name and picture. When you introduce a new contact, you can enter two names and a number, but in order to add more information (ringtone, picture ID, etc.), press ‘add detail’ from the options menu. During an incoming call, the picture associated with the contact, appears and takes almost the whole screen, but when you dial, the picture is very small. Except for a picture, you can add to the contact a video clip, as its sound serves as a ring tone, while the video plays on the display. An important drawback of the phonebook is the fact that you can look for the contacts only by the first name, you entered, which can cause major inconvenience when working with the phone.
The music player comes with XpressMusic
The music player is almost identical to the one used in the Nokia 5300 XpressMusic phone and the Nokia 7500 Prism. It is a great player originally reserved for music-oriented Nokia phones and is obviously becoming the standard player for all recent Series 40 devices.
The player works with AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, MP3, MP4, WMA, AMR-NB, Mobile XMF, SP-MIDI, MIDI Tones (64-tone poly) and True tones. The supported A2DP profile allows listening on Bluetooth wireless earphones. The player is highly customizable through a number of themes that are at your disposal. Besides, there is a second skin that seems to suit it better compared to the conservative default skin. As in Nokia 6500 classic, the now playing tracks are displayed on the active home screen.
Besides managing all the typical functions of a music player, it also sorts songs by artist, album and genre. Different playlists can also be created to meet specific user requirements. In the retail package you will find the HS-47 wired Nokia stereo headset, connectable via the 2.5 mm AV jack. The headphones manage quite decent sound and their quality will certainly meet most criteria. They get to be appreciated even more provided that the 6500 slide is not a music dedicated phone.
Moving back to the player, we have to say that it offers a large number of configurable options. The sonic experience is enhanced by equalizers and a stereo expansion function, which somehow failed to impress us. The equalizers do deserve attention, as they perform very well, while the opportunity to set own equalizer presets completes the range of possibilities.
As with Nokia 7500 Prism, changing the equalizer preset has an almost instant effect without the usual couple-of-seconds lag. Nokia 6500 slide has only one loudspeaker located on its rear cover, right next to the camera. We did already mention that it is among the loudest we tried, though. A good thing is that it does not get muffled at all when the phone body is placed on its back on an even surface such as a desk.
Camera
Nokia 6500 slide is equipped with 3.2 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics, auto focus, and 8x digital zoom, which is activated fast enough in order not to miss a worthwhile moment. The interface is in a landscape orientation and the display shows information for the number of pictures you can take before the memory is exhausted, the resolution and the quality of the pictures, as well as the regime – picture or video shooting.
You can choose from among a total of 6 different shooting resolutions varying from 2048 x1536 to 160 x 120, as well as from 3 image quality options: basic, normal and high. You can also make pictures with specific effects like false colors, grayscale, sepia, negative and solarise.
When taking pictures in the open, the images have very real colors, good detail, and almost no “noise”. Indoors, the camera also copes with its task well; in case it is quite dark, we recommend the use of the LED flash, which is effective at close range. The saving time of a photo depends on its size, which, on its part, varies with the kind of objects, being photographed. Perhaps this is the only occasion when 6500 slide will make you wait a little longer, with the average timing to save at maximum resolution being about 7 – 8 seconds. If you plan to photograph texts from a book or magazine, you will not encounter any problem reading them afterwards. The handset can boast a marvelous macro-mode and, as you can see for yourselves, will flawlessly reproduce even very small characters.
The maximal resolution for the video recording is 640 x 480 pixels (VGA), and there are additional three supported: 352 x 288 (CIF), 176 x 144 (QCIF) and 128 x 96 (SQCIF). The four modes differ not only in video resolution, but also in the number of frames per second, shot by the camera. For instance, at maximum clip resolution (VGA), there will be 15 frames per second (FPS), whereas you can make QCIF video at 30 FPS. As a rule, video results are good with high Nokia series: this unit gets close to N95 and N93(i); what is different, is the 30 FPS at VGA and the 15 FPS at slide for the latter two. This is a fairly good resolution that is close to the television one (not the HDTV, of course), yet, the clips you get would seem partitioned (“chopped”) due to the fact that the human eye is only able to perceive smooth motion at over 24 FPS. We presume you have noted the lack of QVGA (320 x 240 pixels) selection option, which is a much more widespread format n the Internet (YouTube for example) than the CIF. And it is rather peculiar that the display, being a QVGA one at that, does not dispose of the above resolution.
Conclusion
On paper, at least, the Nokia 6500 Slide looks like it should be a top end feature phone. It has dual-band 3G support in addition to quad-band GSM support, it has a built-in 3.2 megapixel auto-focus camera, and a solid media player. It is also quite attractive and uses a QVGA resolution display that can show up to 16 million different color shades. That's all very impressive.
But the reality of the situation is that the phone doesn't always excel where one would expect it to. While the music player is, indeed, very good, the AF digital camera takes some coaxing to get a good photo out of it. The stainless steel cover material looks good, but adds to the phone's weight as well as makes it hard to keep clean. The QVGA display also lacks brightness, though it is, at least, usable in even the harshest lighting conditions. And then there is the problem with dropping calls that mars otherwise very good quality voice characteristics.
