Nokia 6500 Slide (Nokia 6500 slide)

Name: mynameisrui

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Product:	Nokia 6500 slide
Date:	26/06/08 (524 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Looks good, easy to use

Disadvantages: None really

After recently getting rid of my old Orange contract and moving to O2 I decided to get a new phone as well. After much deliberation I decided on the Nokia 6500 slide in black. I could have got the silver phone at a much cheaper price but I decided that the black one looked too good to turn down.

First Impressions

If you look at the phone from a top down view you will see that the screen is quite big. Infact it is 2.2 inches which is fairly big. Below the screen are four buttons as well as 4 directional buttons in silver. The bottom two buttons are the main calling buttons. The one on the bottom left is the green "call" button which is used to dial a number you've typed in or look at the recent call list. The one on the bottom right is the "end call" button which ends calls and, when in the menu, takes you back to the home screen. The other two button are customisable buttons so they can pretty much do whatever you want them to do. Above the screen is where the camera is for 3g calling.

Turning the phone on its left side you will see a button with a camera on it towards the lower end of the phone. It doesn't take Sherlock Holmes to work out this starts the camera mode. It is worth pointing out that the camera wont turn on if the phone is locked so there is no risk of ay pictures being taken in your pocket. At the top end of the phone is the volume buttons that are used to change call volumes, keypad tones volumes, etc.

On the back of the phone you will see a 3.2 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics and auto focus. Now I don't know exactly what that means but a reliable source tells me it's a good thing!

On the topside of the phone you will find all the connections. There is an audio jack, charger slot and a micro USB slot. There is also a button which you need to press in order to open the back cover.

Finally, if you pick it up you will be surprised at its weight. It feels quite heavy but at the same time very sturdy. It weighs 125g. The reason for this is that it has a stainless steel casing. I can see this being something that people either love or hate but in my case, I love it. The phone feels very sturdy and I was soon used to its weight.

The sliding mechanism is also very smooth and, once you slide it open, will reveal a keypad which is very standard.

Battery

I know this is often one of the more important factors so I thought I'd stick this section in quite early. I used to have a Sony Ericsson so was used to charging my phone every couple of days. However the battery is much better on this phone. Assuming I use the same about of calling time (about 30 - 45 minutes per day), play the same amount of games, and generally use it in a similar way, the battery will last me about 3 or 4 days. Personally I find that really good.


Menu

One thing I do like about this phone is that you can choose how you have the menu. You are given 4 choices;: List, Grid, Grid with Labels and Tab. I wont go into each of them but they are all different layouts for the menu. On top of that you can also move the items around. I think this may be a Nokia feature but I've never had a Nokia so never experienced this!

Themes, Games and Applications

There are a number of themes that come with the phone. These are not the best themes in the world but do all match the phones looks. Each theme will modify the homepage and the menu items.

Pre installed on the phone are 5 games. These are Backgammon, Golf Tour, Highroller Casino, Rally 3D and Snake 3. End of the day these games aren't anything special but its nice to see that they have actually included a decent amount of games and some good ones at that! I still prefer snake thought, it's a classic but it's a good one!

In terms of applications, the phone I got came with Converter, Presenter, Sensor, Traffic TV and World Clock. Obviously Converter and World Clock are pretty obvious so I wont explain them but the others are new. Presenter is a clever program. Its sole use is to give the user the ability the control any PowerPoint presentations you may have. It connects to it via Bluetooth. I haven't used it personally so cannot comment if its any good. Traffic TV is kind of as the name suggests. I have not used it properly yet but from what I can see it basically locates where you are on the map and used our internet connection in order to determine the traffic in your local area. I ave no idea what the Sensor program is!

Sound

As you would expect, the phone will play mp3's as a ringtone as well as polyphonic and all that palava. You can also have videos as ringtones. Ringtones are perfectly loud on the loudest setting and you are unlikely not to hear them on this setting. I tend to use the ascending ringtone feature as I normally have my phone with me so don't want it to burst my eardrum every time it rings! The ascending tone is fine but I find it gets quite loud a bit too quickly for my liking. With regards to the message tones, there is nothing here than you probably wont have seen before. Again you can have mp3's as message tones.

The vibrate feature also works well. When you receive a message it vibrates 6 times but briefly and when it rings then the vibrates are still short, but continue as long as the phone is ringing. The actual vibration is strong as well. I often keep my phone in my pocket and if I'm down the pub, I normally feel it every time it vibrates so its good even when doing other activities.

Call volumes are also good. As I said previously, there is a volume button on the side of the phone should you need it. I find that even when I'm out and near a busy road, I can nearly always hear someone very clearly if they are speaking.

Camera

As I said before, the camera is 3.2 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics. What I found is that the camera is really good. Normal shooting looks very crisp and there is little to complain about. Even when you are shooting a moving target then the picture comes out very well. The camera doesn't lag while being moved which is very good and the moving picture comes out as if the target was standing still. There is also an auto flash feature which can be quite handy although I have found that sometimes it flashes unnecessarily but generally speaking it is fine.

The auto focus feature works very well. As with a normal camera, if you half press the camera button then a white square appears on the screen. This then changes to green when the object is in focus. Very handy I find!

You can also use the camera as a video recorder but I wont comment on that as I've never used it.

Obviously there are all the other usual features such as white balance, night mode, etc but I wont go into them as I am not very familiar with them and don't often use them.

General Impressions

Basically this section is where I will mention anything that hasn't already been mentioned but doesn't really need its own section.

Firstly, there is a radio which is always handy. As per usual you will need to plug in the headphones to act as an antenna. I have found the reception to be very good and have no problems to report.

The phone has that ever increasingly feature of having 'Flight Mode.' This basically removes the ability for you to use any of the calling or text features so that you can use the phone on a plane for things like music or to play games. A clever idea I think but I cant imagine it is widely used.

In the box is a TV output cable which allows you to connect up the phone to your TV. The TV then mirrors the image on the screen making it easier for you to look at pictures or any videos you may have.

The phonebook is pretty standard. I tried to Bluetooth over my contact from my old Sony Ericsson but found that it would only send the first name on the list as a business card so I had to input every number manually which was a pain. Within each contact you can add quite a few numbers, web addresses, videos, specific ringtones, postal address, picture and a few more other things to make it more of an organiser like feature.

I have also now had the phone for about a month and have found that the only one thing that does not work is the silent button does not work. It is located on the same key as the # sign but if you hold the key down, nothing happens. I have done some research and have found this is a common problem. I'm not overly bothered about it but its something to bear in mind.

Overall I think this phone is really good. I never really liked Nokia phones before but I am all changed on them now. Don't get me wrong, this phone isn't anything revolutionary by any means but it does the job I want it to do perfectly well. If you prefer to have a phone with good music capabilities then maybe this isn't the phone for you but, if like me, you have dedicated mp3 player, phone, etc then its worth giving this phone a try. I go through a lot of phone but definately think that this one will be a keeper as long as nothing goes wrong.

Summary: Best phone I've had in a while

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