If only I were allowed profanity... (Nokia 6500 slide)

Member Name: whining_rhino

Product:	Nokia 6500 slide
Date:	07/11/08 (103 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lots of superfluous features

Disadvantages: Weak battery, silly programming, hard to use, slow processing.

As with most of the reviews I write, I'm going to give a little anecdote. Not only because it's a pretty safe way of starting a review, but also I'm told that doing this helps the reader bond with the writer, making them more likely to engage in what you've written. So heres to you.

I used to be on dotmobile, a company exclusively for students which has since gone into administration. From what I have since read, a lot of people had a few issues with them, but I had no such trouble. They had this BRILLIANT contract system whereby instead of having minutes and texts, you'd have units. 1 unit would get you a minutes phone call, half a unit would be a page of text, 3 units would be a picture message - I paid £25 a month and had practically limitless use of a mobile phone. Unfortunately, the company went bust and I had to find a new contract, and I find Three, who offered me their Mix and Match deal that had a similar units system (review to follow - watch this space). This was in Carphone Warehouse, and they offered me a Sony Ericsson (a range of phones that I just can't use) and the Nokia 6500s. I'd had Nokia before, so I didn't even think about it. You're always safe with a Nokia, I thought, so I just picked it up and left.

Woops.

This phone is by far and away the worst phone I've ever had, INCLUDING the Phillips Savvy I had in 2002. Like every other Nokia I've ever owned, it is extremely slow to load when it's turned on - I can't text or ring within 2-3 minutes of turning it on, and you can forget looking at pictures, or anything for that matter. Even after it's been on for a few hours, when I'm typing a text, the phone can't keep up - I end up with a bunch of numbers instead of letters (I don't type that fast, if that's what you're thinking).

The battery. There's only really one thing you can usually talk about when it comes to the battery of a phone, but I can find 2 on this occasion. Firstly, is the obvious one - the battery life on this phone is woefully short. If I charged it overnight, woke up at say, 9am, carried it with me without using it, it would need recharging after about 36 - 48 hours. WITHOUT using it. If a phone call is made, or (as you do) I check the time with it throughout the day, I'd be lucky for it to reach much beyond 24 hours. Considering with my old Samsung I'd charge it 2-3 times a week, depending on usage, charging everyday is energy inefficient and an unreliable quality in a phone. God help you if you use BlueTooth. Secondly, is the battery meter, of all things!! The phone will register full battery up until about 2 hours before it runs flat!!! That's no good to me. If it's on half a battery, that should mean I've got half a battery, not half an hour.

Some of the programming is beyond belief, and I have to say I still can't figure out why Nokia have done this. There are two examples that spring to mind. First is the automatic lock when you slide it. On my old Samsung, if you slid your phone shut at any point in it's usage, the screen would zip back to the wallpaper and the phone would lock (in fact I bought it more or less for this very feature - I was sick of sitting on my phone and calling people!). Opening the phone would unlock it. Huzzah. But with Nokia? No. For some reason, you slide the phone closed, and it will give you the OPTION to lock it. Its the equivalent of your computer asking if you're sure you want to do something - it's frustrating and patronising. Yes! I'm done for now, lock the phone and stop bugging me.

Secondly is the predictive text. I know not everyone uses this, but to those that do, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about when you get used to words being so many cycles through. Using my Samsung, for example, if I wanted to type "any", I'd type 2-6-9, and "boy" would appear. I would naturally then just hit *. So, to type "any", I would get into the habit of typing 2-6-9-*. But Nokia have to take it one step further!!! They CHANGE the order of the cycle of words from text to text!! I can type 2-6-9, and then Box would appear, and "any" would be 3 clicks down. The next time I write a text, the order of the cycles will have changed again. After a while, your texts end up looking less like texts and more like cryptic clues for Jonathan Creek to figure out. Now this might sound a bit pathetic, but to me it highlights the lack of thought into the programming of the phone. It's full of stupid little quirks like this that generally make the thing difficult to use - which is something I've NEVER had to deal with from a Nokia before.


Reading back over this review, I realise it sounds like I'm having a whinge and a moan because I got a naff deal. Well, I am. Yes, the phone has many features - BlueTooth, Video call (who uses that, anyway?), a very high quality camera - the whole shabang. Yes yes yes, that's very impressive, but to be honest, unless you specifically ask for a phone that is plain, simple and straightforward, most modern units come with a variety and rich and pretty unnecessary features. A bunch of fairly pointless applications that I don't use just doesn't warrant me giving this any higher than 1 star, especially considering how many of the basic principles of the phones construction seem to have been overlooked.

What astounds me most about this phone is how popular it is. I can't believe people actually like this unit. Don't buy it. Get a Samsung.

Summary: Don't be sucked in by Nokia's reputation. This phone is terrible

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