All I want is a phone. Just a phone. Nothing else. (Nokia 6610i)

Member Name: The Duke

Product:	Nokia 6610i
Date:	24/08/05 (2437 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Robust, easy to use phone.

Disadvantages: No bluetooth, ill-fitting cover

I'm currently on my third mobile phone. Each of my previous phones have been various Nokia models. I bought the first one (Nokia 3210e) because a friend had recommended Nokia as a decent make (and I'd seen first hand how robust they were when he dropped his phone off a balcony and it survived the 20 foot drop). My second was an 8210i which was bought as I'd been impressed by the quality of my previous phone and to all intents and purposes, the 8210i was a smaller 3210e.

I changed my phone only because I was upgrading from a pay as you go contract on Orange to a pay monthly contract. As part of the deal, I was offered a small range of phones to choose from. As the Nokia 6601i was free as part of this bundle, I chose that.

The phone comes with a hands free kit (which also doubles as a set of headphones for the built-in stereo FM radio) and the charger. I was disappointed that the phone didn't come with a data cable, but the phone was free and the cable is available cheaply on eBay for about a tenner. I'm unsure if the lack of data cable is standard policy or if this was simply because I'd gotten my phone free from Orange as part of a contract.

I found the 6610i extremely easy to use. Part of that reason is because the menus and features are very similar to previous Nokia phones. If you haven't used a Nokia before, you should find it easy enough to navigate around the features. The phone's operating system is quite intuitive and easy to learn and the navigation key is responsive.

The Nokia comes with a colour screen (4096 colours) that is clear and easy to read when the backlight is on, but is difficult to read if it is not, especially outdoors.

I don't really use the extra features of my phone that much, but the camera can produce acceptable, but not outstanding, results at a resolution of 352x288 under the right circumstances i.e. well lit environments. Pictures tend to be around the 21kb. The to-do list and calendar can be handy, too. The Java games and applications aren't brilliant, but the option is there to remove them or replace them with something more appropriate.

The radio's of a decent quality, sound wise. It's easy to set up (though you can only use it when the headphones are attached, I think) and save your stations. I just don't listen to the radio enough to use this feature a lot.

The cover is a bit annoying in that it doesn't seem to fit properly. The back cover still moves around a bit, producing some noise, even when securely attached to the phone. As I've never had an issue with this before on a Nokia phone, I can only assume that it's either due to the built-in camera or it's a one-off problem with my own phone that could be resolved with a new cover.

The sound quality of the phone is excellent. Callers are easily heard and the volume control can be used if people are too loud (though this can be awkward to use – it's almost as if it was designed to stop accidental pressing). On a related note, calls rarely, if ever break up. I've had the phone for six months now and can't recall a time when I've had a call creak up or get dropped. I'm sure this is partly to do with Orange's cover in Northern Ireland, but also due to the phone, too.

Size-wise, the Nokia strikes a good balance of being small enough to slip into a pocket, but large enough that actual use isn't hindered.

The phone comes with a limited amount of graphics, polyphonic tones, games and applications. You can add more or delete these as you choose. I found it much easier to do this with Nokia's DKU-5 cable and some software (Nokia's PC Suite was a good starting point). The cable also made updating my contacts much easier and was useful for backing up any photos that I had taken with the camera and I would recommend that if you have a 6610 and a PC to get one of these cables. The phone has 4MB of memory, so there's plenty of space for pictures or extra games or applications.

The phone is WAP enabled, but this is a feature I have yet to use.

Battery life is good. A fully charged phone won't require any topping up for at least four or five days if on standby. Making calls or sending texts (or any other use of the phone) will obviously reduce this, but you should still get a few days out of it or about 5 hours talk-time.

I really like my 6610i. As a phone, it does all that I ask. Sound quality is excellent, it's easy to use and it still works even though I throw it around a fair bit. It's just the right size for me without being too big or too small. I've gotten a lot more out of my phone after I had bought the DKU-5 cable which has enabled me to store a lot more contact information on the phone (for example, you can assign multiple phone numbers to one person – home, mobile, misc etc. plus fax numbers, postal and email addresses) and also have the added security of backing up my phone including all data and settings.

Some of the extras are useless to me, including the applications and games, but with most new phones these days, there are options for removing what you don't need and replacing them with something you would use or simply save your self the memory space.

Further technical details can be found at: http://www.nokia.co.uk/nokia/0,,57064,00.html

Summary: Nokia colour screen WAP-enabled phone with built in camera and radio.

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