The Good: The Nokia 6215i is a cute and compact flip phone with a VGA camera, a speaker phone, voice dialing, and a wireless Web browser. Its OLED display is also quite pleasing to the eye. The design is also simple and sleek. This attractive phone will also feel great in your hand and be very comfortable whenever you are talking on it. You also have the ability to adjust the back light timer, the screen’s contrast, the font size of the numbers that appear when you dial, the display theme and the clock format. A nice touch is that you can personalize this phone with a variety of wallpapers, colors, themes and message alert tones. If you do not find anything already on the phone that you like, then you can quite easily download more. However, the most important thing is that the call quality was stellar, with little to no difference when compared to a regular land line phone.
The Bad: While the alphanumeric keypad is well-spaced, it is a little too flush to the surface so each key sinks underneath the surface whenever you press it. This makes it a little tricky to dial and navigate by feel alone. The internal display is rather small as well, which will make menu navigation a lot harder than usual. Its speaker phone is also not very good as you will have to speak loudly in order to be heard. The camera does have a VGA camera and flash but the pictures that come from this camera appear to be both blurry and grainy. You may also be disappointed to learn that this phone does not come with any games included, you will have to download these for yourself.
The Bottom Line: The Nokia 6215i is a very nice, entry-level VGA camera phone. This will work well for people who would like to have a phone that is both attractive and slender. However, you should know that there are not a lot of frills with this phone either.
The Good: The Nokia N76 is a 3rd-generation Symbian clamshell and one of the thinnest phones by the Finnish manufacturer. An external display allows most common tasks to be performed without opening the phone, and the ultra-bright 2.4” internal display makes watching videos and surfing the web a pleasure. One of the loudest phones on the market, and one of the only ones to have integrated bass boost for audio files.
The Bad: Poor settings management make configuration a chore. The inconsistent design makes it look a little tacky, and the flip cannot be fully opened with headphones plugged in. The external screen is difficult to read in bright sunlight, this is compounded by the cramped interface. For a phone of this calibre, the battery capacity is disappointingly short with a miserly average 1.5 day runtime.
The Bottom Line: What it lacks in looks, the N76 makes up for in functionality. The sleek profile and some ingenious features appeal to the wider market; the inclusion of direct printing is a nice touch. A worthy and well-rounded development.
The Good: The Nokia N80 is a quad-band phone aimed at those who have entertainment close to heart. The 3 megapixel camera and included front-side lens make video calling a breeze, and the accompanying 3.5mm adapter allows you to use your favorite headphones for a rich and ambient musical experience. Web surfing is made easier with Nokia’s patented ‘Mini-Map’ technology, and with every connection method imaginable, getting data on and off the unit is a snap.
The Bad: With all these high-powered features, battery drain is a definite issue and the handset will require charging at the end of every day. While video shooting when standing still gives clear and distinct footage, move around and you’ll experience considerable digital noise and blurring.
The Bottom Line: Nokia has once again managed to pack all the features of the modern era into a slim, light and compact unit. The inclusion of wireless connectivity opens the door to VoIP calling and media streaming around the phone.
The Good: The jewel in Nokia’s crown is a phone for all, both music megalomaniacs and photo fanatics alike. Boasting a 5 mega pixel camera, dual band WiFi and GPS with maps for over 100 countries, there is no shortage of things to get excited about.
The Bad: Although branded as a world phone, the N95 lacks support for US 3G data networks. Battery life even on standby is low, and performance sluggish despite the large internal memory. Finally, the handset finish looks cheap and the dual-sliding mechanism feels somewhat insecure.
The Bottom Line: You get what you pay for with technology, and the crème de la crème of the Nokia range is no exception. This is most certainly a unit which many will envy but few will be able to afford. However, despite it’s impressive specifications, the lack of a TV tuner such as that offered by the N93, the cheap finish and sluggish performance make it hard to justify the almost $800 retail price.
