Nokia 6120 Classic review

While 3G handsets have a reputation for being bulky and expensive, the Nokia 6120 Classic is an altogether different animal. This stylish handset wouldn't look out of place next to a fancy pair of sunglasses, but it comes with a variety of features that will keep most people happy. You should be able to find it free on a contract from most networks.

Design
Nokia has decided to go with a stylish silver and white casing that manages not to look cheap and creates the kind of attention normally associated with higher-end models. For an HSDPA (3.5G)-enabled phone it's relatively thin (15mm) and light (89g), making it comfortable to carry around in a pocket or bag.

The 6120 has an attractive silver and white casing

Using the 6120 is fairly straightforward. The screen is large enough to view text messages properly and the keypad is well laid out, so you don't need to use your fingernails to text. Accessing the microSD card slot is made easy via a hinge-mounted cover on the bottom-left side.

On the bottom, gone is the annoying proprietary Nokia Pop-Port and in its place is a standard mini-USB port so you can connect it to your PC, plus a 2.5mm headphone jack and a small-pinned charging port. We're slightly confused about the 2.5mm headphone jack, as most good headphones come with 3.5mm pins, but you can buy an adaptor.

A noteworthy design feature, which is something we'd like to see on more phones, is the loudspeaker placement on the side of the phone, instead of the back. During calls you can put the 6120 on a table facing up and have a clear conversation without the sound being muffled.

Features
If you're on a budget but you still want a 3G phone then the 6120 is worth checking out. It's not the cheapest handset out there, but relative to other HSDPA (3.5G) phones it's a bargain. You can use the secondary VGA camera to make video calls, and browsing the Web is quite speedy over an HSPDA connection.

It's not all about making video calls and browsing the Web -- this handset runs on the Symbian platform, which means it's a smart phone. Quick Office, which lets you view Microsoft documents, and Adobe PDF reader are pre-installed, but you also have the option of installing third-party apps, such as maps and dictionaries.

As I mentioned before, there's a microSD slot on the bottom left that supports up to 2GB of extra memory, which is enough space to store a fair amount of songs and pictures. The 6120's music player supports MP3, M4A, eAAC+ and WMA files, which you can listen to using a pair of stereo Bluetooth (A2DP) headphones.