Nokia 6500 Classic review

Nokia 6500 Classic Review

Reviewed by: Frank Lewis

Reviewed on: 7 November 2007

The 6500 Classic not only boasts a super-slim profile and gorgeous design, but also has a surprise up its sleeve.

Tucked away inside its slender body is a whopping 1GB of memory. The phone is available free on most contracts or will set you back around £250 SIM-free or less on pay as you go.

Strengths
The 6500 Classic fits neatly into the new wave of super-slim 3G phones alongside the likes of the W880i from Sony Ericsson. It is barely 10mm thick and tips the scales at a featherweight 94g. We've got to say that the overall design of the phone is just gorgeous. The slim frame, curved edges and polished steel finish make it one of the best looking phones Nokia has ever produced.

The handset has support for 3G downloads, but can't be used for video calling as there's only a single camera mounted on the rear. It has a 2-megapixel resolution and takes decent, but not outstanding shots. However, it is equipped with an exceptionally bright LED flash to help it along when taking snaps in dimly lit bars and clubs.

One of the most surprisingly things about this phone is the mammoth amount of onboard memory. Whereas most handsets make do with 10 or 20MB, this one has a huge 1GB of RAM onboard. After the phone's operating system has taken its share, you're left with around 980MB, which is still very impressive.

Obviously most people will use this memory for storing tunes. The handset has a microUSB port at the top and when you connect it to your computer it appears as a standard removable hard drive, so you can copy songs straight into the Music folder or sync them via Windows Media Player.

The microUSB port also doubles as the headphone socket and once you've got the supplied headphones fitted, you'll find that the sound quality from the music player is top class. In fact, the player is a vast improvement on what we've seen before from Nokia. The graphics look much more stylish and it feels more responsive, too.

As with most Nokias, the phone is very easy to use and you'll find functions like texting a breeze thanks to the nifty directional pad and surprisingly large keypad. The phone's reception and call quality were also first rate.

Weaknesses
Nokia may have stuffed this handset full of memory, but you'll soon see why when you go looking for the microSD card slot. There isn't one, so that 1GB of RAM is all the memory that you're ever going to have available on this handset.

The handset also lacks an FM tuner, which is found on most of Nokia's other phones. The USB port is also a micro socket, rather than the more usual mini-sized port. This means you're unlikely to have a spare cable lying around if you misplace the one that comes with the phone.

The biggest issue for some may be the battery life, however. Whereas the equally slim and 3G-capable Sony Ericsson W880i offers up to 6 hours 30 minutes of talk time, the 6500 Classic can only manage 3 hours 30 minutes.

Conclusion
The Nokia 6500 Classic is certainly not the most advanced phone in the world, but it is one of the best-looking handsets we've seen in a while. It's not flashy like the Nokia 8800, but it does look remarkably cool and sophisticated. Add in the fact it's extremely easy to use and has a decent range of features and you've got a sure-fire winner on your hands, available free on contract or for around £250 SIM-free or less on pay as you go.

Edited by Jason Jenkins
Additional editing by Jon Squire