Nokia 6500 Classic

With its Nokia 6500 classic, Nokia has produced an unashamedly elegant handset that's a mere 9.5mm thin but which packs in 1GB of internal memory and has 3G connectivity.

At just 9.5mm thin, the 6500 Classic is a joy to hold in your hand. Available in black or bronze finishes, the aluminium casing feels strong and well built. The etched silver display and keypad surrounds adds a touch of class. Our only real complaint with the design is the keypad and controls -- they are quite small and feel somewhat squashed, making messaging and general use a little frustrating at times.

The 6500 Classic comes with a unique configuration of dual-band WCDMA support on top of its more conventional quad-band GSM/EDGE support. This candy bar handset supports the normal 2100MHz band used in Europe and much of the rest of the world, as well as one of the two North American UMTS bands: 850MHz. This means that the 6500 Classic should be able to get EDGE data on any GSM network, and manage 3G UMTS connections in most parts of the world, where available, as well. It doesn't have tri-band UMTS support, which would have been great, but this is certainly a step in the right direction.


While the 3.2-megapixel camera is one of the Nokia 6500 Slide's key features, the Classic houses a more modest two-megapixel camera. There's no autofocus and, while the Classic does have an LED flash, we found the camera struggled to capture shots taken in darker surroundings. By pushing the top of the D-pad, you can access the camera without having to go through the menu. Despite being 3G, there is no video calling function. However, video footage can be recorded, with the maximum time length being just under 16 minutes. Video clips (depending on size) can be sent as attachments via text, MMS or email, as can images, sound clips, calendar notes and business cards. All of these options are laid out in a simple "insert" interface at the bottom of the screen when typing a text or email.

Despite the phone boasting 3G capabilities, we found that browsing the internet was somewhat sluggish. What's more, the phone's screen struggles with the content of some web pages meaning you have to scroll down and across, proving to be both tedious and time consuming. Changing the settings of the font size to small can help combat this. There's nothing wrong with the screen itself. In fact with a 16.7 million colour display, the two-inch screen is both vivid and sprightly. What's more the Series 40 user interface the Classic operates on only enhances the reputation Nokia has earned as producing some of the most user-friendly handsets.

Although the 1GB of internal memory is generous and should be enough for the average user, the lack of a memory card slot is the 6500 Classic's biggest issue. With a decent camera, music player and video recorder, excess multimedia use will quickly fill up the devices memory. Another annoyance is the unified microUSB port -- although it's great to see Nokia aiming for a standard port across its range, one port for charging, listening to music and synchronisation means users aren't able to listen to music and charge the phone at the same time, as an example.

A music player featuring a new look is included, but most features are the same. The interface is easy to use though a nd settings include shuffle and repeat play modes, stereo widening, preset and adjustable equaliser settings and the ability to "skin" the player with various themes. Sadly, the lack of a 3.5mm headphone jack is a real let down, though the inclusion of A2DP Stereo Bluetooth is a handy alternative to the included headphones.


Other features include a voice recorder and Java games, as well as the standard suite of PIM functions consisting of alarm, calendar, to-do list, notes, calculator, stopwatch and a countdown timer.

According to Nokia figures, battery life is rated at up to 3.5 hours of talk time and up to nine days of standby time on a 3G network. These figures rise to 5.5 hours talk time and 12.5 days standby time on a sta ndard GSM network.

The slimline Nokia 6500 Classic looks and feels great. For storage of music and multimedia, the 1GB of internal memory is generous, but there's no slot for an expandable memory card. Finding yourself around the array of features is a doddle and, while the 3G capabilities weren't electric, it's a welcome addition, nonetheless. As a mid-tier 3G phone that looks the business, the Nokia 6500 Classic is true to its name.

Nokia 6500 Classic Specifications -
• UMTS / GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
• 2 Inch TFT Display with 16 million colors, 240 x 320 pixels
• MP3 & Polyphonic (64 channels) Ringtones
• Vibration
• 20 missed calls, 20 dialed, 20 received (Call Records)
• 1 GB of Internal Memory
• GPRS Class 32, 53.6 kbps
• EDGE Class 32, 296 / 177.6 kbits
• Bluetooth v1.2
• HSCSD
• 3G 384 kbps
• microUSB
• WAP 2.0/xHTML Browser
• MMS, SMS, Email & Instant Messaging
• Games
• 2 megapixel Camera - 1600×1200 pixels, video(QCIF) with flash
• Anodized Aluminum
• MP3/AAC/AAC+ music player
• Java MIDP 2.0
• Calendar, T9, Calculator, Voice memo & built in hands free
• Up to 300 hours standby
• Up to 5 h 30 minutes talk time
• 109.8 x 45 x 9.5 mm
• 94 grams
Nokia 6500 Classic Downsides – NO CARD SLOT, NO WLAN & NO INFRARED PORT.