Nokia 6600 Slide preview

In this day and age aesthetics are as important, if not more so, than the inner-workings. It is clear Nokia has put the look of the Nokia 6600 Slide and the Fold high up on its agenda, as both are stylish, elegant handsets.

As we've already looked at the Nokia 6600 Fold, a flip phone that may be simple in design but far from simplistic in terms of features, it is only fair we take a look at its less powerful sibling, the 6600 Slide.

The 6600 Slide features a superior 3.2-megapixel camera over the 2-megapixels of the Fold and an accelerometer sensor, and that is about it for differences. The same 3G download speeds, detailed 2.2-inch 16-million colour QVGA display, a microSD memory card slot and call-killing tap technology can be enjoyed.

Like the Fold, the 6600 Slide is a natural pocket-dweller and is the antithesis of Nokia's behemoth Nseries smartphones. But while it is trim and compact (its vital stats are 93x45x14mm), this handset has some considerable and reassuring heft behind it. The rear metal panelling contributes to its 110 gram tonnage and it's a pretty solid character considering it size.

The front controls consist of a five-way navigation pad and two soft call keys that seem equally sweet to use. There's none of the Fold's push-to-open electromagnetic mechanism malarkey with the slider action but it does have a nice spring in its step. The keypad, while looking a tad cramped and plasticky, is surprisingly easy on the thumbs with generously sized buttons.

The Nokia 6600 Slide adopts the user-friendly Symbian Series 40 OS, with the usual host of homescreen customisation features. It's incredibly flexible and pretty much any desired feature is never more than a click away.

With 3G download speeds and the superb Opera Mini web browser preinstalled, internet surfing over its 2.2-inch screen will pretty much be effortless. It's a shame Nokia couldn't extend to faster HSDPA times but the set-up still means you can enjoy a hassle-free web browsing session on a small display.

The Nokia 6600 Slide's biggest advantage over the Fold is the superior 3.2-megapixel snapper and we have to admit for such a diminutive phone, its photography chops are more than decent.

It shoots in a maximum resolution of 1536x2048 pixels while the autofocus seems quick to get its eye in. Similarly, the dual-LED flash tag team also means low light areas will get some extra illumination and although its coverage can be inconsistent, the flash still seems bright.

The camera is also equipped with some neat photos mods such as brightness, night mode, white balance, self timer and a handful of picture effects.

You'll also be nicely surprised by its video capturing talents, shooting footage in VGA quality at 15fps or QVGA at 30fps in either MPEG4 or 3GPP format. That's very slick considering its ranking and more than good enough for YouTube action. And, if you're one of the few who dabble in video calling, then a second camera is perched front side.

Our preview sample wasn't quite finished, so we were unable to test the accelerometer and tap technology but you're promised to be able cut off calls or silence alarms with a swift tap of the phone. If we're being honest it's nothing but a quirky little diversion, but for grumpy sleepers who hate that morning alarm sound, it may prove useful.

Again, because of its prototype nature we were unable to hear its sonic talents but the music player looks to be standard Nokia issue, so it can spin MP3, AAC, AAC , eAAC and WMA formats, with a smattering of equaliser modes to boost the audio. Just 20MB of internal memory means you'll also have to invest in a microSD memory card if you're looking to use the Slide as your main portable music player. An FM radio is also embedded for alternative entertainment.

Along with the Opera Mini browser, the 6600 Slide also arrives packed a neat array of mobile apps including a stripped-down version of Nokia Maps for basic directions and location search, Yahoo! Go, Flickr to easily upload your snaps online and Nokia Widsets web-based app shop. The Slide also has quite a strong constitution for a little'un with Nokia quoting four hours talktime and 24-hours standby.

Based on first impressions, we're seriously smitten with the Nokia 6600 Slide. Its tasteful, sophisticated minimalist design is rather stylish and while it won't overpower you with Nseries-esque features, its got enough mobile gadgetry to keep most punters happy. A classic in the making? Quite possibly.