Nokia
6290
Due
Q1 2007 29th November 2006
The
Nokia 6290 is quite possibly a very significant handset
for Nokia, although at first glance you'd be forgiven
for thinking that this was just another conservatively
styled clamshell.
This handset goes a long way to addressing
a serious issue with Nokia's lineup of phones - they
have no mainstream 3G clamshell devices. Oh yes, they
have the Nokia N90,
N92
and N93
phones but these are completely over-the-top for most
customers. The Nokia
7390 on the other hand is a very promising looking
3G handset, except that it's a fashion phone so it won't
appeal to business. The only other phone in that category
is the Nokia
N75, but that's aimed at the US market only.
So the
Nokia 6290 is a long overdue addition to Nokia's range
of phones. It's not spectacular in any way, but it comes
up with exactly the sort of features that most 3G users
want. Internally, the 6290 has the excellent 2.2" 240x320
pixel display in 16.7 million colours similar to that
found on handsets such as the Nokia
6131, it has a two megapixel camera plus a subcamera
for video calling, and the Nokia 6290 also has expandable
memory, a multimedia player, document viewer and Bluetooth.
There are some external "fast access keys"
that give access to some of the phone's functions when
closed.
Significantly,
the Nokia 6290 is a Symbian S60 smartphone running what
Nokia dub "S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 1".
At the moment, S60 is a mixed bag - quite a few of Nokia's
recent S60 devices have suffered from very buggy software,
and there's some indication that certain users actually
prefer the more basic Series 40 version of Symbian (found
on the Nokia
7390). On the other hand, smartphone functionality
is required to get the best out of services such as
3's
X-Series.
If Nokia can get the 6290 right
when it hits the shops, then it has the chance to carve
out a significant share of the 3G market. In our view,
it would be far better for Nokia to wait to get the
6290 working properly before launch.
Nokia say that the 6290 should be available
during the first quarter of 2007 at an unsubsidised
cost of around €325/£205 before tax, initially in pink
and black variants.
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Nokia
6290 at a glance
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Available:
|
Q1
2007
|
Network:
|
GSM
850/900/1800/1900 + UMTS
2100
|
Data:
|
GPRS
+ EDGE + UMTS (3G)
|
Screen:
|
240x320
pixels, 16m colours
|
Camera:
|
2
megapixels
|
Size:
|
Medium-large
clamshell 94x50x21mm
/ 115 grams
|
Bluetooth:
|
Yes
|
Memory
card:
|
microSD
|
Infra-red:
|
Yes
|
Polyphonic:
|
Yes
|
Java:
|
Yes
|
Battery
life:
|
3-3.5 hours talk / 10-11 days standby
|
|
|