Nokia 6500 Slide

Expected Q3 2007
31st May 2007

Despite its name, the Nokia 6500 Slide (Nokia spell it slide in lowercase) has very little in common with the Nokia 6500 Classic. Both are non-smartphone dual-band 3G devices with 240x320 pixel displays, and really that's about it.

Overall the Nokia 6500 Slide is a pretty accomplished handset.. but we do get an impressive that it's a bit of a "parts bin" phone made from elements we've seen before with very little new to offer.

Unlike the monoblock "Classic", the Slide is a fully featured 3G phone with video calling. It also has dual-band UMTS and quad-band GSM, plus GPRS and EDGE data which means that the 6500 Slide can be used worldwide. The screen is a pretty large 2.2" 240x320 pixel panel in 16 million colours.

The Nokia 6500 Slide also has an integrated FM radio and TV out function so that slides and video clips can be shared.

The camera on the Slide is hugely better than the Classic, in fact it looks like one of the best cameras in Nokia's range. It's a 3.2 megapixel unit with Carl Zeiss optics, dual flash, autofocus and VGA-resolution video capture. These type of capabilities have commonly only been seen in high-end N-Series devices before, and the Nokia 6500 Slide is firmly placed in the middle of Nokia's range.

As with most other handsets, the 6500 Slide relies on its expansion slot for memory. There's a reasonable 256MB included in the standard sales package, and this can be expanded to 4GB which should keep most people happy.

The software on the Nokia 6500 Slide is pretty impressive considering that it isn't a smartphone. The multimedia player supports MP3, MP3, AAC, eAAC+ and WMA formats, and the handset even includes built-in versions of Flickr, Adobe Photoshop and PictBridge. Nokia say that the 6500 Slide also includes "push email", and of course it will have a web browser and all the usual stuff you'll find on a 3G phone.

Given the Nokia 6500 Slide's capabilities, it's just plain odd that it isn't an S60 smartphone, but presumably this allows the phone to slot into a particular market niche. And although the other bits and pieces seem to have been raided from other Nokia handsets, they're all pretty good bits and pieces.

It's not a light phone - 125 grams is fairly typical these days for a 3G slider. The battery life is quoted as 6 hours talktime and 13 hours standby time, although it isn't stated if that's on GSM or 3G. Priced at around €370 / £230 / $450 before tax and subsidy, the Nokia 6500 Slide does offer a practical alternative to more expensive N-Series devices.

Nokia say that the 6500 Slide should be available from Q3 2007.