Nokia 6600 Slide

Expected Q3 2008
28th April 2008
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The Nokia 6600 Slide is a 3G slider phone with a 3.2 megapixel camera that is very similar in specification to the existing Nokia 6500 Slide.

Sporting a 2.2" 320 x 240 pixel display, microSD expandable memory (with a 512MB card in the standard sales package), video calling, stereo Bluetooth and 3G support, the 6600 Slide offers most of the features that most customers would want.

The 3.2 megapixel camera has autofocus and a flash, and is capable of VGA resolution video capture at 15 fps or QVGA capture at 30 fps. The Nokia 6600 Slide's capabilities aren't as good as a new N-Series phone, but it's quite  respectable nonetheless.

Multimedia support is pretty much what you would expect with MP3, AAC and WMA playback capabilities. The Nokia 6600 Slide has a built-in FM radio, and can also display MPEG4, H.263 and H.264 video. There's a web browser and email client plus all the familiar features that you would find in an S40 phone.

One unusual feature on the 6600 Slide is an accelerometer. Tapping twice on the phone will silence an alarm or reject an incoming call. We're not sure why that's useful, but Nokia have included it in both the new 6600 series phones anyway. The 6600 Slide includes Google maps, but GPS is only available through an optional accessory.

As we mentioned before, this is very similar to the 6500 Slide. The 6600 Slide is lighter at 110 grams (compared to 123 grams), but the battery life is shorter. It's a more compact device, although it lacks the classic Nokia styling of the 6500. The 6600 Slide features aluminium and steel in its design to give it a feeling of quality, as did the 6500. In other words, if you have a 6500 Slide, there's no pressing reason to rush out and get the 6600 Slide.

Nokia say that the 6600 Slide should be available during Q3 2008. The anticipated price of €250 (£200 / $400) before tax and subsidy is pretty good value for a handset of this specification.

The Original Nokia 6600

Nokia's peculiar habit of recycling product names strikes again. Although most of these "re-used" names have often been quite obscure products, the original Nokia 6600 launched in 2003 (pictured) was Nokia's flagship phone of the day and can be considered a fore-runner of the Nokia N95.

The original Nokia 6600 offered expandable memory and a multimedia player at a time when they were very rare things to find on a mobile phone. In some ways the original is more advanced than the two current 6600 models as it is a Symbian S60 smartphone.

It was quite a popular phone, so if you ever find yourself hunting for a 6600 on eBay, be careful that you get the model you are really looking for!