Nokia 6170

Discontinued
14th June 2004

An unusual looking rectangular clamshell in a stainless steel housing, the Nokia 6170 certainly looks interesting, and inside a couple of nice features enhance what would otherwise be a very ordinary phone.

As far as we can determine, there's no particular reason for the metal housing other than to look good. Inside the case is a disappointing 128x160 pixel display, but there is also a useful secondary display on the outside of the phone. The camera is only VGA resolution, and the phone lacks Bluetooth support.

However, there are two unusual features that make the 6170 attractive from a technical perspective. Firstly, the Nokia 6170 has Push-To-Talk (PTT) allowing low cost and easy conferencing and walkie-talkie style chat over the phone's inbuilt data connection. Secondly, the 6170 supports EDGE high speed data, making it an ideal companion for a laptop.

Nokia claim that the 6170 is easy to synchronise with contact and appointment details, although we're unsure of how this is different from most other Nokias. And although the 6170 has an XHTML browser built-in, the small screen makes web surfing  difficult.

It's not a bad phone at all - and if you're in the market for a mid-range Nokia clamshell then this is your only choice - but we would dearly like to see a better camera and display in the Nokia 6170, but it's fantastic value for money at an unsubsidised price or around €250/£160/$290.

Nokia have achieved some notable things with this phone - combining lots of features with radical but smart styling, good battery life, and they've managed to keep the price down too. Available fourth quarter 2004.

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