Nokia 6170 review: A new generation clamshell

It would be a mistake if I skip the email browser as not interesting at all, because all data profiles and service settings have changed. There is just one Configuration menu where you can set Wap, MMS, synchronization, Push to talk, My Presence and IM, email and stream media.

Menu for setting up everything

Setting is not quite simple so we'll get back to that when the phone is in sale. We can expect that people will use more the automatic setting by means of configuration SMS. If you don't go deep in the menu and you want i.e. just to select a data profile, the phone says that it's the provider who should have sent you the setting. It's also possible to set everything manually but it's quite difficult sometimes. Email client seems to be faster than with older Nokia phones but its functionality is the same. It's a Java application, which can use the internal address book of the phone but it doesn't recognize the attachments at all.

Basic menu of the email browser • writing a new message

Time organization: nothing new

Alarm clock with the new Nokia is repeated after all. You can even set week days when it should be active and also the sound you would like to hear.

Alarm clock settings • days in week selection

I've described the Calendar in Series 40 mobiles many times… Again, it shows month, week and day view with several types of events, repetition, reminder etc. To-do list will manage your tasks; after accomplishment can be ticked off. For writing longer texts you can use Notes (max. 3000 chars) and a voice recorder will record up to 3 minutes of your voice notes.

Month, week and day view in the Calendar

Various types of events in the Calendar • a text note • voice recorder

It will be possible to synchronize data in Nokia 6170 with PC. Up to now we don't have software available so I wasn't able to try the function.

Calculator, stopwatch, countdown timer… it makes no sense to analyze these functions. Quite interesting is the Wallet for storing passwords, codes and other secret information that shouldn't be seen by everybody who holds the phone in his hand. At first start-up you'll choose a password and without it nobody has a chance.

Entertainment and data

The phone supports Java (MIDP 2.0). I found two games and two applications in the memory. Puzzle is a quite playable variant of Tetris; Beach Race is a car racing. Translator can translate some basic words between English, Spanish, French, German and Italian languages. World Clock II is an application used for time zone orientation.

Java games folder • Puzzle • Beach Race

Wap browser features Last web address service which gets you to the last entered address. This function wasn't available in former Nokia models and even the full history would be useful.

Three font sizes in the Wap browser

Besides playing recorded video, which is saved in the memory, Nokia supports also stream media (RTSP protocol). I didn't really succeed with trying this function because except several videos on Nokia wap I wasn't able to find a service that could work with the phone. Nokia 6170 is unfortunately short of radio and is not compatible with MP3 format.

Nokia 6170 offers wide range of mobile data technologies. Besides slow dial connection (CSD) and HSCSD it "knows" also GPRS class 10 and EDGE with theoretical speed 238.6 kb/s maximum. Connecting the phone with a PC is possible via data cable or infrared port, Nokia 6170 doesn't have Bluetooth for fast connection.

Possible mass clamshell

Don't turn your back to Nokia 6170 just because it's not your favorite brand of phone. It's a very well equipped phone for a price, which I can imagine to be much higher. I must acknowledge the design again (even that it's clear that it won't please everybody), solid construction, large display and a good array of functions.

Nokia 6170 is an excellent mobile phone

It's a pity that the 6170 doesn't support Bluetooth. Radio would be useful as well and if Nokia would add a memory card, an MP3 player would be also very nice. But not every mobile can be equipped as the highest model 6230. There's a place on the market also for cheaper and functionally limited phones.

The competitors? For fashion conscious users Nokia will introduce the 7270 model that will offer the same functions in a different package. Still we have the older Nokia 7200, but new phones are more attractive so decreasing the price should help.

From the other brands, mainly Samsung phones, e.g. E800 and E700, would be competitors, and from the functions point of view Siemens SL65 is on similar level. Motorola comes to the fight with its V600 and V80 models.

While Nokia 7200 was a phone designated mainly for female users, who have enough money, the new Nokia 6170 would be more ambitious. It will be cheaper even at the beginning of the sale. It's not so extremely eccentric and its functions will surpass the demands of the most people.

Pros and Cons

+ design
+ solid construction
+ quality and large display

- shiny surfaces will easily get dirty
- higher weight
- unusually low memory