Nokia 6260 review: Symbian in a flip

I'm not going to explain in detail the organizer functions also. You'll find in the phone the same non-repetitive alarm clock, same calendar with a month, week and day view, the same To-do list and notes. Also it offers a calculator, voice recorder (max a minute records) and a wallet for saving your secret information.

Alarm clock settings • clock and alarm clock • month, week and day view in the calendar

Event detail in the calendar • possibilities for entering an event in the calendar • notes and calculator • voice recorder

Demos are blocking the memory

Three games are installed in the phone for those who want to kill time: Bounce arcade, Card deck passions and Snake EX. The phone supports also Java MIDP 2.0 but the programs for Symbian OS are much better. I measured graphics possibilities of Java with jBenchmark, results matches the speed of related Nokia phones:

• jBenchmark 1.0: 2546
• jBenchmark 2.0: 161

You can connect the phone to a PC via a cable, infrared or Bluetooth. For data handling it's suitable to install a PC Suite, for example data synchronization works perfectly. After connecting to the Internet it gets clear that Nokia supports only GPRS class 6, which means 3+2 time slots. That's insufficient in some cases, support of EDGE mobile data transfer would have been useful in this case.

Bluetooth settings • GPRS data counter

Nokia added several programs on the memory card; you can run them three times before buying them. You'll find an ActiveDesk application that displays actual events right on the main display, a fax program MobileFax or PDF files browser that I've already mentioned. PhotoBase is an advanced bitmap pictures editor (mainly photos in the phone). Wayfinder program is used for navigation but you need a bluetooth GPS to use it. It takes many useful megabytes on the memory card, that's why I deleted it very quickly. There is also an additional game - RockitPinball.

Menu with the programs for trial • It's not a Nokia fault… • fax program • game demo

In the mobile's memory, on the card and even on the delivered CD I wasn't able to find the Opera Internet browser which Nokia added to its smartphones lately. The internal WAP browser can handle web pages but it can't reach the quality of Opera or NetFront, which would appear with next Nokia phones. The phone includes also a VPN client for a secure connection to a private company network.

Wap-Internet browser (2x) • VPN client • Push and talk control program; it's useless without your operator's support

Symbian clamshell - not for everyone

I was very curious about the new Nokia 6260 because it's the first clamshell among Symbian smartphones and I expected that it would be a different phone than all other. Nokia disappointed me at first time and I couldn't get used to it for a while - mainly due to the different keypad. But now I'm remembering what was on my mind. It's a very good phone - maybe the best in the class. Against other models it misses only a megapixel camera, on the other hand it features an integrated radio and it can be used as an MP3 player, partially.

A nice phone overall

I would reproach to Nokia 6260 mainly the missing front (mini) display, which is really a necessity in a clamshell phone. I have no good feeling about the hinge looseness in a perpendicular position and I still don't understand the different camera resolutions in various mechanical positions. But pros are prevailing and considering price and construction we can expect that it won't be a mass phone, which everyone around will have.

The greatest competitor of the new phone is Nokia 7610. It's stylish enough and almost identical from functional point of view; possible users will probably hesitate between these two mobiles. Those who want to save their money will probably get Nokia 6600. Comparing the price and the performance, the current king is Siemens SX1 - besides a radio it offers also a full-functional MP3 player, but it also has a very awkward keypad.

Summary: Nokia 6260 is a very good mobile phone for users, who are interested in functions and design as well, but it comes at a price.

Pros and Cons

+ design
+ loaded with functions
+ hot-swappable memory card

- no secondary display
- loose hinge in the middle position
- default photos in low resolution

Package includes

• mobile phone
• charger
• battery
• stereophonic headphones with handsfree
• RS-MMC memory card 32 MB
• CD containing software (mainly PC Suite)
• the users's guide
• warranty certificate