Nokia 6600 fold review: Flip and the city

Unboxing

Nokia 6600 fold comes in a medium-sized box and the stuff inside is hardly going to impress you. There is no complimentary memory card this time, but we found a carrying case instead. It has its own instruction manual (!), which might as well be as high-tech as it gets for the targeted segment.

Nokia 6600 fold retail package • the carrying case

A nicely looking two-piece handsfree set is supplied. The keys on the remote are large and tactile enough, so you can quickly get used to operating it without even looking. The supplied headset also comes complete with three sets of ear buds of varying size, so you can pick the one that suits you best.

The two-piece handsfree lets you use your own headset

The last items in the retail package are the mandatory DC charger, a microUSB cable and an instruction manual.

Nokia 6600 fold 360-degree spin

Nokia 6600 fold stands at 87.7 x 44 x 15.9 mm with a volume of mere 52 cc. These numbers are near spectacular in clamshell terms. The 6600 fold is an impressively compact and solid flip. The weight of 110 g may sound unexpected but the extra friendly grip and exquisite exterior do pay off.

Design and construction

Quite obviously, and thankfully, with Nokia 6600 slide we can't be blamed for focusing too much on looks. Smooth and elegant, the handset is one adorable little piece of gear. The exterior is absolutely striking and the inside is trying to stay on par, except for a few eye-hurting details. For one, the magnetic plates for the flip could've been a lot more subtle. They take more space than seems necessary leaving less for the really important elements - the keypad and the display.

When closed, Nokia 6600 fold surely is a treat with almost seamless casing and color gradation. There is a status light on the top of the front panel, placed right above the hidden display. It indicates standby mode, missed events, alarms and reminders, calls, and low battery, and can also be disabled if the user prefers.

Double-tapping on the front wakes up the external display. Missed calls or unread messages are indicated by a status icon. The currently running music track or FM radio station also get displayed. If you aren't listening to any music, nor have you got any missed calls or messages, the clock gets shown. You can opt between either digital or analogue clock on the outer display.

The external display wakes up upon double tapping on the front

A nice feature of the 6600 fold allows you to mute an incoming call or an alarm by double-tapping on its front surface. Double-tapping once on an incoming call mutes the ringer, while repeating it rejects the call.

On the left side of Nokia 6600 fold we find the microUSB port. It has no protective cap, which is both an unpleasant sight and a guarantee to get filled with dirt.

The microUSB port is prone to dirt

The lanyard eyelet of the phone is at the bottom and the strap itself threads under the battery cover in a neatly designed loop.

The lanyard gets attached under the battery cover at the bottom of the phone

The charger plug is located on the right of Nokia 6600 fold, next to the flip key. Pressing that key lets the phone unfold thanks to the built-in electromagnetic system. The flip is smooth and even, though some members of our team found it somewhat slow.

The charger plug is right next to the one-touch flip knob

The inside of the phone reveals the main display and the keypad, the performance of which we will save for latter. Above the display are the video-call camera and the ambient light sensor. The earpiece is nestled beneath the top magnetic plate, while the loudspeaker grill is all the way down on the metallic chin.

Flipped up • Video-call camera and ambient light sensor

The back panel of Nokia 6600 fold hosts the 2 megapixel camera lens, which is complemented by a dual-LED flash.

The 2 megapixel lens and dual-LED flash at the back

Opening the battery cover is a rather tricky job, especially if you don't have long nails. This is in fact one of the hardest phones to open we've come across recently. Under the hood is an 860 mAh Li-ion BL-4CT battery. The manufacturer commits to 4 hours of talk time or 300 hours of stand-by. In reality, it provides about three days of mild-to-moderate use, which is somewhat short of impressive but certainly ok.

The BL-4CT battery is an average performer

Below the battery lies the microSD card slot, which means no hot-swap for the 6600 fold. This is quite inconvenient but we guess 6600 fold users will just have to live with it.

microSD card slot way under, no hot-swap

Nokia 6600 fold handles 8GB cards problem-free and that's some consolation. Even if the Nokia website claims 4GB card compatibility at most, our test showed no issues with currently the largest available microSD card.

The built-quality of Nokia 6600 fold is commendable and the exquisite looks are a great asset. Extra elegant without imposing, the handset is a neat and adorable accessory. Fingerprints are of course an issue but the likeable flip responds with disarming charm.

The compact and heavy handset handles sweetly, single-handed usage being almost too easy. Every key is easily reachable and that's hardly a surprise, given the extra friendly dimensions of the clamshell.

Nokia 6600 fold feels tiny in the hand when closed