Nokia 6700 slide review: Braving the odds

Reasonable retail package

The Nokia 6700 slide is dressed to impress but the retail package obviously had to keep within price limits. Not that anything essential is missing, but there’s nothing too fancy either.

There's a reasonable number of extras in the 6700 slide retail package

Inside the box, you will find a 2GB microSD card and that tiny Nokia microUSB cable that extends to no more than 5cm. Of course you also get a charger and a rather cheap looking one-piece headset that ends on a 2.5mm jack.

Nokia 6700 slide 360-degree spin

The Nokia 6700 slide is a bit bigger than the classic version, measuring 95.2 x 46.1 x 15.9 mm and 52 cc of volume. But despite the added millimeters around the waistline, (it’s a slider after all) it will still fit easily into any pocket.

The relatively heavy weight of 110 grams gives the 6700 slide the same solid feel we enjoyed in its bar-shaped predecessor. That’s one thing about those two phones that makes them a joy to handle.

Design and construction

When Nokia first announced the 6700 slide we were less than impressed with all those bright and flashy paintjobs. We do appreciate the fact though, that they are likely to make the phone a popular choice among youngsters. Anyway, we’re working with the silver version and we’re more than happy with the the finish of the device (but only that, not the overall design).

Indeed photos, be it official promo pictures or live shots, rarely do the Nokia 6700 slide justice. It may lack the geeky appeal of touch-phones with huge colorful screens, but it’s exactly the solid and reliable, no-nonsense handset that many users will just love.

When the phone is closed the display takes about two-thirds of its front panel. To say it up front, the screen is small. Neither the QVGA resolution nor the 2.2” diagonal is worth cheers but image quality isn’t too bad. The brightness levels of the TFT unit are pretty high, contrast is unimpressive though.

With displays like the Samsung Super AMOLED around, it’s hard to get excited about the modest (at best) screen of the Nokia 6700 slide. Still, if have to name one area where the 2.2” screen stands its ground against the best it would be sunlight legibility. That’s where Nokia have an excellent record and we’re glad the 6700 slide is up to it.

The 2.2" QVGA display is nothing to boast about

The ample D-pad is dead center on the navigational pad below the screen along sided by six other keys.

The D-pad and the six keys that surround it

The navigation pad is made of metal but the two round buttons and the D-pad are plastic. All keys are decently sized and produce nice, satisfying clicks when pressed.

Above the Nokia 6700 slide display are the video-call camera and the ambient light sensor, placed on either side of the earpiece.

From left to right: ambient light sensor, earpiece and video-call camera

The right side of the handset features the dedicated camera key. It’s got distinct half and full press but is too slim and plasticky. It definitely does a good job at focusing and capturing all snapshots.

There's a two-position dedicated camera key on the right

The bottom of the phone is where the microphone pinhole is located.

There isn't too much going on at the bottom

The left-hand side of the Nokia 6700 slide is completely bare. There’s no volume rocker on this one, but you can use the D-pad instead.

The completely bare left side

There are no less than four apertures at the top of the phone. The lanyard eyelet is located on the left, followed by the 2.5mm audio jack. We would have appreciated the more popular 3.5mm solution here but it’s still better than the 6700 classic, which had no standard jack at all.

Next in line is the microUSB port, hidden under a plastic cover. The Nokia 6700 slide can charge off a microUSB connection so you have two options here instead of one.

Right next to the microUSB port under the lid is the battery cover latch. It's somewhat of an inconvenience that you need to pop the port cover open every time you remove the back panel.

The other charging option is, of course the traditional Nokia charger plug, which is the last thing of interest at the top.

The lanyard eyelet, 2.5mm audio jack, microUSB jack and the charger plug are on top

Opening the slider reveals the 12-key alphanumeric keypad. It’s the flatbed type and does look cheap and flimsy. However, aside from the insufficient headroom for the topmost row of buttons, the keypad does quite a good job. The keys are large enough and sufficiently spaced. Tactile orientation and, especially, the good press feedback make a positive overall impression.

The alphanumeric keypad is doing a decent job

We conclude our trip of the Nokia 6700 slide hardware at the rear panel. This is where the 5 megapixel camera lens is located, along with the dual-LED flash.

The Nokia 6700 slide metallic back panel

Under the battery cover lays the microSD card slot, which handled a 16GB microSD card with ease. You will need to remove the back panel to get to the card slot, but you still have the option to hot-swap cards.

The hot-swappable microSD card slot

The Nokia 6700 slide is powered by an 860 mAh Li-Ion BL-4CT battery, which is quoted at up to 300 hours of stand-by or up to 4 hours of talk-time. Those are hardly spectacular numbers but its real life performance ain’t half bad.

With a few minutes of telephony and about an hour of fiddling with the other features of the phone each day, the Nokia 6700 slide lived though almost four full days and that was a pleasant surprise.

The general feel about the Nokia 6700 slide materials and sliding mechanism is very positive. The nice all-metal finish is nice to feel in your palm and there are hardly any usability compromises. While not among the most beautifully designed sliders around, the Nokia 6700 slide is still an excellent package that is very comfortable to use and carry around.

The Nokia 6700 handles nicely