Review of GSM/UMTS-handset Nokia 6500 slide, smartphone Nokia E51 and Nokia 6500 classic

Impressions
The volume of the 72-chord call alert is quite high; the device is very audible in various environments, although, since there is only one polyphonic speaker on the place, that is located on the rear on top of that, you might end up missing a call should you have the 6500 slide in your jeans pocket. The handset does well on the reception front, being a typical representative of the current generation of devices. The silent alert is average strength-wise, but you will still feel it even with the phone in the pocket.

The Nokia 6500 Slide entered the market with a price tag of 370-400 Euro, and currently retails for around 440 Euro in Russia, which is not a really adequate – basically, you pay for the brand, the materials used and the ability to get pretty good images with the inbuilt camera. The Slide is by no means a flagship in imaging, being a mere fashion-savvy offering. On top of that, it doesn’t have any direct competition, which automatically unties Nokia’s hands. Early in 2008, its price is likely to drop down to 360-380 Euro, which will make a tad more interesting, but still won’t get it in line with European retail prices.

Nokia has rolled out a phone that is gratifying to use, feels sturdy, which, however, won’t be a best seller. But its target audience couldn’t be happier with this – the 6500 Slide looks snazzy, sports a known brand on the front plate, what more could we wish for?

The 6500 Slide's SAR value – 1.10 W/kg

http://www.mobile-review.com/review/nokia-6500slide-en.shtml



Impressions
In terms of its reception quality, the E51 is a very typical Nokia-branded offering – no real merits or flaws, which comes as no surprise, however, given how similar it is to the Nokia 6120 hardware-wise. The ring tones were pretty loud with the E51; we didn’t experience any difficulties with hearing it in various environments. The vibro alert is average strength-wise.

Is the E51 rivaled by solutions from other manufacturers? As I see it, there are none, and the reason for that is pretty simple – it is a pricey model for those who are bent only on calls and can’t see their phones housed in a form-factor other than candy-bar. Had any other manufacturer attempted to roll out such a handset, it would have been dead even before its release day, but Nokia finds itself in a different position, all thanks to its brand strength.

However, there is no way the E51 will appeal to the masses – this handset is rather aimed at those who do know what it is capable of and what it is designed for. As a feature phone, this is one unique device, delivering a truly gratifying experience. As a smartphone, however, it is fiddly and actually is of no real use. So the right way to treat this phone is this: a feature phone with a pinch of smartphone’s functionality onboard. This is also indicated by the stingy suite of preinstalled applications – obviously, not the thing we expect from these devices. The E51 isn’t a multimedia-ready solution either, being a year or a tad more behind the market.

Turns out that Nokia has come up with a decent device for calls, rather than a do-it-all solution, whose steep price will put many off, and probably, the momentum will have been long gone when it gets lower. The price curve of the Nokia E50 clearly shows that the maker is not going to retail products for less than production costs, which is quite understandable. Don’t think the Nokia E51’s price will drop down to the watermark of the Nokia 6120 Classic any time soon – its expected life time is around 15-18 months and at the bottom point of the price curve it will go for about 280-290 Euro. In order for the strategy of aggressive price cuts to succeed the E51 should either become an ultra-bestseller (which it won’t be, because of the Nokia 6120 and the Nokia E65) or have no sales at (very unlikely). It will see reasonable sales and grab in a sizable share on the market of handsets design for calls alone, which are not synonymous with entry-level phones (like many look at them). For example, the Nokia 8800 is another handset for calls.
Nokia should be presenting this handset as a feature phone with some smartphone perks, rather than an enterprise solution with loads of extras onboard, which don't make any impression on consumers. This handset is a great business-minded offering for calls, actually, one of the best as of today. It can be easily recommended for your second device, especially when you aren’t too concerned about price tags. And in case a smartphone/communicator-grade functionality is not one of the essentials for you, camera is not a top-priority either and you normally listen to favorites tunes with a stand-alone music player, then the E51 can well fit in the role of your primary device.

The trend set by the Nokia E51 will go through other Nokia’s models as well, for the most part in the Eseries, since these phones get easier to master this way. The E51’s so-hyped WiFi connectivity is in fact required only by a small part of its target audience. This is also indicated by the presence of the IrDA port, which is the thing a lot of the phone’s prospective owners don’t view as an anachronism. If you put IrDA on one scale and WiFi on the other, two technologies from different times, you will see that together they shape up a very controversial portrait of the E51’s owner – he is conservative and tech-savvy at the same time. But in the real world, these two extremes never come together in one man.

One of our last reasons why this model will never take the market by storm is that Nokia hasn’t involved its corporate distribution channels for the ESeries, and sells them just like any other mobile phones – through retail networks. This isn’t a particularly great approach, especially, when Nokia’s own line-up comprises a number of rivals for its enterprise solutions.

The Nokia E51 is already available on the European market, whereas its release in Russia is slotted for early January, and no shortage of supplies is expected. If some distributor will actually manage to start shipping it in December, he won’t have many phones on offer, and what is more, the price tags will be much heftier than 350 Euro.

The SAR value for the E51 is 1.4 W/kg. The last thing we would like to do in this write-up is dispel a myth about this phone’s high SAR – it is not caused by the E51’s increased transmitter power, or cutting-edge technologies for better reception quality. The real reason is the handset’s different platform and new location of the antenna (it doesn’t contribute to this SAR level as much as the platform does), which is now housed in its top part right opposite to your ear, whereas many of the today’s phones have it positioned more towards the lower end.

http://www.mobile-review.com/review/nokia-e51-2-en.shtml



Impressions
The volume of 72-tone polyphony is enough for almost all environments. The 6500 Classic also does fine on the reception front, as it stands up to all other phones of the current generation. The vibro alert is average strength-wise, but can be still felt while the handset is in pocket.

This is the key offering for Nokia, so the maker’s substantial marketing activities come as no surprise. In the vast majority of European regions, it retails for around 320-350 Euro, whereas in Russia it sells for 650 USD or more. The phone has been positioned as a fashion-savvy solution in the first place – its target audience is not really into mobile powerhouses.

Over the month of our quality time with a commercial unit, we couldn’t a reason to fault its coating or performance. However, our handset had some problems with the “shoe” which didn’t fit the upper part of the casing very well – in fact, there is no one else to blame for this but us, and we couldn’t fix this, regrettably. Short of that problem, we didn’t notice any other flaws with the 6500 Classic.

The 6500 Classic is an pleasant phone to use. It doesn’t really qualify as a music-minded solution, even though it does okay on the music front. The list of its direct competitors has only the Sony Ericsson W880i, but the latter has been around for a while now, whereas the Nokia 6500 Classic has the momentum behind it.

The SAR level for the 6500 Classic – 0.87 W/kg

http://www.mobile-review.com/review/nokia-6500classic-en.shtml