Theo - Tech News, Reviews & Guides

Well, I finally received my new phone. It’s the Nokia 6220 Classic, fairly similar to the N82 that is no longer stocked with major networks (on my last check) in the United Kingdom. It contains the same five megapixel camera with excellent Carl Zeiss optics, HSDPA Capabilities (3.5G), GPS and a Xenon flash. The WiFi connectivity found in the N82 is no longer present, but given the speed of HSDPA there shouldn’t really be a problem there.

My first thought when I took a look at this phone was questioning why it wasn’t made part of the N-Series line, Nokia’s high end line of ’super’ phones. However, there doesn’t really seem to be much of a difference, and one unique advantage of the 6220 Classic over the popular N95 is its smaller size. This phone may not have the 8Gb of internal memory that the high end N95 boasts, but accepts MicroSD memory cards which match the capacity.

From my first impressions, the 6220 Classic felt solid, despite the fact that the exterior is almost entirely made of plastic. The front of the phone is glossy, and the main four-way navigation key is raised slightly to distinguish it from others. However, I quickly found that navigating the numeric keypad by feel was hard due to the almost continuous surface.

I shall be starting with one of the star features of this phone - the camera. As I previously mentioned, the phone possesses a Xenon flash. To my knowledge, the N95 only has a LED, and so this phone comes into its own when in dark conditions. From the images that I have taken so far, I have seen no red eye and quality has been superb. However, the flash can sometimes be far too bright and the ‘digital camera’ look of an image can be lost. Nokia has added a light underneath the shutter button that illuminates with the keypad, which can prove handy when it is dark.

The phone comes pre-loaded with a 90 day navigation system trial where directions can be given to both car drivers and pedestrians. When I the Nokia website mentioned the ‘Navigator’ and GPS, I presumed that I would have to subscribe to obtain the functionality after my trial. However, it turns out that the Navigator system gives you directions - location data and maps can still be viewed and downloaded. Adding and removing maps is easy - they can cover counties to continents and can be transferred using Nokia PC Suite (the phone management software) addon.

I must mention that the N60 interface based on the Symbian mobile phone operating system is not to everyone’s taste. In fact, the GUI almost became the sole reason for me trying to choose between phone models instead of making a fast decision. However, I quickly warmed to it after a few tweaks, but tasks aren’t as easy to accomplish as with a Samsung or Sony Ericsson, mainly due to the number of menus being in place. I’d love to see this cumbersome navigation system being toned down in future editions whilst retaining the same options for ‘power users’ to heavily customise their phones and access less important functions to the average joe.

Verdict
The Nokia 6220 Classic is a great phone for just about anyone, suitable for anywhere. It may not be a fashion phone, but it certainly strikes on features. Despite the fact that it may be let down by an interface which could have been designed in a more user friendly fashion, the phone certainly represents good value and easily outpaces many other phones similarly priced on the market today.