It goes without saying that Nokia are smart guys and it didn’t take them for too long to catch the whim of fashion and realize to the full the range of possibilities hidden in the slim design. Developers and manufacturers usually keep their eyes set onto the real-life market and real-life customers, setting aside risky experiments; although if an experiment takes place, it may lead to all kinds of outcome, including the least expected and most profitable ones. There was little reason in trying to promote slimness those days because potential customers did not do the idea justice as it would deserve. Motorola was the first brand to feature slimness as a token attribute as they were farsighted enough to see the commercial potential of the new trend. Motorola RAZR V3 came to be the first ultra-slim flip phone developed by the Motorola company; the model had striking design and quite affordable price, both combined resulting in an unbelievable amount of sales. It was truly an image phone featuring a design never seen before complemented by an advanced functionality that lead the handset to a tremendous success of more than 100,000,000 copies sold worldwide. RAZR V3 entered the hall of fame as one the best selling cell phones in history. It was the starting point of the slim phone craze and its first noticeable material incarnation. The slimness tendency then became extremely popular and widely followed by most A-class brands, many of them known for copying parts of RAZR V3 design while Motorola themselves issued a number of original variations of the RAZR V3 handset.

Samsung also took part in the contest and designed a phone reflecting their own views of the concept that soon won customers’ favor due to an expanded functionality and was widely popular on the market. Thus Samsung and Motorola strengthened their positions on the market, while other brands like Nokia, Siemens and Sony Ericsson either stayed the way they were or had a drop in sales, unable to offer the potential customers a slim image phone. However, market trends tend to change over time and be eventually replaced by other trends, and the RAZR design could not stay popular forever. Other important phone features came into play, e.g. camera, video and imaging capabilities, audio features, etc. Versatility came into fashion and slimness was driven backstage. Motorola lost this technology drive mainly because they weren’t sensitive enough to develop products meeting new requirements, which ended up with Motorola being driven out of the market.

Other major companies realized the need for diversity, providing maximal market coverage in all the segments, so thin handsets kept being issued forming a wide range of models in different price brackets, backed by different marketing strategies. Nokia and SonyEricsson were rather late to present their interpretation of the slim phone concept, Nokia 6300 and W880i being the first slim products presented by those companies. Although the most advanced technology still doesn’t offer an opportunity to combine all possible hi-tech components inside a really slim casing, the cameras being probably the most obvious limitation. Samsung seems to be winning the leading position on this front, their top models sporting ultra-compact auto-focus cameras that offer unexpectedly high image quality, especially if we compare it to the size of the camera. Nokia and SonyEricsson utilize bigger camera modules that produce images of equal quality or maybe even better ones, but their camera phones tend to be considerably thicker. If we put customer preferences on an imaginary scale, there would be a vast gray zone between people who prefer slimness and those demanding a more up-to-date, advanced functionality. The choice between a common-sized handset with a high-quality camera and an ultra-slim handset with a camera somewhat nerfed for the sake of compactness is a very personal one, so companies see to it that both target audiences are covered by their products, offering different solution not to miss a single brand-loyal customer.

That’s a good reason to explain the difference in positioning strategies, e.g. Nokia 6300 with a 2 Mpix camera on board with no auto-focus support is promoted as a mid-end class product, regardless of its attractive design, high build quality and a powerful firmware platform while Samsung pushes forward their handsets placing them into the multimedia/style class.

Expanding product lines by introducing numerous models sharing a similar construction and functionality with slight differences in design only is a good solution for filling all the available market niches with minimum expenses. Nokia 6300, being the first specimen in the slim phone category issued by the company belongs to the business class, utilizes a classical design and… requires a number of analogous models for the product line to be competitive enough in other market segments – and that’s what Nokia actually did. Nokia 6500 Classic appeared as a parallel product following the design of the 6300 yet intended to occupy a higher niche in the market. Essentially the new model is an improved 6300 featuring a slim housing, 1 Gb of user memory, support for third-generation networking all added to the basic functionality. That’s what pushes the handset into another market segment with a corresponding price range: an extra €100 makes quite a difference. The 6300, appearing on the market at the beginning of the year at a price of about €300 made its way to a tremendous success, making a best selling phone now coming at stable price of €220-€250. Nokia 6500 can be either considered as a vastly improved sequel to the 6300 or an alternative higher-ranking product targeted at an adjacent market segment.

	Nokia 6500 Classic Specs
Communications:	GSM 900/1800/1900, WCDMA 850/2100
Memory:	922 Mb
Display:	2,0" , QVGA (240х320), 16M Colors
Data Transfer:	USB2.0, Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR, with A2DP
Camera:	2 Mp (up to 1600x1200)
Battery:	BL-6P, Li-Ion 830 mAh up to 5,5 hours talk time up to 12,5 hours standby
Size:	109.8 x 45 x 9.5 mm
Weight:	94 g
Price	€320

If Nokia assumes the former position, 6300 will eventually phase out, being replace by Nokia 6500; if the company assumes the latter position, both handsets will persist on the market as parallel products catering to different categories of customers. The second variant is most likely, since Nokia 6300 have been among the most successful solutions for the mid-end class and is going to retain high sales up to the end of its life cycle. The handset won its developers a leading position among all the products found in this segment – the 6223 model fitted into a more pricey niche, likewise its predecessor 6230i while the €220-€250 is occupied by Motorola SLVR series and SonyEricsson’s ex-flagship K750i.

Nokia 6500 Classic is expected to have lesser sales than the 6300 since price is the crucial factor when it comes to sales volume, however analysts say that it will bring Nokia considerable profit. Pursuing it chosen marketing strategy, Nokia decided to back up their positions by issuing an analogous phone with quite a different design, namely Nokia 6500 Slide – the case is remarkable for the first ever use of the same index for two products with different names while earlier Nokia remakes only used indices of older models (like 6110, 3110 and so on). All in all, these are mere names, 6500 being the ultimate slider of Series 40 coming with a 3,2 Mpix auto-focus Carl Zeiss camera and a housing made out of stainless steel. 6500 Classic is a regular candy bar, the slimmest of all Nokia phones so far and an allegedly superior functionality than that of 6300 which isn’t that much when it comes to practice: the user memory was increased to 1 Gb and the camera was upgraded with a flashlight that doesn’t add much to the overall usefulness. The only major addition actually is the third generation networking. In regards of this handset Nokia bets on its unusual attractive design, - note the uncommon bronze color of the housing, - besides the handset is incredibly slim and completely seamless.

Design and ergonomics.

NSimilar to 6500s, the casing of Nokia 6500c is partially made of metal but a quick glimpse over the handset may give you a false impression of the phone being full-metal because both plastic and metal parts are nearly identical in feel and color save for a subtle difference in surface finish. This might look extremely attractive, but in practice such kind of design does worse than it looks. The 6500c can be speculatively split into two parts – the front one made from metal, the back one made from plastic. The back part can be removed in a way similar to Nokia N76 – there’s no battery cover as such, so no way for slacks as well. The few minor drawbacks include a very tight back cover that’s uneasy to remove and a tangible seam between the metal front and the plastic back – the plastic giving quite a cheap feel at a closer look, the back of the phone might be prone to breaking under pressure and the material bends easily.

On the other hand, the front cover of the phone looks brilliant. It’s made of anodized aluminium sharing a surface finish similar to that of SonyEricsson W880i. The housing looks very practical, resistant to grease and scratches. The very look of it invokes memories of Nokia 6300 and Nokia 6500s, both featuring the same smooth stainless steel. The latter is susceptible to scratches but looks much better and has a very solid feel. Nokia 6500c is a compromise solution: aluminium is more practical, light and is generally cheaper.

Unlike the plain plastic part, the metal one is made with a technology providing for total absence of seams; the metal part is just one solid piece which enhances its durability and gives it an exclusive image. The only perceptible seam is that between the metal and the plastic parts.

Nokia 6500c was announced at the same time with the 6500 Slider and 8600 Luna, the trio was quite prominent for the uncommon design and variety of involved materials; all the three gadgets look equally attractive, 6500c being the slimmest of them all – the nine and a half millimeters being Nokia’s top score in the drive for the slimmest phone ever. At the same time, the width and length in this case aren’t extravagant, the handset sits in hand well, it’s easy to handle, the general feel and size are similar to Nokia 6300 (its being slightly thicker doesn’t mean too much actually while its length is several millimeters less – 106 mm vs 110 mm)

Сравним с Nokia 2630:

The build is standard for the candy bar form factor, the keypad leaves a good impression, the buttons made of semi-transparent plastic are large enough with a backframe to match the housing colour. The symbols on the buttons are white and visible in direct sunlight at any angle. The faceted numeric keys are easy to use, the borders between button rows can be easily felt with a touch. The navigation panel is similar to the rest of the Series 40 handsets, the power off button shares the drop call function – the same goes with the 6500s model. The keypad backlighting has a white color, bright and even.

The back surface of the handset hosts the camera with a chrome framing, the polyphonic speaker and the flashlight situated astride. The speaker shares similar drawbacks like those in Nokia 6300 – the sound becomes muffled when the phone rests on a flat surface or in the pants pocket. Save for that, the sound is loud enough and has a good quality – it’s just a regular speaker in keeping with the latest technologies and little besides that.

The plastic cover hides a Li-Ion 830 mAh battery sufficient for 5,5 hours of talktime and 12,5 days in standby mode as alleged by the manufacturer. In real life, the battery charge will be gone in two days of moderately intensive usage and relatively little talktime. Nokia 6300 sports a battery capacity of 860 mAh, so both phones are quite comparable in this domain.

The casing hosts no control elements except a standard keypad, the sound volume is tuned with the navigation button, which leads to some inconvenience but you are sure to get used to it over a short while.The casing hosts no control elements except a standard keypad, the sound volume is tuned with the navigation button, which leads to some inconvenience but you are sure to get used to it over a short while.The only interface slot present is microUSB – used for charging, plugging the headset and the data cable as well. A microUSB adapter for the 2.5 mm slot is bundled with the phone so you can use a standard HS-47 headset with it, the latter lacking a microUSB slot. In short perspective we can expect appearance of 3,5 mm jack adapters. The microUSB slot is situated at the top edge of the handset. It’s choked with a rubber plug.

Nokia 6500c comes in two optional variants of different color: bronze and black. The black version looks rather casual as compared to its exclusive bronze counterpart. Bronze being rare among colors seen among cell phone this days, the latter variant is likely to turn very attractive to potential buyers and outreach its black brother in sales. There are rumours of a black’n’silver version appearing in near future, loosely following 6500’s color scheme.

Nokia 6500 maintains a classical business look but a bit more imaginative than the 6300 regardless even of a lower quality of materials. The build quality is impeccable in both cases, but choosing either out of them two may be a rather disputable one considering both design and materials used. My personal favor is prone to Nokia 6300 – apparently for the better looks and reliability of materials.

Display

The display of Nokia 6500c is of an almost identical quality as that of Nokia 6300 and similar products of the same class, the image quality keeps with the latest achievements of other brands as well as display brightness. The display size is 31x41 mm, the diagonal is 2’’/51mm long at the resolution of 240x320. The color depth is 16 million colors, the picture is bright and clearly visible from most angles. The only bad thing about it is the lack of a protective glass cover. Should one pay much attention to it? Judging by practice, this doesn’t make a difference that really matters. An unprotected screen is easier to stain and damage with sharp objects, but the latter happens too rarely to pose a major threat. Just keep the handset away from keys and other stuff that might damage it while in the pocket and the trouble will stay away, too.

The image quality is obviously good and the brightness isn’t among the weak points either, yet the 6300 is still a bit better on this front. The difference between the displays of Nokia 6500c and 6500s lies mainly in size while brightness and image quality are almost indentical. The display colors of 6500s have a slightly colder palette but you have to be a real color expert to notice that without looking at displays of both phones simultaneously. The luminance sensor is found just above the display, it tunes the brightness automatically depending on the environment, its presence helps to save a bit of charge. The field of view is surprisingly nice, the information on the screen is easily visible from different angles.

Communications

The one and only slot to rule them all is the microUSB one used to plug the headset, the data cable and the charger. A compatible data cable is bundled. The data transfer speed is comparable to that one of Nokia 8600 Luna. The USB protocol version is 2.0, Mass Storage Mode fully supported. You can choose between mass storage, PC suite or modem connection modes. The 6500c doesn’t go into offline mode while used in the mass storage mode, which definitely is an advantage.

The handset supports GSM 850/900/1800/1900 as well as WCDMA 850/2100, the third generation networking is what makes a difference between Nokia 6300 and the older models, though it doesn’t make any real difference in countries that don’t have third generations networks. A full GPRS and EDGE support is present just as one might expect.

As it is put in the specs, Bluetooth version is 2.0 + EDR, all basic profiles are supported including A2DP which allows you to use a wireless stereo headset. A really nice feature is customizable period of visibility while in the Bluetooth network – this can be set from one minute to one hour.

User interface

Nokia 6500c was designed on the basis of the 5th revision of the Series 40 firmware platform which is a matter of great interest itself. This handset is the second ever issued Series 40 phone (the first one is Nokia 7500 available on the market in China) Series 40 v5 was announced on 7th May, 2007. Its key feature is full support for MIDP 2.1 and JSR-248. There seems to be little difference as compared to the 3rd edition of the platform, but from the point of developers it’s a great achievement. JSR-248 development was finished on December 21st, 2006 through the instrumentality of Vodafone mobile operator to support a common set of Java standards in all products by other manufacturers. JSR-248 is also one of the key components of the S60 firmware platform which is sure to secure a high compatibility for Java applications developed both for S40 and S60 platforms. The MIDP update from 2.0 to 2.1 also introduces support for media keys in Java applets (for example, Nokia 5300 can’t use its media keys to control Java applets while with newer handsets this limitation won’t be present).

The MIDP update from 2.0 to 2.1 also introduces support for media keys in Java applets (for example, Nokia 5300 can’t use its media keys to control Java applets while with newer handsets this limitation won’t be present).

As compared to earlier models, the new features include a Java API update for Bluetooth (JSR-82) from v1.0 found in Series 40 v3, FP1, FP2 to v1.1; Mobile Media API (JSR-135) – Java applets can now gain exclusive access to audio and video storage; Security and Trust Services API (JSR-177) now utilizes SATSA-CRYPTO; Java applets now have 3D sound support; Adobe Flash Lite Player is updated to v2.1.

The changes are rather significant; the most fundamental one is the global application compatibility never seen before, especially the compatibility between two different platforms. Other major upgrades include support for extra button in 3rd party applications and better multimedia controls system. It’s quite natural to expect that further editions of the firmware will involve even more advanced features, but there’s little hope for any global innovations – the firmware’s good reputation and a user interface approved by time need little to be changed, only a few additional features may appear.

The user interface itself underwent really few changes in Nokia 6500c, most of them being application-specific. Nothing very remarkable goes with the rest of features, many of them being directly taken from earlier similar models. The GoTo mode is traditionally present with no changes at all, though it is customizable to a point where it can’t be made any better! If you are disturbed by a lot of shortcuts and stats displayed on the screen, you can easily customize GoTo to show none.

The active standby mode as seen in Series 40 3rd Edition phones, looks like a row of iconized shortcuts bringing up five custom applications visible on the display simultaneously (the number of shortcuts is also configurable and scrollable as well), the user himself picks the applications out of a long list. Also there’s an option for shortcutting to a custom application instead of an embedded function. Another option is to display app info taken from up to three user-set applications simultaneously. By default those are the mp3 player, the radio tuner and the calendar. The calendar displays all of today’s upcoming events. It can be navigated through with no need to quit the standby mode with the help of the navigation button (left-right). A notice remains a simple text message popping up on the screen in the standby mode. Applications that can submit info on the screen during the standby mode include the timer, general indicator and the ‘my location’ embedded function. The order in which text lines appear can also be manually configured, the number of lines can be reduced. All in all, the 8600 allows the user to customize more than he could imagine - from a totally empty screen to a lot of diagrams and indicators in the standby mode. The Active menu is traditionally present and the font color is still customizable. The latter function proves useful when it comes to setting a custom wallpaper.

Similar to the rest of the new phone models by Nokia, the main menu has four display modes: list, icons, icons with text, tabs. While list and icons are found with most phones, the latter two options are a novelty. The submenu looks like lists with smaller icons, clear and simple. The font size is only customizable in three applications: Messaging, Contacts and Web. Voice dialing doesn’t require voice sample recording, the menu supports numeric keys shortcutting.

Finally it’s worth mentioning that all of the menu items can be arranged in any custom order you like (however submenu items don’t offer such a function). Almost any of the phone’s functions can be added to the menu or to the desktop in the standby mode, every application can be accessed through a few clicks. Navigation button functionality is fully compatible with the standby mode (up to three button position is configurable in this case, the fourth is reserved for navigation during active standby).

Likewise the majority of Nokia’s products, a number of interface themes are available to the user, changing not only the wallpaper and the background, but the very appearance of menu items, an animated screensaver, the sound of opening the slider. Similar to its predecessor, Nokia 8600 grants its user access to themes exclusively developed for this model. Those are four: AuroraHue, Feathered, Grey, Marble. The first, deep purple, almost perfectly matches the phone’s exterior design, the animated screensaver presenting sophisticated tangling of lilac-coloured lines against a dark background makes a fine match to the smooth keypad backlighting and the semi-transparent panel glass.

Phonebook and call service

A simple check revealed that the total record capacity of the phonebook equals to 1000 of simultaneously stored records each hosting five phone number slots and an extended address line. The memory is not dynamic, the same limit of 1000 records persists even if some of the records only store 1 or 2 phone numbers. However such a loose limit would hardly be of any problem to the vast majority of users. Every contact stores up to five phone numbers of different types (common, mobile, home, video, work, fax), address (street, city, region, ZIP code, country), a PTT address, a e-mail address, a presence indicator, a short notice and a video clip. It was very nice of Nokia to include an option to bind a custom ringtone to every contact - not a custom ringtone per group only.

There three ways for viewing the phone book - name list, name + number, name + picture. The call picture size is large enough, occupying the most of the screen. Also the videoID function is present - if a video clip is set to a specific contact, it will be played in a loop when this person calls you. If both a picture and a clip are set for a contact, the priority goes to the video, also replacing the ringtone with its corresponding sound.

The user can create his own contact groups (up to 25), there aren’t any preset groups. A same contact may belong to several groups at the same time. If a custom melody is set for a contact residing a in a group with another custom ringtone selected for it, the phone will play the contact-specific ringtone and not the group-specific one, which stands to reason. The groups are displayed on the same list as the contacts and come with a special icon, which also seems quite logical. A quick dialup option is present with keys from 2 to 9 acting as hotkeys.

Unlike the Feature Pack 2 - based models, Nokia 8600 features a separated call log having different sections for incoming, outgoing and unanswered calls, the dialup button only brings up the outgoing calls log, which makes a problem here.

Messaging

The messaging service includes SMS, MMS and e-mail capabilities, supports voice mail and so called quick messages. Nothing has changed on the SMS front save for incoming and outgoing messages interface design. The sender can add smileys, contacts and change the message type (from SMS to MMS and alike). The T9 dictionary supports an intelligent input option.

A special contact book is used for messaging, all the recent contacts are displayed on a special list so there’s no need to look up a contact again in the phone book if they were recently sent a message. A whole contact group can be chosen as recipients of a message.

MMS-service is quite standard, the graphical appearance of the interface is changed in a way though. The message length is limited to 300 Kb, images are automatically compressed if the size exceeds the limit. Voice messages are considered as a kind of MMS messages, the voice recorder is automatically activated prior to creation of such a message, the only thing to be done then is to switch it on and record the message. Once the recorder is turned off, an MMS message is automatically composed, then you just have to choose a recipient and press the send button.

The embedded e-mail client supports POP3/IMA4/SMTP/APOP protocols. E-mail attachments are supported, the attachments are read by the phone itself. The principal issue considering e-mail functionality is still present - in some cases, the Cyrillic symbol table support goes wrong, however the phone does its best at interpreting KOI-8 and win-1251 coding. If the mail header doesn’t include a code table signature, expect problems. Viewing include ‘headers only’, ‘maximum message length’, ‘encrypted login mode’, ‘default code table’.

Another point not to be omitted here is the copy/paste function. First this function appeared on Feature Pack I phones like Nokia 6131, 6233. The function is accessible via the contextual menu, there’s no separate key for text processing (unlike the S60-based smart phones), probably a bit of inconvenience here, but still a strong feature.

Message settings include an option to save sent messages, change the font (up to four variants - tiny, small, normal, large), graphical symbols support. MMS also lets specify the maximum picture resolution (up to 640x480 for a normal message, no limits for MMS PLUS here though) and the slideshow period.

The messaging service quite corresponds to the usual standards and does not invoke any reprimands, Nokia 8600 is no worse than the rest of the brands by other companies.

PIM

The Personal Information Manager comprises a number of applications including Calendar, Schedule, Notice Book, Timer, Stop-Watch. The Calendar supports a few viewing options: by month or by week, the latter involves by-hour day scheduling. Up to five types of events can be bound to a specified date: meetings, calls, anniversaries, notices, reminders. A flexible set of options for recurring events and automatic events clearing are also supported (fully customizable).

The schedule book allows for traditional arranging of tasks with customizable priority levels and user-defined time limits for task completion. Notices are an even simple matter, a notice is a custom text up to 3000 symbols. The alarm clock can be set either for a single go or tuned to play the signal on specified weekdays at exact hours defined by the user. A custom ringtone can be chosen as the alarm signal, another option lets the user activate the radio instead (headset must be plugged in order to use this one).
The stopwatch, timer, a world timetable are quite traditional with nothing special about them. The currency converter supports up to seven currency types and is easy to operate.

Калькулятор был доработан кардинальным образом, помимо измененного и хорошо прорисованного интерфейса появился инженерный калькулятор с большим количеством опций. Помимо инженерного калькулятора присутствует калькулятор расчета займов, loan calculator, с помощью которого можно просто и быстро вычислить размер ежемесячных выплат, процент и так далее.

Multimedia

Similar to Nokia 8600, the 6500c doesn’t belong to the multimedia phone class. The main credit goes to the slim design. The user memory is limited to 1 Gb, there’s no memory card slot. Well, most users should find a gigabyte of memory quite sufficient, though 6300 wins on this front, supporting external storage devices. It’s worth mentioning that the actual amount of memory available for the user is limited to 920 Mb.

The following audio formats are supported: AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, MP3, MP4, SP(MIDI), (WB-)AMR, WMA, XMF. The audio player features a unique interface. As compared to handsets based on S40 v3 FP2 there’s a significant number of changes in appearance, functionality stays the same and it’s as easy to use as it used to be. Customizable player skin with a few ones to choose from places 6500c close to smartphones. Preset player themes look quite original and independent from the menu and standby mode themes. So far this kind of personalization is unique, the older S40v3 handsets sharing the same type of interface regardless of positioning.

An album cover or a custom image can be used as a big logo displayed during playtime, that’s rather amusing and is a good substitute for the visualization option found in S60 v3 FP1 smartphones.

The equalizer has five bands and two customizable presets available. An enhanced stereo mode is available, which can be accessed via the Multimedia menu. This seems to be a bit useless however, since actually it doesn’t get the sound quality better enough to feel the difference.

A few playlist options are available: sort by performer, genre, also reshuffle and separate playback. Player controls stay unchanged like in earlier models, the navigation button is used for sorting and browsing the content. The player submits some info to the screen while in standby mode and can be used in background with a Java applet launched at the same time.

The sound quality of 6500c is almost the same with the 6300 provided that you a good headset by a 3rd party manufacturer – the bundled one leaves much to be desired. This will only come true when a 3,5 mm adapter for the Nokia slim jack is released – none is known to exist so far. The slot is conveniently positioned at the top edge of the handset, being no obstacle for keypad interaction. Nokia 6500c can stand up to 9-10 hours of pure playtime, it’s an average value as compared to SonyEricsson music phones.

Проигрывание видеоклипов возможно в режиме MP3 плеера с тем же интерфейсом, что и при воспроизведении музыкальных файлов. Возможен полноэкранный просмотр.

The voice recorder support phone talk recording, just bind this function to the navigation button and the recording will start once you press it. The recorder issues beeps to warn the person that they’re being recorded.

The gallery management functions are very similar to those of the rest S40 phones it’s no more than a file manager allowing for browsing and viewing the contents of user memory. Three options for folder content viewing are available to the user, so you can customize it to you liking. The pictures can be viewed in a slide show listing all of the pictures found in a particular folder, which proves useful when it comes to making a small presentation involving a lot of pictures. The pictures and videos can be viewed in full-screen mode with screen rotated at 90 degrees? The following video formats are supported: H.263, H.264, MPEG-4 and 3GPP. A memory state check option is available, showing the overall size of each content category - from pictures in the gallery to application data. The Series 40 gallery displays a moderate functionality, especially as compared to their S60 smart cousins or analogous devices by competitor brands.

Applications

The pre-installed applications include a measures converter, a time zone converter and four games - Golf Tour, 3D Soccer, Highroller Casino and Sudoku.

The first two games have good graphics and leave a positive impression, being rather involving and helping to relax. A number of favourite Flash Lite applications can be easily installed on the phone just by copying them into the corresponding folder.

Applications in general do not require installation, just copy the .jar file to the phone via Bluetooth, IRda, data cable or in the mass storage mode. Then open the gallery and activate the java applets like if they were text files or pictures. The weak point of java on Nokia 6300 is that you can’t minimize a Java window instead of terminating the process completely. No Java multitasking is available.

Pre-installed applications include Opera Mini, - the first ever used as a firmware by a cell phone manufacturer, - the Search tool similar to that one found in S60 smartphones, Yahoo Go! – a supportive applet to make Internet surfing comfortable, including a number of handy Yahoo! functions like Yahoo Search and Yahoo Mail.

The Radio DJ service allows the user to make playlists sorting the songs automatically with a custom set of filters, e.g. by genre. That’s an interesting option that can help you to create a playlist composed of songs that fit your sorting. The 6500c lacks a built-in FM radio set, this service with a constantly updated song database is limited to 3rd generation networks only.

The performance is standard for the current generation of mobile communication devices built on the S40 v3 platform, comparable to that of Nokia 6300, 6280, no unexpected surprises await you on this field.

	Nokia 6500 Сlassic	Sony Ericsson W880i
Jbenchmark 1.0.1 Score	1619	7391
Text	380	2214
2D Shapes	400	1884
3D Shapes	265	800
Fill Rate	177	555
Animation	397	1689
Jbenchmark 2.0.1 Score	218	617
Image Manipulations	223	365
Text	199	667
Sprites	337	620
3D Transform	286	615
User Interface	114	15100
Jbenchmark 3D HQ	127	168
Jbenchmark 3D LQ	239	318
Triangles ps	31793	33010
Ktexels ps	1161	1213
Jbenchmark HD Gaming Score	104 (3.4 fps)	83 (2.6 fps)
Smooth triangles	59456	43296
Fill rate, KTexels	1470	1073

Camera

The camera of Nokia 6500c is the same as that of Nokia 6300, the base camera module is the same CMOS 2 Mpix, which stands for a similar image acquisition characteristics. There’s neither an auto-focus nor a macro mode. The photos look good on the display mainly due to their high quality, when they get onto the PC you’ll see for sure that the quality is above average. There’s no special button for activating shooting mode – pressing the navigation button up and down is used to zoom, pressing it left or right acts as a switch between video and photo modes. While in the viewfinder mode, the screen isn’t too informative, displaying only free space sufficient for the indicated number of pictures or the video record time (if a video time limit has been set).

In comparison to Nokia 6300, the main difference is the presence of a flashlight though it doesn’t contribute much to the image quality – the pictures taken with a Nokia 6500c have a generally low quality so the flashlight won’t help you when you take photos in a poorly lit environment.

The few camera settings include:

The snap time is rather good, in most cases the picture is ready right after the camera sound, however it takes for about 3 seconds to get back to the camera menu.

The maximum video resolution is 176x144, the shooting quality is adjustable as well as the maximum length (unlimited by default). The quality of captured video is low, obviously being a minor extra function with no real support or need on this platform. The clips won’t do if viewed on the PC however look better on the mobile display. There’s an option for implementing special effects during video shooting. The low quality of videos makes a good illustration of product class segmentation. Nokia 6233, sharing a simila functionality, allows for VGA video shooting, which is today’s upper limit of cell phones. However the video quality was artificially lowered on the 6500c, the camera and the processor technically are up to the same capability, the only difference being the hard-coded software limit.

Summary

The overall communication quality of Nokia 8600 Luna left us deeply impressed, the handset is riding on the edge of the latest technologies available. The speaker quality is high enough to understand your interlocutor even in a noisy environment.

The handset produces a very positive impression but there’s nothing extraordinary to it. The functionality is very modest considering the rest of models available on the market, but it’s quite all right for a ultra-slim handset. The 6500c would perfectly please a customer who is looking for a very slim, stylish phone having all the essential functions that a modern handset should have – the latest edition of the S40 firmware platform, an updated interface, a high sound quality and a gigabyte of built-in multimedia storage. Camera doesn’t play a big part here, it only allows for mid-quality images.Nothing is perfect, and like the rest of real-life phones, 6500c has a number of drawbacks – but it’s up to you to decide whether they’re too dramatic to buy this one. For example, the battery life is shorter in comparison to other models – but it still allows for two days of usage before recharging. The screen lacks protective cover, so the device demands careful handling. 1 Gb of user memory is quite enough, but a memory card slot wouldn’t do any harm if it were real. There’s no FM tuner, the number of interface slots is limited to only one – and there’s no compatible 3rd party accessories on the market so far.

The handset has traditional classical looks, you won’t find anything extravagant here – the product is targeted towards a wide audience. Some of the build elements are bound to attract a customer’s attention – for example the seamless front cover made of anodized aluminium. Nokia 6500c has monolith looks, its rounded corners only add to the impression. The handset’s bronze color looks fresh and pleasing to the eye.

The model is a win in its class, the dimensions are optimal, not a bit of the screen and keypad was sacrificed to achieve a fantastically slim build, the phone keeps harmony of proportions. Today a vast range of slim devices in different form factors can be observed on the mobile phone market, but finding a comparable candy bar phone leaves us with a scarce choice, SonyEricsson W880i being the most likely candidate for a competitive product. Both handsets share a similar functionality and materials, especially the finished aluminium surface. The two products are being positioned differently, 6500c caters to larger audiences with traditional taste while W880i apparently is an advanced youth’s prized gadget with an original design and great musical functionality. Also SonyEricsson T650i can pose a source of indirect competition, many people tend to compare the two, but Nokia 6300 costs much less and has a more limited functionality, so it belongs to another class. A number of slim candy bar models by Motorola with a similar level of functionality are expected to appear in the near future, making their way to the same segment as Nokia 6500c.

	Nokia 6500 Classic	Nokia 6300	SonyEricsson W880i
Size:	109.8 x 45 x 9.5 mm	106.4 x 43.6 x 11.7 mm	103 x 46.5 x 9.4 mm
Communications:	EGSM 850/900/1800/1900, WCDMA 850/2100	EGSM 900/1800/1900	GSM 900/1800/1900, WCDMA 850/2100
Display:	2,0" QVGA 16M colors	2,0" QVGA 16M colors	1,8" QVGA 262K colors
Camera:	2 Mp (1600x1200)	2 Mp (1600x1200)	2 Mp (1280x960)
Video:	QCIF (176x144), 15 fps	QCIF (176x144), 15 fps	QCIF (176x144), 15 fps
Flash:	LED	-	-
	Octorber 2007	March 2007	March 2007
Price:	€320	€220	€320

The story of Nokia 6300 doesn’t come to an end, either. The most likely outcome will be that of both models co-existing on the market, occupying different niches due to the gap in price. Both handsets are targeted at wide audiences, but the cheaper 6300 is going to stay a more practical and reasonable solution. The real difference between the two is basically the thickness and little more, the rest won’t matter much – save probably for the third generation mobile networking which is important for European countries. All in all, 6500c may look more attractive and functional, but there’s much dispute whether the advantages are justified buy the price – we’d advise picking the 6500c only if the ultra slim design is critical to you.

It’s also important no mention the 7900 Prism model, which is a fashion version of 6500 Classic, sporting almost the same set of features (slim body made from anodized aluminum, 1 Gb of integrated memory with no possibility to expand). To our opinion, Nokia 7900 looks more appealing both in terms of design and user interface improvements introduced to ensure its status as that of a fashion model. The price difference is estimated to be about 100 euros, which is quite a deal, but judging from the point of practical usability, choosing 7900 Prism is more justified: Nokia 6500 seems to fall in between the two models sharing a good deal of functionality: 6300 and 7900. The former is the world-recognized modification of the classical candy bar model, the latter is a high-ranking fashion phone, so there seems to be little space left for 6500c. In other words, the 6500 model will only pose some interest after 6300 phases out from the market (this device’s market presence approaches to 10 months, which is a rather long course nowadays) Then the balance of portfolio will be regained, each market niche will be filled by a single product, meant to attract the number of consumers. So, the series of slim candy bars is represented by the budget 2630, the low-end 3500 Classic, the mid-end musical 5310, the mid-end 6500 and the high-end fashion 7900.

The price of 6500 Classic is mostly justified by the exclusive design of the handset for Nokia 6500c is the slimmest device ever issued by the company. It is going to keep this lucky position for quite a long while since there’s little practical reason for reducing the handset thickness in the nearest future and the optimal value is already acquired. Designers’ priorities are moving onto another field, the hardware platform is going to stay the way it is for some time, the only specs change being the balance between the size of the modules – cutting the screen size to host an advanced camera module or vice versa and all that kind of small tweaks designers usually do. For example, the Locosto platform based Nokia 2630 (code name Barracuda) also sports a minimal thickness among budget solutions, the new musical Nokia 5310 having specs similar to the 6500c is another example. Eventually devices sharing comparable dimensions will be present in all the segments of the whole product range, differentiated by positioning, design, price and technical specifications.

SMAPE's opinion:

Nokia 6500 Classic is a nice handset with a stylish design, minimal dimensions, quality materials but in terms of the current price policy it seems to be inadequately priced, so we only recommend buying it after the price decreases and finally gets stable.

+ The slimmest Nokia phone
+ Quality build and materials
+ High ergonomics
+ Powerful software platform, revamped player interface
- Average functionality
- No possibility for storage expansion
- Lack of radio

Author: Iliya Solovyev

www.smape.com

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