Review: Nokia 6650 Fold

Nokia 6650 Review

Phone rating:

In a nutshell: A clamshell smartphone that looks smart too! The 6650 Fold offers some interesting features including a USB modem, GPS satnav, a music player, FM radio and good battery life. Search round for a bargain though as its rather expensive at launch.

Review: November 2008.

Well, the Nokia 6650 (sometimes called the Nokia 6650 Fold) is a curious animal. Firstly, the name is confusing as Nokia released a 6650 phone back in 2003. It was Nokia's first 3G phone and it was a brick. Secondly, it's a clamshell smartphone, an extremely rare beast indeed. Thirdly, it's exclusive to T-Mobile.

Anyway, enough of that, what you all want to know is, is the phone any good? Well, first impressions are good, as it looks very nice indeed with its metallic outer finish. It's not a slim clamshell by any means, but it's a nice size to hold and not too heavy. The keypad is flat but easy to use, with nice-sized keys and we have to love the cool lighting effects, with a choice of seven different colours for the keypad backlighting.

The 6650 is essentially a budget smartphone, so don't expect the latest 8 megapixel camera here. The camera is pretty weak in fact, being on a par with the cameras used in Nokia's mid-range and entry-level phones. With just a 2 megapixel sensor and no autofocus you won't want to bin your digicam just yet. It does have a flash though. Also, although this is a 3G phone and the camera supports video clips, there's no possibility of making video calls.

There's an MP3 player and also RealPlayer for playing back videos. The music player supports MP3, AAC and WMA formats. There's also a built-in FM radio. The headphone connection is a 2.5mm proprietary socket, but a decent set of stereo headphones are supplied in the box.

The 6650 is a 3G smartphone, so it's packed with applications. These include Flash player for a rich web browsing experience. In fact, T-Mobile are pushing the internet capabilities of the phone quite heavily. One interesting feature is that the phone has a USB modem, so you can plug your laptop into the phone and use the T-Mobile 3G network for your laptop's internet connection. The 6650 supports fast downloads via HSDPA at up to 3.6 Mbps, so this could be a practical option. A USB cable is supplied with the phone.

Usefully the 6650 also has a built-in GPS receiver, and 6 months of voice-guided navigation is included when you buy the phone. You'll need a web'n'walk calling plan to make use of this, otherwise you'll be charged the cost of downloading maps using the 3G connection.

Plus points for the 6650 are the GPS navigation and the USB modem. Negatives are the poor camera and lack of video calling. Prices at launch seem to be too high - T-Mobile are giving it away for free only on the more expensive contracts (£40 plus.) The phone ain't worth that much! Wait for the price to fall and you could pick up a nice phone with some interesting features.

Features of the Nokia 6650 include:

• 2 megapixel camera with 4x digital zoom and flash
• Video camera
• MP3 player
• FM radio
• GPS satellite navigation
• Voice activated dialling
• Games
• Vibration alert
• Messaging: SMS, MMS, email
• Memory: microSD card compatible
• Connectivity: Bluetooth
• Internet: GPRS, USB modem
• Quadband plus 3G HSDPA (3.6 Mbps)
• Size: 99 x 47 x 16 mm
• Weight: 113g
• Talktime: 4 hours
• Battery standby: 350 hours

Nokia 6650 Consumer Reviews

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Average rating from 11 reviews:

Reviewed by Tom from Hungary on 26th Jun 2010
One and a half year old, and no problem with it! I love the design of the phone, only a few phone has a really beautiful metal-covering that this one has. Who thinks front touchpad is bad is a stupid, it is very good if you can inform you whether you have messages or calls just by touching one of the 3 keys. The speakers in it make good-quality sound. Only one thing is wrong: the headphone given in the pack makes not perfect sound... Great phone!
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Reviewed by Karol from Slovakia on 19th May 2010
After year and a half ...still working like a swiss watch. Good functions, excellent design, hits and falls resistant ;o), battery still holds a week.
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Reviewed by Andy from USA on 30th Dec 2009
Terrible phone...ATT replaced it twice for me, and all three models broke, giving a connection error and not allowing me to make calls...do NOT get this phone!
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Reviewed by jennifer from chicago on 13th Nov 2009
i dont care what some of you people say about this phone. i got this phone and to me the phone works well enough for me.
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Reviewed by Greg from UK on 5th Jul 2009
One of the WORST phones ever made. You can't disable the front touch screen. If you accidentally press the front screen when someone calls you, you reject the call. This means that whenever you get a call, you have to get the phone out of your pocket carefully without touching the front panel OR YOU HANG UP. This is a ridiculous design flaw. I find I hang up accidentally on one in four calls. Whenever you shut the phone, you have to lock this front screen which takes time and is annoying. It's SLOW. Whatever you do, NEVER get this phone. It's a disgrace.
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Reviewed by Peppermint from Uk on 8th Feb 2009
looks rubbish. and it is. a novice phone. :( get the 5310! -x
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Reviewed by dalmly from uk on 22nd Jan 2009
this is very bads phone phone i do like mobile phone i am unhappy
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Reviewed by Will Bull from UK on 5th Jan 2009
a mate of mine has this phone, and it is the slowest phone i've ever used! when the phone is open it is only a little slower than say my 5310, but when you try and use the outside screen, which i would if i wanted to listen to music or something, it takes literally 6 or 7 seconds to react to your input. it could just be his, but it really was appalling.
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Reviewed by tom from england on 23rd Nov 2008
a good phone let by some really annoying and unnecessary irritants namely: - the 2.5mm headphone jack so you can't use normal headphones without an adaptor, this is made even worse by the fact that the socket is on the side of the phone so the headphone connection & the adpator end up sticking out the side of the phone was is a pain - the touchscreen buttons on the front are always unlocking in your pocket which is especially annoying when listening to music - the menu navigation is long winded & it seems to take several button presses to do anything but maybe that's just because I'm used to SEs
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Reviewed by George Guite from England on 18th Nov 2008
If nokia payed as much attention to the ring tone volume as it does to the rest of the applications, it would be great,as it is ,it is no good if you cannot hear it.
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Reviewed by Nick from UK on 6th Nov 2008
I sell loads of these phones. The review above is wrong in saying its only available for free on £40pm contracts. that simply aint the case. you can have it for free for as little as £25. The phone is great, suprised the touch screen lid hasn;t been mentioned thou. This phone has been out for about 4 months and i haven't taken one in for repair, ever!! great phone on a budget contract.
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