Nokia 2600

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Nokia 2600

Aalaap Ghag, May 13, 2005 1010 hrs IST

Finally those 3310s and 3315s can GO!

Series 40 UI, great looking, good keypad, all basic features present

Very entry level (no GPRS/WAP/MMS/Infrared, no Java so no games, no FM radio), just one soft-key to do the job of four

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Finally those 3310s and 3315s can GO! Nokia's 2600 is sasta phone that's no doubt tikau as well, and oh so sundar it is! If you've always wanted a color phone, were adamant on buying a Nokia only (I don't blame you for feeling that way), couldn't afford a 6610 (surprisingly still in the Rs. 6000-6500 range), or for whatever reason couldn't get your budget above Rs. 4,000, you'll like the what the 2600 has to offer.

The 2600 is a simple dual-band GSM (900/1800) handset with no GPRS or WAP support. There's no way to send or receive MMS. There's no browser, no email client, no Bluetooth or Infrared connectivity. There's no Java support either, so no games. And one more thing I think Nokia shouldn't have missed out on FM radio, there is none.

But inspite of all this, the 2600 is still a worthy upgrade for those who currently use a 3310 or a more recent 1100. The 2600 looks much better, has a 4096-color 128x128 display. There's also 4mb of total memory in the phone, which you'll be able to stuff with wallpapers and animated screensavers. The phone also supports polyphonic ringtones.

The 2600 is 10.8cm high, 4.6cm wide, and 2cm thick. It weighs in at just a little under 100gms. The phone has slightly rounded sides which are a bit similar to the contours of the 3310/3315. While I'm not particularly fond of this particular attribute, I like the contrasting shell and keypad color scheme, so the phone still ends up looking good.

It goes without saying that the UI is Series 40 based, the same as featured in the 6610, 7250 or other models. The response is snappy and true-S40 like. But instead of the two soft-keys and generally found in phones like the 6610, the 2600 features just one soft key, similar to the 3310 or 1100. There are also no dedicated keys for Call and End (green and red), the functions of which are also handled by the lonely soft key. If you're used to the two soft-key configuration, it may take a short while for you to get used to the 2600's one key method. But of course, if you're used to a two soft-key phone, you probably own one of those, so why would you downgrade to this one? The rest of the numeric keypad is laid out very nicely, there's no fancy-schmancy butterfly or frog design or any crap like that, (sorry to all 2300 users but seriously!). The buttons feel solid and have a nice tactile feedback. Good keys!

The 2600 goes on for upto 10 days on a single charge, but that's if you just leave it on without a SIM card and don't use it at all. It also offers 3-3.5 hours of talktime. In our tests, we managed to get around 2-2.5 hours, give and take a few. Since there was pretty much nothing else to do in the phone (except browse the wallpaper gallery).

The Nokia 2600 isn't too hot on features, but it's a very effective color phone running the proven Series 40 UI. It's quite nice looking, and has decent talk time. At Rs. 4,400, this is *THE* entry level Nokia to buy.