Nokia 6650

The Nokia 6650 is quite an attractive phone, with lashings of brushed stainless steel covering its exterior. In terms of size, the 6650 is fairly average, measuring in at 100 mm x 47 mm x 16 mm (3.9" x 1.9" x .6") in the closed position. It weighs in at 112g, giving it a very solid feel and nice weighting. The clamshell mechanism felt very sturdy and would spring out to its final resting position from about 90 degrees onwards. It struggled to open the device one handed, but people that use clamshell more often than me will probably find it acceptably easy.

In the center of the device's outer front panel is the 128 x 160 pixel exterior display, which is capable of showing up to 262,000 colors. This display was easy to read, even in direct sunlight. Below this display, hidden within a glossy black area, are the device's exterior touch sensitive keys. These are used to operate the limited functions that are available via the exterior display. There are three touch sensitive keys, with menu scrolling being achieved courtesy of the volume controls that are located on the left side of the device.

Just below the exterior touch keys you'll find the device's loudspeaker, cleverly hidden in an extremely narrow slit that most people will likely not even notice. Below this is the T-Mobile logo, tastefully engraved into the metal casing of the phone. Above the exterior display is the Nokia logo, also engraved. Above this is the device's 2.0 megapixel camera and flash, which protrude slightly from the device.

The bottom edge of the front panel is made from a matte grey plastic, which also covers the sides and the bottom of the device where the antenna is positioned. The rear of the device is otherwise dominated by the brushed stainless steel battery cover, which is easily removed for access to the SIM card and the enormous battery. On the left side of the lower half of the clamshell you'll find the Nokia 6650's micro-USB port, covered by a small plastic flap.

On the right side you'll find two more plastic flaps that cover the microSD slot and the headphone and charger ports. These flaps help to finish off the tidy appearance of the phone, and have symbols on them to indicate what they cover. It's a shame that the charger and headset sockets were placed at the bottom right corner of the device, as this makes it difficult for right-handed people to use the device whilst charging or listening to music.

Upon opening the clamshell you're greeted with a very simple yet stylish keypad. The keys are all flat, but, cleverly, each of the numbers/symbols have been slightly raised so that you can feel your way around. The keypad is well spaced and feedback is good, despite it being perfectly flat. Overall it really liked the 6650's keypad, which also featured a choice of 7 backlight colors. Happily, the exterior touch keys change color to match the keypad's backlight.

Just above the numeric part of the keypad are the send/end keys, S60 menu key, cancel/clear key, right and left softkeys, and the 4 ways d-pad and select button. The 6650 can be switched on or off by holding down the red 'end' key, which also doubles as a shortcut to the profiles menu. Just click the end key once from the standby screen and the profile list is brought up, along with options to switch the device off, switch into 'offline' mode, remove the memory card, or lock the device with a PIN code.

On the inside of the upper half of the device you'll find only the 2.2" color display with 240 x 320 pixel (QVGA) resolution, and the device's earpiece. The display looked bright and attractive, and is capable of displaying up to 16.7 million colors, while offering superb performance in direct sunlight. Just above the display you'll find a silver Nokia logo and the earpiece slit. The area surrounding the display is clad in glossy black plastic, which matches the majority of the plastic on the keypad and the plastic area around the external display.