When Nokia produced the 6310i, I doubt even they could have foreseen just how popular that product would be. Even today, with the handset no longer manufactured, it still sells for a premium price on Ebay. Try as they might, Nokia just couldn’t replace that phone in popularity. Even the eventual hereditary successor to the 6310i, the Nokia E51, never sold in as many numbers. Now, some manufacturers would do almost anything to have a handset in their portfolio that carries the success of a product like the 6310i. In truth, Nokia have had a few, and the latest one they are trying to update is the amazing 6300.
The 6300 has been around on the mobile market now for around two years, yet it still sells in very high numbers, and it is rare to find an unhappy 6300 owner. I even know some people who, when upgrade time comes round, take another 6300 because the phone is that good. So, what can Nokia do to update such a popular phone and retain a loyal following? The attempt they are making can be found in the recently announced Nokia 6700 Classic.
One of the overriding features of the 6300 is not software, but hardware. The phone just feels well built. It has a solid feel to it, the body is strong and firm, and whilst all care should be taken with electronic equipment, the 6300 can generally take the pace of day to day life and just keep on working. The new 6700 Classic is also cased in a similar metallic style casing and will feel just as invincible as the old 6300 did.
The 6700 Classic measures in at 109.8mm x 45mm x 11.2mm and weighs in a surprising 116.5g The screen on the new 6700 Classic is 0.2 of an inch larger than the 6300, but otherwise the stats are the same, a QVGA TFT screen supporting up to 16 million colours.
A lot of the changes are those which are not instantly visible when looking at the phone. Inside, the internal memory has been raised to a very healthy 170MB, with the option to increase this with the addition of a Micro SD card, up to 8GB is possible. Another addition to the handset is the welcome inclusion of high speed data connectivity, in the shape of 3G and HSDPA Mobile Broadband.
When browsing the web with the 6700 Classic, you will notice that the web browser available on the handset is the same one normally found in the S60 smartphone range, Nseries or Eseries. This web browser is one of the best native browsers on any handset from any manufacturer, and is a welcome addition to the S40 range of phones.
Another internal improvement to the handset is the inclusion of a GPS receiver, ably backed up with aGPS support. With this and using Nokia Maps the handset becomes an ideal mobile satellite navigation unit, allowing you to find your location and plan a route on foot or in car with ease.
The camera on the 6700 Classic is a real upgrade, moving on from a 2.0 megapixel fixed focus camera found in the 6300 to a 5.0 megapixel camera, with flash and autofocus. There is also a video recording option, recording clips at VGA resolution at 15fps.
All the features that have become almost standard on any mid-range phone are included here too, such as a stereo FM radio with RDS support, and a media player supporting MP3, WMA, AAC and eAAC music format and the MP4 video format.
This is a real overhaul on features that will satisfy the demands of most users who fall into the mid-range bracket. It would seem that the Nokia 6700 Classic is destined to follow its predecessor and sell in huge numbers for Nokia.
The official release date is to be confirmed, reports are it will be Q2 of 2009, for full specifications check out our Nokia 6700 Classic Reviews and check back for prices and tariffs Nokia 6700 Classic Deals.
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11:55 am
The useful feature of the 6300 was the two LED lights on the side that flashed when there was a missed call or unread text.
Does anyone know whether the 6700 has these lights?
1:55 am
As the 6700 is 3G, and is planned to have a smaller battery than the 6303, I guess there is no way it will have a battery standby anywhere near as good as the 6310i ?
10:04 pm
There is a white led light on the keypad which lights up, so this looks like a good upgrade from the 6300.
2:24 pm
BEWARE folks. If you want to use this phone with SKYPE in the UK you MUST purchase it from '3' themselves. I bought an 'unlocked' 6700 - which is splendid - from the Carphone Warehouse with an Orange sim service account because it worked out £10 less. I put in my '3' SIM but the skype software will not install saying 'certificate not on phone or sim'. This is odd as the SIM is '3's. Carphone Warehouse say ' sorry, but you didn't specify skype when you bought the phone. '3' say, well, we gave you the sim for free, its not up to us what other phone suppliers do. No one said that the phone HAS to have the '3' firmware in it. 'Unlocked' from a shop is not the same as - once locked but now unlocked - (which loses the guarantee anyway). It's still a very good phone. Anyone know how to make SKYPE work on it? Everything else is fine.
2:28 pm
By the way, that posting is the result of many days effort sifting through facts, phone calls and face to face encounters in shops. I wish I had bought the thing from '3'...
Another point - why else, other than to use SKYPE would anone want to have an account with '3'? Their SIM card adverts and the shops all have HUGE Skype adverts on them - but, they don't say - unless you tie them down and jump on them - that their function won't work on phones they don't sell - even if it is their sim and their account. They lost a sale, I would have gladly paid had I known.