Nokia 6700 Classic review

The Nokia 6700 Classic is a good phone, there's no doubt about it. The target market is simply a person who likes a decent looking phone with a good pocket size and basic phone functionality, but done well.

As an upgrade you can see that Nokia has taken great care to make sure the upgrade from the 6300 is a seamless experience, with a lot left in, but a lot improved to make use of all the fun technological tools available nowadays.

We liked

The camera on the phone is superb considering the Nokia 6700 Classic's mid-range leanings. We liked the small but perfectly formed flash as well as the intuitive AF modes.

The speed of connectivity is something to behold, although we over in the UK can't even make use of the 10.2Mbps download speeds as yet. However, given the sturdy construction of the phone we can see you'll probably still be using it when the faster capacity is rolled out.

The phone build quality itself is excellent too, with the chrome and steel exterior (although black options are available as well) giving it a real feel of elegance and the touch of a phone that's a lot more expensive, such as the Nokia Arte or Sirocco range.

Email is very easy to set up, and the overall layout of the phone is simple without being too basic, which we liked (especially after playing with multiple smartphones for weeks on end).

We disliked

There's not actually a lot to dislike on this phone, especially at the near £200 price point SIM free. There are some misgivings (we'd have liked Wi-Fi on board) and the likes of Ovi share and contacts simply haven't got the critical mass with the general phone-buying public to be decent additions to the phone (rather, they'll just sit there on the handset, mocking you as an option you don't really understand and will never take up).

The exterior is very fingerprint happy, but you can always sort that problem by simply buying the matte black rather than the chrome version (although that somehow doesn't feel as stylish).

The battery life could be ever so slightly better, and media (especially without the 3.5mm headphone socket) isn't the greatest phone experience you'll ever have, especially with certain videos being supported but not actually playing.

TechRadar verdict

The overall look and feel of the Nokia 6700 Classic is a winner – it sits in the hand nicely and simply does what you want it to do.

For the low price point, we're impressed with what Nokia has managed to cram into here – we can see many a businessman popping this in his inside jacket pocket and whipping it out at the golf club to check the football scores with a smile on his face.

While there are a few minor omissions in the handset, Nokia has largely included things that you actually need in a phone of this calibre (such as a decent camera and speedy internet browser), although a little more home-screen customisation would have been nice.

For the person who wants a decent phone at a reasonable price, and one that he or she can pull out without fear of it looking like the mobile equivalent of a woolly mammoth in three months time, they should seriously take a good hard look at the Nokia 6700 Classic.

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