Nokia 6650 - T-Mobile Exclusive
Available exclusively on the T-Mobile network from the third quarter of this year, the Nokia 6650is a rare clamshell phone from Nokia with HSDPA (3G broadband) and GPS (satellite navigation) support. It’s also notable for being another occasion where Nokia have recycled the name of an older handset. One immediately obvious thing to even a casual observer is that the Nokia 6650 very closely resembles the Motorola RAZR range. The flat keypad, slim profile and even the “kick” under the number keys are all characteristic of Motorola handsets, but it’s not the first time that Nokia have made a RAZR-like phone - the disastrous Nokia N76 is another example.
The Nokia 6650 is a pretty interesting device in its own right. The inclusion of A-GPS (Assisted GPS) is unusual in a clamshell phone, and on top of that the 6650 has HSDPA high-speed data giving download speeds of up to 3.6 Mbps. Inside is a 2.2″ 240 x 320 pixel display, with a smaller display on the outside with dedicated media keys. The Nokia 6650 has a microSD slot, FM radio and Bluetooth.
The camera is a fairly basic 2 megapixel unit, but it does come with a flash. As far as we can tell, the 6650 lacks a secondary video calling camera - but these are sometimes well hidden, so we could be wrong.
We don’t know if this is an S60 smartphone or not, and Nokia have not specified the size, weight and battery life at the time of going to press. T-Mobile in Germany say that the 6650 will cost just €1 when taken with their €28/month Relax 100 tariff.
The Original Nokia 6650
Announced way back in September 2002 and shipping in 2003, the Nokia 6650 was Nokia’s first attempt at a 3G handset. Despite its large size and 141 gram weight, the original 6650 only managed a 128 x 160 pixel display, didn’t come with expandable memory or an MP3 player, but it did have Bluetooth.
The original Nokia 6650 is a very rare handset, especially in Europe where most major carriers started rolling out their 3G network in 2004-5, by which time the 6650 was already obsolete. The first popular Nokia 3G phones were the Nokia 6630 and the unusual Nokia 7600. In other words, it is pretty unlikely that you will buy the original 6650 by mistake.. indeed, it is probably something of a collector’s item today.
Nokia 6650 at a glance
Available: Q3 2008
Network: GSM + UMTS (3G)
Data: GPRS + UMTS (3G) + HSDPA
Screen: 240 x 320 pixels, 16m colours (main)
Camera: 2 megapixels
Size: Medium clamshell
Size / weight tbc
Bluetooth: Yes
Memory card: microSD
Infra-red: No
Polyphonic: Yes
Java: Yes
GPS: Yes (aGPS)
Battery life: Not specified
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