CELL PHONES
» Coming soon
» Top 15
» Best-rated
» TV: Phones
LAPTOPS
» Coming soon
» Top 15
» Best-rated
» TV: Laptops
CAMERAS
» Coming soon
» Top 15
» Best-rated
» TV: Cameras
» infoSync TV » Review Center
» Digital Frontier » Expert guides
» RSS & Alerts » Ask The Editors
Home / Review Center / Cell phones /
Review: Nokia 6170By Sindre Lia, Friday 25 February 2005
GALLERY
Nokia 6170
Enlarge
Nokia 6170
Enlarge
Nokia 6170
Enlarge
 
 
Sindre Lia examines another clamshell phone from Nokia, the 6170, sporting among other things a 65K colour screen and 0.3 MP camera.

Review summary of the Nokia 6170:
Gallery »
Nokia 6170 Price: $400.
Pros:
Cons:
%
POOR
Mediocre
Good
Very good
Excellent
Full review of the Nokia 6170:
An arguably more masculine version of the recently reviewed Nokia 7270 fashion phone, Nokia's 6170 hit shelves late in 2004 sporting steel covers and a clamshell design - let's find out what hides beneath the tough appearance.

Superb navigation

The Nokia 6170 is quite the heavy hitter, weighing 121 g and measuring 88 x 46 x 22 mm. Featuring an external 12-bit display with a resolution of 95 x 65 pixels, information on incoming calls and messages is readily at hand in closed mode. In addition, the external display can also be used as a viewfinder for the integrated 0.3 MP digital camera.

When opening the 6170, ones attention is drawn to the internal 16-bit colour display with a resolution of 128 x 160 pixels - and just as with the 7270, it proved both bright and crisp. Pleasantly surprising, the 6170's 5-way navigational button was found to be far better implemented than the one found in the 7270. In fact, the entire keypad of the Nokia 6170 performed superbly during testing.

Low on memory, high on usability

The Nokia 6170 offers GSM 900/1800/1900 MHz functionality, Push-to-Talk, HSCSD, GPRS Class 10, and EDGE for high-speed data connectivity. Supporting WAP 2.0, the installed browser is capable of viewing XHTML pages and JPEG/PNG images. An infrared port enables PAN connectivity, whilst Bluetooth is unfortunately not available.

Messaging features such as SMS, MMS, and e-mail are also present, as is support for polyphonics and MP3 ringtones. The 6170 does however not offer a FM radio, and the phone's internal memory is limited to a meagre 2 MB.

Still pictures taken with the 0.3 MP digital camera in daylight are of average quality. The camera can also be used as a video recorder at a resolution of 128 x 96 pixels, and in both modes offers 4x digital zoom and fast camera mode switching courtesy of the navigational pad.

The Nokia 6170 is powered by the now well-known Series 40 platform, offering an intuitive menu system as well as great interaction with the keypad. The reception and voice quality of the Nokia 6170 are excellent, however the battery life is best described as mediocre with its 3 hours talk time and 5 days standby-time as opposed to Nokia's claim of 4 hours and 11 days, respectively.

Availability

The Nokia 6170 is at the time of writing available in several European markets, selling for approximately $400 USD without subscription.


Price and availability

The Nokia 6170 will start selling for $400 () in December 1969.

Best Phones
Name Score Price Carrier
C
Nokia N95 8GB NAM 85% $650Unlocked
Apple iPhone 3G 82% $200AT&T
Nokia N95 80% $530Unlocked
AT&T Tilt 77% $400AT&T
Nokia N78 76% $500Unlocked
RIM BlackBerry Curve 8330 (Sprint) 74% $280Sprint
HTC Mogul 73% $400Sprint
RIM BlackBerry Pearl 8130 (Verizon Wireless) 73% $170Verizon Wireless
Nokia E71 73% $500Unlocked
Helio Ocean 72% $200Helio
Click here to see full and advanced chart »
 
 
 
RECOMMENDED
Digital Frontier:
CTIA hands-on blog
 
iPhone 3G vs. Omnia vs. Touch Diamond
 
Bold vs. Xperia X1 vs. Touch Pro vs. E71
TOP STORIES
Smartphones with WVGA, VGA or HVGA displays for high-res addicts
 
Hottest smartphones and cell phones coming in September
 
Four new phones are now shipping
Top 15 smartphones
 
Top 15 cell phones
 
15 best-rated phones
CELL PHONE RESOURCE CENTER
Best phones
 
Expert guides
 
Ask the Editors
» Top 15
QWERTY phones
 
All-touch phones
 
Touchscreen phones
Business phones
 
Multimedia phones
 
Concept phones
3+ inch screen phones
 
Wi-Fi phones
 
More...
» Search (New!)
Search by cell phone features
» Manual comparison (New!)
Select up to 4 cell phones side-by-side
» By release
September 2008, Q4 2008
» Top 15 by carrier
Unlocked, AT&T, Sprint, Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, Helio, Alltel
» Top 15 by user type
Average Joe, Business users, Calling addicts, Fashion conscious users, Globetrotters, High-res addicts, Internet addicts, Multimedia enthusiasts, Music aficionados, Outdoor enthusiasts, TV addicts, Video lovers, More...
» Top 15 by brand
Apple, HTC, LG, Motorola, Nokia, BlackBerry, Samsung, Sony Ericsson Other
» Top 15 by platform
Palm OS, Symbian S60, Symbian UIQ, Windows Mobile
» Top 15 by cell phone type
Business smartphones, Multimedia smartphones
Consumer QWERTY phones, Multimedia phones
Concept phones
NOW IN PHONES
BlackBerry Curve 8330 vs. Palm Treo 800w vs. HTC Mogul
 
Samsung Airave review
 
Verizon Wireless Blitz review
 
Verizon Wireless Blitz video review
 
LG KC910 8-megapixel phone with all-touch interface
Windows Mobile 6.1 upgrade guide
Motorola Renegade V950, Motorola i365 picked up by Sprint
Smartphones with WVGA, VGA or HVGA displays for high-res addicts
Next 25 stories
MUST READ
CELL PHONES
» Coming soon
» Top 15
» Best-rated
LAPTOPS
» Coming soon
» Top 15
» Best-rated
CAMERAS
» Coming soon
» Top 15
» Best-rated
MP3 players
» Coming soon
» Top 15
» Best-rated
INTERNET TABLETS
» Coming soon
» Top 15
» Best-rated
GPS NAVIGATORS
HDTVs
CAMCORDERS
About us | Site map | How to advertise | Feedback | RSS Feeds | | Archive
Copyright 1999-2008 © infoSync World