Nokia swore to dish out cutting edge designs and jaw-dropping good looks.

The result hits the sweet spot - the 6600 Slide is a head-turner.

Although the square menu button made the phone look like a close relative of the Nokia 5000 or the N85, the gadget's sleek glass finish made it stand out from its stable mates.

Too bad that its metallic rear end kept smudging. I had to repeatedly rub the phone against my clothes to get rid of the smudges.

Its winning streak, however, lies in its slim body. At just 45mm wide, this baby nestled nicely in my palm.

One thing that I loved about this gizmo is its media offerings.

For one, users are pampered with features like a 3.2-megapixel shooter, media player and one of the sweetest built-in speakers found in a fashion phone.

The speakers were unrattled and kept packing an audio punch when I blasted tracks at an earth-moving volume. The tunes sounded bright and punchy, though I was not blown away by the bass.

Sadly, there were no volume control buttons on the side, which made it a chore to adjust the decibels on the fly.

Since the birth of handhelds, I have been bemoaning the lack of accompanying noise-cancelling headphones. So, I was surprised to find a pair of glorious noise-cancelling pieces bundled with the phone.

The sound quality of the earphones was also impressive - there were hardly any distortion problems when I raised the decibels. The earphones also came with ear sleeves in two different sizes, letting you select a piece that would fit snugly into your ear.

Nokia phones are usually applauded for their clear camera quality and the 6600 did not disappoint. Images snapped were clear and vibrant, though most of the night shots looked grainy and under exposed, even with the flash turned on.

Apart from its media offerings, there are hardly any other features worth shouting about.

For one, without Office applications or e-mail synching functions, this handheld does not look like it will meet the needs of mobile warriors who want to work on the go.

However, typing out long messages is child's play with the 6600. The keys are well spaced out, making it comfortable for your fingertips to peck on them.

Armed with 3G, it made sure that Web pages are loaded in the blink of an eye. I only had to wait some five seconds for an image-heavy site to be loaded. Transferring files from the PC to the phone is also done by Bluetooth or USB and is fast and efficient.

Final say

Users looking for a stylish device with impressive media functions would do well with this product.

This story was first published in The Straits Times Digital Life on 12 November 2008.

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