Nokia 6290 Review

This handset goes a long way to addressing a serious issue with Nokia’s lineup of phones - they have no mainstream 3G clamshell devices. Oh yes, they have the Nokia N90, N92 and N93 phones but these are completely over-the-top for most customers.

The Nokia 7390 on the other hand is a very promising looking 3G handset, except that it’s a fashion phone so it won’t appeal to business. The only other phone in that category is the Nokia N75, but that’s aimed at the US market only.

Significantly, the Nokia 6290 is a Symbian S60 smartphone running what Nokia dub “S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 1″. At the moment, S60 is a mixed bag - quite a few of Nokia’s recent S60 devices have suffered from very buggy software, and there’s some indication that certain users actually prefer the more basic Series 40 version of Symbian (found on the Nokia 7390). On the other hand, smartphone functionality is required to get the best out of services such as 3’s X-Series.

If Nokia can get the 6290 right when it hits the shops, then it has the chance to carve out a significant share of the 3G market. In our view, it would be far better for Nokia to wait to get the 6290 working properly before launch.

Nokia say that the 6290 should be available during the first quarter of 2007 at an unsubsidised cost of around €325/£205 before tax, initially in pink and black variants.

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