on November 4th at 8:31 pm 
As we said at the Nokia 6270 review , the nordic manufacturer started a war against the manufacturers who are producing slider models, the biggest of them being Samsung. By releasing the 6280 bussiness class model, Nokia has a really good oportunity to hit the number 1 position at sliders, also. Read the review to find out how.
Look and Feel
Being in the same family as the 6270 model, the new 6280 is a very accurate description of the “smaller, smarter, better” statement. The cellphone weights 115 grams and measures 99.9×46x21 mm. Holding this device in your hand feels good, it offers a good grip. And you will keep it in your hand for the people to see it. The cellphone comes in two color solutions: Carbon Black and Graphite Grey. Both of them look good and it will make your job rather difficult in chosing one of them.
The main part of the 6280 front panel is occupied by the display. This is a very modern approach as nowadays the chalenge is to make smaller phones with bigger displays. 262k colors and 320 x 240 pixels are blending on the 2.2″ screen. Higher contrast, brightness and more vivid colors are displayed on this screen which behaves very well in sun light offering a readable text in any conditions.
Under the display there are four control buttons with a 5D joystick in the middle. The buttons are big, spacious and pleasant to touch but the phone can be very well used with the slider closed (except for inputing text on the keyboard that requires the opening of the slider).
On the right side of the new Nokia 6280 there are the volume and camera buttons. On the left one can find the IrDA, memory slot, Push to talk button and loudspeaker. The “On/Off” button found place on the top of the phone and the Pop-Port together with the charger connector share the bottom of the cellphone. The 2 megapixel camera, mirror and the flash are on the back of the device. We recommend that you take the pictures holding the phone on horizontal position (it’s more comfortable and your fingers won’t block the objective field). The volume buttons serve for zooming in and out.
Now it’s time to slide open the Nokia 6280 cellphone. Unlike the 6270 the feeling of low-quality in the opening mechanism has gone. The new slider opens smoothly and easily with no creaks and squeaks unveiling a well designed keyboard. The keys feel good to touch. They are elastic and press easily. Their relief stops you from accidentaly pressing the wrong key, although they are small. The wight backlight makes them easy to see in darkness.
As an overall for the “Look and Feel” chapter, the 6280 is a beautiful, compact and well realised cellphone. The class and style is an all present touch.
Capabilities
The phonebook: it allows you to add name, surname and a phone number. Later, you can input additional data: extra phone numbers (up to five numbers), video, push to talk address, e-mail, video, web address, postal address and you can asign a tone to that name. If you keep the data entry to a minimum, the capacity of the phonebook is about 1000 names. You can also asign a photo to a name and a video (which works just fine at incoming calls). The contacts in the phonebook can be called with the help of the voice tags.
The phone keeps track of your sent, missed and received calls (about 20 of each other).
The messages: the folowing types of messages are supported by the Nokia 6280: text, multimedia, postcard, flash and audio. For the e-mail messages there is a separate menu. The cellphone has an integrated mail client that supports POP3/IMAP4/SMTP protocols, meaning you can attach to a message the folowing file formats: doc, pdf, ppt, xls, jpeg, mp3, 3gpp, etc.
Under the settings category of the menu one can find: Profiles, Themes, Tones, Display, Time and date, My shortcuts, Connectivity (Bluetooth, IrDA, USB). The phone synchronizes well with the PC.
The camera: the 2 megapixel camera is nothing to praise. We expected more from it. Even for a phone camera, we had higher expectations for its 2 megapixels. The photo seemed to be desaturated, flue. The pics lacked the contrast. And to make things a little bit worse, the nordic manufacturer cut down the number of settings. Multishooting settings are not present, also the timer settings, autofocus and from the white ballance you can select only the night mode. The supported resolutions are: 600×1200, 1280×960, 640×480, 320×240, 160×120 px. Tint, sepia and negative are found under the effects settings.
That was about shooting photos. When trying to shoot a video clip things don’t get any better. The rate is at 13 fps. This is prety low compared to the today’s capabilities. Video resolution: 640×480, 352×258, 176×144, 128×96.
Under the media capabilities, there are also found: Media Player, Music Player, an integrated FM-receiver, dictaphone.
The sound in the loudspeaker is good and can be heard even in noisy places. Also, the vibrations are powerful. It is impossible to miss a call. For the call sound you can now set also mp3 or aac files. Voice call works well. Trying to connect the phone using all its connection possibilities presented no problems.
Tech Specs
Here are the tech specs as they are presented by the manufacturer:
Operating Frequency
- Dual mode WCDMA/GSM operation and tri-band GSM coverage on up to five continents (GSM 900/1800/1900 and WCDMA 2100 networks)
- Automatic switching between bands
Size
- Weight: 115 g
- Dimensions: 99.9 x 46 x 21 mm, 91 cc
Display and User Interface
- Active matrix 262,144-color display (320 x 240 pixels)
- Series 40 user interface
- Five-way scroll key, two soft keys, send and end keys
- Dedicated key for camera application
Imaging
- Two-way video call capability
- Support for full-screen landscape mode
- Back side camera: Integrated 2-megapixel camera with landscape camera mode and 8x digital zoom
- Front side camera: Integrated VGA camera
- Camera flash (operating range up to 1.5 m)
- Dedicated camera and zoom buttons
Memory Functions
- Up to 74 MB total user memory
- Up to 10 MB internal dynamic memory for contacts, text messages, multimedia messages, ringing tones, images, video clips, calendar notes, to-do list, and applications
Messaging
- Xpress audio messaging: New, easy-to-use interface for audio messages. Record your own voice message and send to compatible devices.
- MMS OMA 1.2: Combine image, video, text, and voice clips and send as an MMS to a compatible phone or PC; use MMS to tell your story with a multi-slide presentation. The MMS OMA 1.2 specification allows you to send/receive messages up to 300 kB in size.
- Text messaging: Supports concatenated SMS, picture messaging, SMS distribution list
- Predictive text input: Support for all major languages in Europe and Asia-Pacific
- Email: Access your work and private email accounts; supports SMTP, POP3, and IMAP4 protocols
- Presence: Includes Wireless Village, Instant Messaging, and Dynamic phonebook; know someone’s status before you call
Connectivity
- Bluetooth wireless technology: Wide range of profiles and APIs for seamless connectivity
- Infrared
- USB 2.0 full speed via Pop-Port™ interface
- Nokia PC Suite connectivity with USB and Bluetooth wireless technology
Browsing
- XHTML browsing over TCP/IP
- 3GPP video streaming
Data Transfer
- WCDMA 2100 with simultaneous voice and packet data (PS max speed UL/DL = 128/384kbps, CS max speed 64kpbs)
- EDGE: Mobile broadband access with upload up to 118.4 kbps and download up to 236.8 kbps
- GPRS (general packet radio service)*: Class 10, download up to 62.4 kbps
Note: Actual achieved speeds may vary depending on network support. Java™ Applications
- Java™ MIDP 2.0, CLDC 1.1 (Connected Limited Device Configuration (J2ME))
- Over-the-air download of Java™-based applications and games
Sales Package Contents
- Nokia 6280 phone
- Nokia Stereo Headset HS-23
- Nokia Battery BP-6M
- Nokia Connectivity Cable CA-53
- Nokia Travel Charger AC-4
- User guide
- CD-ROM containing software
Final note
When you first take the Nokia 6280 cellphone in your hands you are amazed by its look and the quality touch that you can find in each and every detail of its design and construction. When you open it, you will find a regular Nokia phone, workig fine. Our guess is that we have gotten so used with quality cellphones from Nokia that we can not even think of something less. The only minus that we found in this device is the camera where Nokia loses serious ground in front of its competition. And this comes in a moment when Samsung announced a cellphone with 10 megapixel camera and 8 GB of memory . The clash of the titans continues and the only winner from this battle is you, the user of the devices.
our marks for this device are: 8.5 for design and 8 for the tech specs.
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