Nokia 2600

The Nokia 2600, like its cousin, the Nokia 1680 (free with contract), is a basic, affordable handset aimed at simply making and receiving calls, but it packs the added benefit of Bluetooth for hands-free use. With a simple form factor that Kent German describes as "a salute to minimalism," this candy-bar handset bears the same cheap-feeling plastic skin as its cousin, which reviewers and users agree makes the phone less than durable. The Nokia 2600 measures about 4.2 inches by 1.8 inches by 0.8 inches -- about the same length and width as the Nokia 1680, but slightly thicker. At 3.17 ounces, it weighs nearly half an ounce more. The non-adjustable 1.5-inch display is smaller but brighter, with a 128-by-128-pixel resolution. And like its cousin, the Nokia 2600's cramped keypad and stiff, flush buttons hinder dialing and texting.   

Reviewers and users give the dual-band Nokia 2600, which is available with contract or prepaid plans, good grades for reception and call quality. While it sports a decent feature set, a plodding, molasses-like menu interface stymies performance, says German, a stumbling block compounded by a paltry 10 MB of internal memory. Equally as tiny is the 200-entry phone book. Other features are a bit more standard: caller ID plus an alarm clock, calendar, voice recorder and speakerphone. On the web and messaging front, both the prepaid and contract Nokia 2600 support text messaging, instant messaging and mobile email. The contract Nokia 2600, however, also supports picture and video messaging. Rounding out the feature set, the Nokia 2600 packs a VGA camera with video capture. But while the camera produces decent photos, says German, the video quality is pretty bad. It's yet another flaw in a mixed bag of features with performance that falls short of the mark. For experts and users, the setbacks undermine the Nokia 2600's potential as an easy-to-use communication device, with less than half of AT&T owners saying they would recommend it to a friend.

CNET's standalone review of the Nokia 2600 evaluates design, features and performance, while owner reviews from CNET, PhoneScoop.com, Amazon.com and AT&T.com reveal potential problems that arise with long-term use. Other reliable cell phone reviewers, such as PCMag.com and ConsumerReports.org, don't do in-depth reviews of the Nokia 2600.