The Dual band (900/1800) device measures 85 mm x 46 mm x 22.9 mm and its flip shell weighs just 96 grams, perhaps the first impression is of a tough little phone that is surprisingly rubbery?

Rubbery you say? well yes once you open the 2650's flip the interior of the phone comprises of a small 128 x 128 pixel screen and a rubberised keyboard and surround, the hinge is covered by a rectangular Nokia block an the whole package can open out to almost 180 degrees.

Certainly Nokia have gone all out to make the 2650 different, the rubber interior takes a little getting used to as its is the equivalent of backlit bubble wrap, but given a few hours it works ok and the only issue we have is with the screen which is barely acceptable to anyone who has used a smartphone at the other end of the Nokia range. But we do have to keep a sense of proportion here what's Nokias engineers are trying to do is provide a basic phone with a bit of a lift to raise it above the run of the mill "standard" phones that leave stores in their thousands as "free phones".

In its basic form we found the 2650 flip to be a comfortable phone to use with well spaced keys and a good loud earpiece, it holds onto signal well enough and the battery life seemed ok with about a week on standby (Nokias quote 300hrs) and around 3 hours of talk time.

There are no external buttons or screens on this model and the only external slot is for the sim card to be inserted, there are connectors for charging and also for cabled hands free kits on the base, of course Nokia have not provided any wireless connectivity on this model so no Bluetooth headsets.

Firing up the menu using the navigation keys brings up a useable and familiar interface, the internal memory is not that generous and will limit you to 255 names and numbers stored on the phone itself with the rest on the simcard (about 90). From this interface you can access SMS and MMS features plus play with the ring tone selection which we have to say is particularly poor as is the ability of the Nokia to actually do any tune justice. Also present in the menus is the one high end feature, GPRS, this makes data services accessible including browsing via the WAP v1.2/xHTML browser.

A few hours with the Nokia 2650 flip leave you understanding what Nokia mean by entry level, its very capable as a basic mobile and the design is not too bad, but you do get the feeling that if your kids took this to school they'd be at home by lunchtime in tears. Its just not that stylish and for those who don't care and just want a basic phone you'd think we say go for it, but again the lack of Bluetooth really limits your ability to use the phone safely while on the move.

The Nokia 2650 Flip may retail at just £90 sim free but it has a limited audience.

More Nokia Reviews

Published - 19/03/2005

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