Nokia 2680 Slide Review

Nokia 2680 is an entry level slider phone that sports a grey and a black colored body. It is just a simple phone with the basic features and comes in a stylish build and high quality design mechanism. This low-budget Nokia phone comes equipped with VGA camera, FM radio, internet connectivity, MP3 player and Java games among others.

Body Design
The Nokia 2680 comes in a slider form and has a physical dimension of 99 x 47 x 15.5 mm. It weighs 94.5g with the battery and 75.7g without it. The 1.85 inch TFT display screen of the phone can deliver 65K colors at a maximum resolution of 128 x 160 pixels. The 5 way navigation key is just below the display. This navigation key has a soft key on both sides. The accept call key is just below the soft key on the left while the call reject key is just below the soft key on the right. The call reject button also functions as the power on/off button. The alphanumeric key pad comes in to view when the phone is slid up. The sliding mechanism of the phone is compact and the slider slides up effortlessly. As in most Nokia handsets, the keypad does not have any complaints as they are spaced adequately and all the keys have great tactile feedback. We only hoped that the keypad could have been a little bigger as it might be quite problematic for people with big thumbs and hands, but sadly it’s not. The left side of the phone as well as the top and bottom of the phone are completely bare of any ports, connectors or buttons. All the action is on the right side of the phone with the only 3 physical buttons besides the one on the front situated here. The strap eyelet is on the top right edge of the phone. Below it, you will find the 3.5 mm headset connector. The charger connector is the last port and is situated just below the headset jack.
You will be spoilt for choices when it comes to colors as the phone comes in night blue, orange, violet and slate gray.

Multimedia
The multimedia features of the 2680 is nothing to boast about as it comes with only the very basic of the features and even a lot of the common features are missing. The phone comes with a VGA camera which can capture a photo at a maximum resolution of 640 x 480 pixels. The phone comes with a set of different frames which you can insert to your photos, so that it looks like a framed picture. The handset also has video recording capabilities but the quality is very poor and only useful for the occasional MMS. The 2680 also has an MP3 player and supports video playback too, but it is not that useful as the phone has a very low memory and there is no scope for expansion of it.
The integrated FM radio is quite good and makes sure that we never run out of music and entertainment anytime.
Although this phone is a low budget phone, it still supports internet connectivity and has a built in GPRS browser and WAP 2.0. The data network is provided by EDGE and GPRS.
Java MIDP 2.0 comes pre-installed in this device, so the Nokia 2680 supports various Java games and applications.

Memory
Being a phone on a low budget, the manufacturers had to cut down on a lot of features. The Nokia 2680 has combined memory of 36 megabytes. Out of the 36 MB, 32 MB of it comes from the Flash memory and the other 4 is from the SDRAM.
It does not have any external slot for memory expansion.
The phone has the capacity to store and save contact and other phone details of 1000 entries. It can also store the calling history and the details about our last 60 call activities i.e. 20 dialed, 20 received and 20 missed calls.

Connectivity
This Nokia phone is a dual band phone which works under two variants i.e. EGSM 900/1800 in Europe and GSM 850/1900 in the US. The handset has Class 10 GPRS service which can provide with 32-48 kbps of download speed. It also has the Class 6 EDGE network connectivity and this connection can give you a download speed of about 177.6 kbps. The phone comes with WAP 2.0 web browser and it supports the viewing of xHTML web pages. Unfortunately, you cannot view the full HTML webpage of any website on this phone.
This phone can also connect wirelessly with other devices with the help of its integrated bluetooth technology. The handset has a version 2.0 of the technology and that helps in creating a connection and the transfer of data with other bluetooth enabled devices.
The phone does not have a USB connector or a slot which could have helped in the wired connection and the data sharing and synchronization with other devices.
It is hard to say whether the presence of the 3.5 mm audio jack in this phone is really necessary as the phone does not have a decent MP3 player and there is no room for the expansion of the phone memory through an external memory slot.

Performance
The call quality of the phone is very good with no distractions and noises. We could not find any distinguishable distortions and the voices on both ends sounded quite natural. The messaging capabilities of the phone were quite interesting with support for MMS as well as email besides the regular SMS. The 2680 has a unique and quite a distinctive look for a low end handset. It passes the pocket friendly test and the slider mechanism seems durable and does not look like it will have any problem soon. The phone can be considered to be quite loaded with features if you compare it with phones in its own price range. The array of applications included in this phone are also quite impressive. The keypad of the phone is worth a mention as it is a joyride texting on those wonderfully sensitive keys. The integrated FM radio with its recording feature and the superb audio quality can also be reason for the masses to buy this phone.
However, this budget phone also has its own list of drawbacks. Firstly, the phone should have put an expandable memory slot. The absence of it has made the 3.5 mm headset jack useless. Now, it only comes to use when you listen to the radio. On top of this, there is no USB or a microUSB port for the easy transfer of files and data. The imaging and video quality of the camera is poor, but that is quite understandable if we consider the price. It also has poor sunlight legibility, but in its defense; even a lot of high-end Nokia phones suffer from it.

Verdict
The Nokia 2680 has a lot of faults. But taking the price of the handset in mind, you cannot complain much. For a low budget handset, it delivers each of the basic functions of messaging, imaging and entertainment with a quiet ease. The body design of the phone is outstanding with the sliding mechanism working perfectly.
All in all, this handset is made for all the people who just want a phone for its basic functions and may be a little bit more. The phone is very affordable and will not burn a hole in your pocket.
The Nokia 2680 is available for just $75.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3.5/5