Nokia 6280 Review

This phone comes with a wide range of messaging features. You can record an audio messages and send multimedia messages with video, images and music attachments. There's also a "slideshow" feature in the MMS message creation, which allows you to make a simple slideshow out of a few images for your recipients. However, we must say that it's too primitive to be any good. Due to a programming error, we can't change the time intervals at which the images change, so we're stuck with the default 8 secs. Other than these you can also send simple text messages or blinking text messages in various languages. All messages you try to create are automatically saved as drafts should you exit without sending. On the overall, the messaging interface is sensible enough.

If you're one of those who want to surf or send emails on your phone, you'll be happy to know that the 6280 scores well in this department. It supports SMTP, POP3, and IMAP4 protocols for retrieving and sending of emails, runs on the speedy EDGE with xHTML browsing, and uses the new Java MDIP 2.0 platform for sophisticated applications. You can find 3 games for your enjoyment: Snake 3, which is a 3D version of the classic game, a car racing game called Rally 3D, and Golf Tour.

This phone comes with a good music player to satisfy people who carry their own music and a visual radio for those who don't. The music player handles MP3, AAC, eAAC+ and M4A files. It runs in the background mode concurrent with most applications like messaging, but not the camera. If interrupted by an incoming call, it will automatically pause and resume itself after your conversation has ended. The stereo output comes with an equaliser for you to tweak the sound, and even a "stereo widening" for surround sound. Music quality is hence quite impressive on the headphones, but over the loudspeakers it's still very shrill and barely tolerable.

Connectivity wise, this phone pretty much covers all bases. There's infra-red, bluetooth and the Pop-port/usb cable to help you exchange files with other devices. The phone also comes with the latest PC suite to help you transfer from stuff from your computer to your phone in a breeze.

The phone runs on a Nokia BP-6M battery, which can last up to 5 days with moderate calling. If you're using a lot of the media functions, then expect to recharge every 2 to 3 days.

On the whole, this phone is well-rounded and rich in functions, but very plain in design. The fact that it's priced less than other 3G phones in the market makes it a very worthwhile buy for the average handphone user.