Nokia 6555 Cell Phone Review
By Alfredo Padilla
Reviewed.com Editorial Staff
March 13, 2008
The Nokia 6555 is an entry-level flip phone that aspires to be stylish but falls short due to plasticky construction and a thicker profile - unattractive in an age where the Razr sets the standard for good-looking phones. We find the keypad and controls to be easy to use, however, and considering you can get the phone for free with a two-year contract after a mail-in rebate from AT&T, the 6555 is priced right.
We found it easy to make calls on the Nokia 6555 due to the very comfortable keypad, although it is slowed down by its flip design, which requires you to open the phone before you start dialing. Call features are solid, and we were also happy to see a good selection of organizational features on the phone, although some are buried in the menu system. We should also note that ring volume is a little on the low side.
The Nokia 6555 performed quite well in our tests of audio quality. Audio sent and received by the handset is above average and does not show any serious issues that will annoy users. Side tone, which pipes your own voice back to your ear piece so you can judge how loudly you are speaking, is also solid. Considering that many looking for an entry-level handset just want one that provides solid audio performance, most will be happy with the Nokia 6555.
On the multimedia front, the Nokia 6555 is not as impressive. Although the music software is relatively full-featured, the lack of external music controls means you have to open the device to control music. We also found the music software slow to load. On the imaging front, the Nokia 6555’s 1.3-megapixel camera does a solid job reproducing colors but scored poorly in terms of resolution and noise. You probably won’t be framing any photos you take with the 6555.
The 6555 runs Nokia’s standard Series 40 interface, which provides a stable environment with good options for customizing your device. Responsiveness is only average, with some programs being particularly slow, as we noted with the music software above. One issue we encountered with the interface is that menus tend to be overly large and lack shortcuts for the keypad, which makes other phones easier to navigate. The 6555’s web browser is only adequate for browsing mobile websites - it certainly is not as good as the excellent S60 Web found on Nokia’s higher-end smart phones or Safari on the iPhone.
Battery performance on the Nokia 6555 is a mixed bag. Although music playback and web browsing times are adequate, call time, which is obviously most important to many, was subpar. Lasting only 3 hours and 5 minutes in our call time test, the Nokia 6555 will likely frustrate those who spend a lot of time talking on their phones.
Overall, the Nokia 6555 offers users a solid feature set for an entry-level phone, but with a few drawbacks you might expect from any phone you’re getting for free with a contract. The lack of multimedia functionality is an annoyance, but realistically you probably aren’t going to find a great music or camera phone at this price. Our biggest concern is the poor battery performance during calls. If you don’t spend a lot of time on the phone and just want a solid device the 6555 will suit you just fine, but if you’re looking for a phone for a chatty teenager or you need a phone that will stand up for long periods between charges, the 6555 will disappoint.
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