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RATING:

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SUMMARY:

Stylish and well-built fashion slider phone. Its features are on par with many of the mid-range Nokia phones. Opaque, polished hardened smoked glass front. In idle mode, the keypad light 'pulses' every 7 seconds. Meowwwww.

Nokia 8600 Luna Review

The Nokia 8600 Luna is a fashion slider phone. The 8600 looks good, feels good and it has an excellent build quality. It's quite expensive if you pay for it SIM-free or on pay-as-you-go. The camera isn't great, and 128 MB phone memory isn't enough for many music-lovers.

Here's how Nokia describe the Nokia 8600 Luna:

"Mysteriously, it glows. Magnetically, it calls. Come closer, and see things in a different light... Inspired by moonlight, it pulsates with allure. Birthed from a heritage of refinement, its every detail embodies luxury... Sleek chrome trimmings, together with a distinctive glass and steel dual texture, bring pure pleasure with every touch".

Design

The 8600 Luna has an opaque, polished hardened smoked glass front. In idle mode, the keypad light 'pulses' every 7 seconds - a 'breathing' effect. Gimmicky, but it does let you point out to friends: "Look everyone, this thing is alive". Oooooo, ahhhhh, gasp the adoring crowd.

You can see the keypad through the smoked glass - more clearly visible when the white key lighting is on. A chrome frame surrounds the display and navigation keys. Looks good. It weighs 140 g; expected and welcome.

The back of the Nokia 8600 is made of stainless steel. There's nothing on the back of interest. Slide the front panel up and to reveal the plastic keypad on the front, and the 2 MP camera lens on the back. The back panel parts in the middle to reveal the lens - which is on the back of the front panel.

Keypad: The keys are wide. They're tightly packed, no spacing between the keys. The bottom row of keys are slightly larger than the other rows. The keys have a white light (when on).

The bottom row of keys is flush with the top of the glass - a little cramped. The top row of keys is also close to the navigation keys above. The keys are wide and easy enough to press, however we think the keys could have done with a little more spacing at the bottom and top.

Navigation keys: Easy enough to press. A 'tab' sticks out beneath the screen - use this to grip when sliding the front panel up. This 'tab' is a little too close to the navigation key.

Screen: 2-inches, up to 16 million colours - the screen is decent quality. There's no brightness adjustment. Fingerprints and smudges show up on the glass. The kind Nokia folk provide a cleaning cloth in the box. Bravo.

Battery cover: Press the battery cover release cover located at the bottom of the left side of the phone, then slide the cover. The cover was easy enough to remove.

Slider: Smooth baby, smooth. Snaps into place. Solid build.

Micro USB: Attach the charger, USB and the supplied earphones to the micro USB port. A microUSB - 2.5 mm adapter is supplied in the box. Plug the earphones into the adapter, then into the slot. That's another accessory waiting to get lost.

No memory card slot There's 128 MB phone memory, but no memory card slot. Bugger... Damn. Spend £450 on a mobile phone, and you can't even expand the memory to at least 2 GB. Even a Sony Ericsson K750i (what a phone) has an expandable slot.

Durability: The user guide warns you that the glass is fragile - take care. What if we drop the 8600 on the floor, for fun? Will it still be in one piece? We don't know.

Features

2 MP camera: Very average. There's no flash, no autofocus and no camera mirror. The lens is protected by the back panel - that's a bonus.

2 megapixels gives you 1600 x 1200 pixels. There's no macro mode, but you do get other basic settings (the same as other S40 Nokia phones). Self-timer, colour effects, white balance, sequence, night mode, image size, image quality, video quality and more.

Image quality is OK - "quality" is very subjective. Photos can look fine if you take them in good light and the camera lens has focus.

Music Player

Basic. Track list, play options, stereo widening, equalizer, random, repeat. The supplied headset is fine. Again, "quality" is subjective - they sound fine - not the best we've tested, but OK.

Other features

FM radio, organizer tools, 3 games (High Roller Casino, Soccer 3D, and 3D Golf Tour), voice dialling and recording, MMS, Email, T9 predictive text, and a standard Web browser (EDGE download speeds, not as fast as 3G UMTS). The Nokia 8600 is quad-band, so you can use the phone in many countries across the World.

Battery life: Nokia claim 3.7 hours talk-time. That's OK, a little below average. You should be able to get 9 hours+ music playing before you need to recharge.

Summary

The Nokia 8600 Luna fashion phone is very stylish and well-built. Its features are on par with many of the mid-range Nokia phones.

You can buy Nokia 8600 Luna SIM-free and PAYG, or get it for "free" (subsidized) on an 18 month + contract.

TAGS: fashion, slider phones

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