Nokia 6555

AT&T is aggressively pushing its 3G network, and nowhere is this more evident than in the Nokia 6555. Priced at just $49 with a rebate and two year contract, the 6555 is an attractive little clamshell that sports a decent feature set, including a 1.3-megapixel camera, AT&T Music, integrated IM clients, push-to-talk (PTT), and stereo Bluetooth.

The Nokia 6555 looks pretty nifty, if somewhat retro. The first thing you'll notice when the phone is closed is the silver racing stripe around the face and back battery panel. We appreciate the sporty look, but the stripe calls to mind an '87 Trans Am a bit too strongly. PTT is accessible from the 262,000-color, 128 x 160-pixel resolution external LCD, but that's about it. You can use the external display to take pictures and video, but you first have to initialize the camera from the keypad.

Flipping open the clamshell reveals a two-inch QVGA screen capable of displaying 16.7 million colors. The phone felt a little flimsy in our hands: The plastic casing was just a bit too easy to bend and ply. We like the tactile keypad, as well as the hot keys for jumping directly to AT&T Music, Cellular Video, and the camera function.

The Nokia 6555 uses AT&T's slower UMTS data network (not HSDPA), but we were able to surf at good speeds using the MEdia Net browser. NYTimes.com loaded in 8 seconds; CNN.com loaded in 6; and Yahoo.com, which tripped up because of browser formatting, loaded in 11 seconds. Video clips also queued up quickly. Cellular Video content from CNN and ESPN loaded in just five seconds, but we noticed some lag, and the videos looked grainy. A 200KB game of Konami's Pirate Poppers downloaded in just five seconds.

Although this phone integrates Napster and Yahoo Music, we found the experience sorely lacking. Both services offer only side-loading via your PC, and Yahoo has the added drawback of requiring login information, which you can't create from the phone. XM Radio implementation was much better; it lets you start your free trial or purchase service from the phone and gain access to XM's streams. Music ID also worked well, and we were able to identify our Coheed and Cambria tracks accurately.

We were intrigued by Billboard Mobile's "The Buzz" music portal; using The Buzz you can search artists' discographies and biographies, download ringtones, and browse tour dates, although you can't purchase concert tickers over the air.

AT&T includes integrated IM clients, which impressed us. Using the options menu, you can sign into your AIM, Windows Live, or Yahoo Messenger accounts. The implementation was very clean, and we were able to sign in easily and leave the app running in the background. We couldn't find a way to sign into multiple accounts on AOL, Windows, or Yahoo, however.

Voice quality on the 6555 was good. We didn't notice any muffling, echoes, or garbling on our calls, even though the volume seemed a bit low. Battery life is satisfactory, at a rated six hours of talk time, but we noticed that using the 3G data connection shortens that very quickly. We had to recharge the phone after just over a day of heavy data use. We were also easily able to connect the phone to our Altec Lansing T515 speaker via Bluetooth, which provided good stereo sound.

If you need an excuse to jump into 3G, the Nokia 6555 may be just what you're looking for and is a decent alternative to the Samsung Sync.

Nokia N76

Nokia inspires with a flashy but slightly underpowered unlocked phone for the commitment-phobic technostylist.

On the surface, the N76 seems tailor-made for image-conscious and tech-savvy consumers who wouldn't be caught dead with a run-of-the-mill RAZR. This flashy unlocked phone comes packed with multimedia, blogging, and search features, but the smudge-retentive exterior and lack of domestic 3G support may alienate snobs and squares alike (view photo gallery).

The N76's black-and-silver casing (which is also available in red) looks sleek and sophisticated, but after handling the phone for five minutes, all the fingerprints nearly convinced us that a two-year-old had been playing with it. The N76's mirror-like external display proved difficult to read in bright settings but is perfect for touching up makeup and signaling low-flying aircraft.

Below the shiny display is a set of three buttons for music playback. A microSD Card slot sits along the left edge, and volume controls and mode and camera buttons are on the right. A standard 3.5mm headphone jack and a mini-USB 2.0 port grace the N76's neck and shoulders. Opening the clamshell reveals a bright and spacious 2.4-inch QVGA screen. The glossy keypad sports tons of tactile and responsive buttons--soft touch, menu and D-pad--ensuring fluid navigation no matter what SIM card you use. On the back of the phone you'll notice the two-megapixel camera and flash, along with a reflective strip perfect for snapping MySpace pics.

For this review, we popped in a Cingular SIM card with nary a hiccup. Surfing Cingular's EDGE data network was relatively quick, with simple Web pages downloading in eight to ten seconds. For more complex pages, however, Nokia's included browser was abysmal. CNN.com took more than 40 seconds to load completely, and we experienced repeated crashes. Stability is most definitely not the N76's forte.

Multimedia is this clamshell's biggest strength. Music playback from the external stereo speakers was impressive, and we like the addition of a normal headphone jack. The N76 supports virtually every audio format under the sun, including AAC, MP3, and WMA files (including DRM-protected tracks). We did encounter a problem with the design: The 3.5mm jack is located on the top of the phone, so it's impossible to completely open this clamshell while the headset is plugged in. (Same thing goes for the USB charging port.)

The N76's 2-MP camera delivered very good details in our tests with a bit of color degradation. Videos are recorded at 320 x 240 pixels and 15 frames per second. The footage we captured was good enough to post to YouTube.

A handful of mobile apps come standard, including Yahoo Search and Lifeblog. Lifeblog allows users to upload pictures and video to blogging services like Vox and Flickr. We had difficulty using this feature with our Blogger and Flickr accounts, since Lifeblog requires its own password and server settings. Yahoo Search, on the other hand, was powerful and accurate, helping us search eBay auctions and local pizza joints, despite the instability of Nokia's browser.

Call quality on the N76 was adequate during our tests using Cingular's network. Some callers reported that we sounded distant and low, but the overall performance was fine. The 2.8 hours of rated talk time underestimates this phone's endurance. The N76 provided more than four hours of straight talk time, and it lasted through three days of periodic data and voice usage.

There's a lot be said about the N76's freedom and versatility. However, if style is your game--and $499 is your price ceiling--you'd look cooler with an iPhone. If the sky's the limit, consider the $749 Nokia N95, which sports GPS and an even sharper 5-MP camera.