The Nokia Surge 6790 represents the Finnish company's latest attempt to capture the younger market of phone users in the US. It's a worthy effort, too, bringing a full-fledged smartphone with plenty of features at an affordable price.
Touting a highly-unusual aesthetic that's more familiar to basic messaging handsets, the Surge is probably the most odd-looking smartphone around. While some will probably balk at what Nokia did with the creative design, I'm inclined to think that most folks will find it attractive.
It's a lot smaller than it looks in photos, measuring 3.8 x 2.2 x 0.6 inches, so it's actually very compact, despite how it may appear at first glance. Build is largely plastic and a little flimsy, though, it handles well enough to withstand regular use.
Screen is a 2.4-inch LCD with 320 x 240 resolution. With plenty of empty bezel on the front panel, Nokia could have easily increased the screen size, though, pricing considerations may have forced the limited viewing real estate. The full QWERTY keyboard provides a good typing experience.
Like we said, the phone is heavy on features. It boasts a full suite of messaging talents (including Exchange support), comes with a good set of bundled productivity tools (e.g. QuickOffice) and supports Nokia's Ovi Store, which allows it to extend its functionality even further. Geared towards younger users, the bulk of the apps that come with the phone consists of social media, IM and entertainment software.
Camera is a 2.0 megapixel unit that offers average-quality shots. It comes with a good number of settings and a decent camcorder option. The phone supports 3G and full HTML browsing (with Flash Lite), putting it up a notch over many entry-level smartphones. There's no Wi-Fi, though, so you'll need the data plan to stay connected.
It's heavy on the multimedia, packing in every audio and video nicety you can imagine. Details include support for a wide variety of files (AAC, AAC+ v1, AAC+ v2, WAV, MP3, WMA 9, and RealAudio), an FM tuner, XM radio, MobiTV and support for AT&T's range of streaming services. Other features include aGPS, Bluetooth and microSDHC expansion.
Overall, the Nokia Surge 6790 is an excellent choice for an entry-level smartphone. Priced at $79.99 with a two-year tie-in, it's also highly affordable. If the unusual, youth-oriented design doesn't put you off, the rich set of features should make it worth your while.
I don’t find the price to be cheap. I would have expected a little bit more here. I don’t understand the need for such an unusual design, though it doesn’t look that bad.
The price is ok. Not bad considering the features and new design. People will sure lure towards it.
I think its a pretty good phone for the price. I like the design, it looks like a PMP. Its actually nice to see Nokia trying something different.