Nokia 8600 Luna
11 JUN 2007
Launch price
from £free
Stuff says
It may practise the 8800's style-over-substance policy, but the Luna oozes quality from every pore. And we could play with that slide action all day
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Nokia’s 8800 series of premium phones have become the weapon of choice for look-at-me Hoxtonite poseurs and City preeners. The original model was the ultimate in style over substance, and was soon followed by some wallet-busting successors – the feature-packed 8800 Sirocco and the 18-carat gold Sirocco Gold model, which cost £800 SIM-free. Ouch.
Not many of us mere plebs can afford such extravagance so Nokia has taken the 8800’s elegance and dumbed it down a smidge for the hoi polloi with its new handset, the 8600 Luna. Carphone Warehouse, who has bagged a six week exclusive, is giving the 8600 away free on £50 a month contract. But has this more affordable price tag made the 8600 just another low-grade 8800 wannabe?
Full metal jacket
Thankfully, the 8600 Luna is shot through with quality. It may forgo the 8800’s metallic finish for a shadowy, noir veneer, but it’s still mined brilliantly from stainless steel. Behind a new opaque but tough glass façade the keypad also nattily glows white.
The cold steel may be the soft touch variety but the 8600 is a meaty fellow, weighing around seven grams more than the Sirocco at a pocket sagging 143g. This weight may put some off, but it adds to its premium status and makes it feel almost bullet-proof.