Nokia 6120 Classic review

Not all simple phones need to limit their life ambitions to phone-and-text tedium. In our book, a handset that delivers smartphone power in a package that even technophobes will take to is worthy of the title – and one such phone is the 6120.

Take one look at the 6120 and you can see why it’s called Classic – its demure if slightly unimaginative looks are straight from page one of Nokia’s ‘sensible design’ manual.

Simple but effective

Things aren’t so basic under the hood though – it packs HSDPA, which allows speedy 1.8Mbps download speeds as long as you’re in coverage.

The 6120 is also classic because it uses Nokia’s basic and peerless user interface. One press of the Menu button brings up a familiar cluster of 13 icons to guide you to messages, contacts, music player, organiser and more.

Even though it’s technically a smartphone because of its Series 60 interface it feels as accessible as the simplest of handsets. There are mini programs like Quick Office so you can view documents and PDFs. Other programs like Nokia Maps are available to download, although there’s no GPS functionality.

The only downsides are the two softkeys just below the screen – because they’re slightly centred rather than directly beneath their function labels it’s easy to press the Menu or Clear buttons instead.

The business

The 6120 is clearly a top business phone and wouldn’t look out of place on a CEO’s desk. The speedy data transfer speeds mean you can use it as a modem for your laptop, say, and this function is extremely easy to set up through the Bluetooth menu.

The loudspeaker is also handily positioned on the side instead of the back – so plonk it face-up on the table at a meeting and the caller won’t sound like they’re down a coal mine.

Some fun is supplied from the music player and the microSD slot is easily accessible, although the headphone socket is annoyingly the 2.5mm variety.

Other phones may have better cameras and funkier styling, but for an efficient, compact and simple smartphone, the 6120 is hard to beat.