November 19, 2009 - 11:07am

One sleek smartphone: Nokia 6790 Surge

There’s a stereotype when it comes to Scandinavian products in this country. Just as Sweden’s Volvo tries hard to prove its cars are more than just sensible, Finland’s Nokia is best known for reliable and cost-efficient phones, but not for anything exciting. That may change with the Nokia 6790 Surge smartphone. 

It looks sleek enough to start swaying perception about Nokia’s cool factor. Available only in black, the Surge is nicely styled with round edges and a tasteful amount of chrome trim. It’s about the size of a half deck of cards and feels quite solid to the touch. Designed as a slide phone, The Surge has a nice little lip of plastic that makes it easier to open than most others. It also feels less fragile and better put together than many other slide phones I’ve tried. Once open, the bottom part reveals a nice big QWERTY keypad that can be used easily with both thumbs. It’s backlit, so texting in the dark is no problem.

One of my favourite features is the display. Although not really all that big at 2.3 inches, it works great and provides an excellent picture whether you’re looking at photos or browsing the Net. In addition to reproducing vivid colours, the graphics refresh very quickly – even when shifting from portrait to landscape perspective when you slide open the keyboard.

The Surge is powered by the powerful and proven Symbian S60 operating system, which is logical and intuitive even for those new to the smartphone concept. That’s important, because as one of the least expensive phones with a full keyboard, many Surges will find their way into the hands of text-happy teenagers.