At GSMA, Nokia's 6220 offers a powerful camera

Nokia already has the N95, so its no stranger to high-resolution camera phones. But now it's aiming to take that functionality to a broader audience with the Nokia 6220 Classic. Announced today at the GSMA World Congress in Barcelona, the 6220 takes is a somewhat scaled down version of the N95. Not only does it use Nokia's Series 60 user interface instead of Symbian, but also it sports a minimalist candy bar design (4.25 inches tall by 1.8 inches wide by 0.59 inches thick; it weighs 3.2 grams). It will be available in purple, or basic black.

That design simplicity doesn't stop the 6220's camera from being its star attraction. In addition to the 5-megapixel resolution, it offers a Xenon flash, a 20x digital zoom, a Carl Zeiss optics lens, and auto-focus. The video recorder can shoot and play clips at 30 frames per second at a 640x480 resolution. With 120MB of internal memory, you'll have plenty of room for storing your pictures, and videos; however, if you need more space, the 6220 also can accommodate a 8GB microSD card. When you're finished with your work, you can upload photos directly to Ovi, Flickr, or VOX. You can also play videos on your television set using a TV out cable.

Other features on the 6220 include stereo Bluetooth 2.0, a Web browser, e-mail (with attachments), a digital music player, a FM radio, text and multimedia messaging, and personal organizer applications. The 2.5mm headset is a mixed bag; though its better than a proprietary port, we would prefer a 3.5mm headset. Also, while the phone is quadband, it currently only supports the European 3G bands. Release of the 6220 is set for the third quarter of this year. At 325 euros ($471), it will put a crimp in your wallet, but it's still far cheaper than the N95's $700 price tag.