PhoneArena's Retro-Rewind: Nokia 6800

Handset designers always have a difficult task ahead of themselves whenever they're ready to start crafting another device. True, you can always decide to improve the specs of a handset to increase its overall “upgraded” status – but this method is just too played out. Time after time, we see handset manufacturers rely on the same tried and true form factors that prove to become boring after a period of time. Then again, there are devices out there that truly reinvent themselves thanks to their innovative designs that are thankfully thought of as being outside of the box. The golden age of the modern cell phone came about thanks to the myriad of devices that relied heavily on the candybar form factor – it's simple, durable, and considered the norm. As we see today with all the touchscreen phones being released, there are few that are able to captivate audiences with their strategic and unique looks. The Nokia 6800 was one of those handsets during its time that was able to reinvent the candybar form factor thanks to the rising usage of text messaging becoming a dominant form of communication.

By the time the Nokia 6800 was released here in the US, most manufacturers relied heavily on the usual candybar form factor – but then again, there were the obvious flip handsets around as well. There are only a finite amount of ways these kinds of phones were able to differentiate themselves, but the Nokia 6800 sported a unique fold out QWERTY keyboard that was discreetly tucked away. Thanks to the onset of  continuing SMS usage among consumers, this device capitalized itself by offering users the flexibility of a physical keyboard as opposed to relying on the usual numeric keypad. In addition, it sported some modest specs at the time such as a 128 x 128 pixel display with support for 4,096 colors, GPRS “high-speed” data, polyphonic ring tones, speaker phone, internet browser, voice dialing, and an email client. On the outside, it looked like any other typical candybar phone – but its innovation was found in its fold out QWERTY keyboard design. Naturally, Nokia was already seeing some key trends developing at that time and readily jumped on the opportunity. Ultimately, the Nokia 6800 goes to showcase the kind of ingenuity required to liven up or innovate a device to differentiate itself from the usual pack.



It's okay to keep on recycling the same old ideas being used on previous handset designs, but in order to stand prominently above others, it's required to think outside of the box and reinvent the wheel. We're at that point with the eclectic mix of touchscreen smartphones out there that seemingly look similar to one another. Granted there are few that are able to stand head above the water over other handsets, but they should follow suit in how the designers for the Nokia 6800 actually went about redesigning an existing form factor. Not only was the phone crafted to adapt to the rising usage of texting as a rising form of communication, it distinctively reminded people how one clever device was able to incorporate an idea that almost seemed too far-fetched at the time.

Nokia 6800 Specifications