Nokia 8600 Luna Review

It's impossible to review the Nokia 8600 Luna without first mentioning its $800 price tag. That's eight LG Chocolates or two iPhones, and both beat the 8600 Luna in terms of style and functionality. While there is something to be said for the 8600 Luna's looks and durability--its stainless steel back and smoked hardened glass exude luxury--it's a bit heavy for our tastes. The 8600 Luna is an attractive phone that would survive a drop down a flight of stairs, but it's not a 3G phone and it doesn't even have all the features many free phones come with, such as instant-messaging capabilities (though you can download an IM client to the Java-enabled phone).

An unlocked black slider with a bright 2-inch QVGA display, the 8600 Luna's color palette is tailor-made for ravers and clubbers alike; dark blacks, reflective silver, and vibrant purples. The smoked-glass faceplate is attractive, but it smudged very easily. The 8600 Luna's standby option makes the screen pulse with light, which should attract a few wayward glances at the bar. The top slides up to reveal a minimalist interface with a tactile keypad, D-pad, and shoulder buttons. Along the upper sides, you'll find two powerful speakers along with volume controls and a power jack on the bottom right.

The 8600 Luna sports some solid multimedia capabilities. The 2-megapixel camera snapped detailed stills, but video resolution was a tiny 176 x 144. It comes with stereo Bluetooth for listening to tunes wirelessly, but with only 128MB of onboard storage and no memory card slot, you'll be lucky to get one or two albums onto the phone. The 8600 Luna is rated for 3 hours and 30 minutes of talk time and 10 days of standby, but even with just moderate usage, the phone died every other day. Using our AT&T SIM card, call quality was clear.

As good as the 8600 Luna looks--and it is pretty chic--this phone doesn't have enough substance to back up its style.

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