Nokia’s marketing says the Surge is designed with “social style” in mind, taking aim online addicts with one-click access to social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr.

Running on Nokia’s Symbian S60 operating system, the handset offers smartphone tools for business users such as email with Microsoft Direct Push support. But it falls short to rivals Apple’s iPhone or Research in Motion’s BlackBerry devices in its range of applications available.

Additional include a large 2.4-inch screen, slide-out QWERTY keyboard, 2.0-megapixel camera with AT&T Video Share, MP3 player with FM radio, HTML browser with Flash support, GPS and high-speed 3G connectivity and a microSD slot.

The company took a design detour with the Surge, making the usability interesting and baffling.

For instance, the Surge can’t dial numbers with in the closed position. Its QWERTY keyboard and keypad are also on separate layers, making navigation awkward. And a non-traditional menu interface takes a bit of time to learn.

At the same time, a stylish design, multitasking capabilities and long-lasting battery inject more than enough enthusiasm for consumers to overcome the initial difficulties with the interface.

Design

The Surge’s glossy black finish and beveled edges give it a stylish look despite its plastic feel.

Nokia Surge ClosedIts front panel features a 2.4-inch screen and four-way directional keypad with center select button. Surrounding it, four designated keys — call, end call and two smart keys — are used to navigate menu choices.

The bottom left corner has three shortcut keys — used when the Surge is turned horizontally — for quick access to AT&T’s MEdiaNet Web browser, main menu and messaging options.

The Surge smoothly slides open to reveal its backlit keyboard. Buttons are well-spaced and move depress with the slightest pressure for comfortable and speedy tying.

While the keyboard gets high marks for usability, its dual-layer design — typing on the lower half of the slider while pressing function buttons on the top half — does not. The awkward positioning makes working the keypad in conjunction with the smart keys much like playing an organ keyboard.

Held in horizontal position, the top of the handset has a camera key and volume rocker. The left side has a charger and headset connector while the right houses the microphone and USB port. The camera lens and battery cover are on the back.

The Surge scores high marks for battery life, coming out hours ahead of its 4.7 hours of talk time and 16 days of standby time.

Out of the box, the Nokia Surge comes with a 1500 mAhLi-Ion battery, wall charger and CD with user guide.