Nokia 1600 has a speaking clock, which was a novel feature when the phone was launched in 2005. A user could use the speaking clock by pressing the asterisk button during the display of the home screen.
The device also includes a ringtone composer which allows creating custom ringtones. Pre-composed ringtones can be transferred through a data cable.
The phone menu features animated icons. There are fourteen pre-defined themes with fourteen wallpapers and menu backgrounds.