Hi guys, I have been using the Nokia E6-00 since 2nd July.
Here's my quick and dirty review of the phone.
UPDATED 19 JULYGSMArena has released a review of the phone as well --->
http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_e6_00-review-616.phpNew things I found super awesome about this phone:Videos - This phone handles AVI files, DivX and XViD! How super awesome is that? But it doesn't like MP3 codec. So far it has handled every video file I have thrown at it.
Using LED as Torchlight - You can activate the DUAL LEDs as a flashlight (mind you it's super bright) by holding down the slide lock for 3s. Repeating the action turns it off.
Wi-Fi Hotspot - This is provided as a 3rd party app (as compared to Android who have it built in since Froyo). App is Joikuspot Premium version. Nice.
Copy Pasta - Cut, copy, paste is still all there, now enhanced by the capacitive touchscreen. Only thing missing is Android's magnified selection.
Some not so good things I found about the phone (but I live with it, cos I love it so much)Smudges - This thing is a fingerprint magnet diva. Smudges appear on the back, front, everywhere. As some forumers have noted, it gets slippy. But livable.
Video Player - does not remember last position. Once you leave the video app, and restart, it will start the video from the beginning. Annoying.
During Calls - The phone will start up Contacts or even Alarm Clock for no reason. When you put the call down, you find that app staring at you. Boggling.
Breathing Light - is a little weak. Which goes to say the Notification Light is also weak (compared to E63 and E72)
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The Nokia E6-00 is touted as the successor to the E72 which was at the time, a brilliant piece of work by Nokia. Autofocus, slim waistline, latest Symbian Feature Pack, comfortable QWERTY; it had everything you could want from a QWERTY messenger. Add to that, it had good looks and a few nice perks like flashlight feature and flip to mute.
So what could the E6 do to top the E72?
Here are it's main features that reallly stood out for me:
2.46 inch 16 million colour
Gorilla Glass screen
640x480 capacitive touchscreen
8MP Full Focus (not auto) camera, with 720p video recording and dual LED flash
Slim waistline 10.5mm
8GB internal mass memory
A-GPS with free lifetime voice guided navi
Blueteeth 3.0
GSMArena's Spec Sheet -->
http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_e6-3717.phpHere's what makes the E6 better or worse than the E72
Slightly thicker (0.5mm)
Capacitive touchscreen (major plus)
Not auto-focus (major disappointment for me)
8GB mass memory (more is always better)
E6 adds 5g of weight
And from GSMArena, a comparison of E72 and E6 -->
http://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPho...1&idPhone2=3717User HistoryIt's a good place to start with where I come from.
For the past 2 years I've been using the E63, a budget version of the E72. I was very happy with it, except for the lack of autofocus and lack of GPS. It was my introduction to QWERTY candy bar form. My texting speed doubled and I was highly impressed with it, having previously used only T9 types.
Let's go into some details.
Under the Hood680Mhz Processor
256MB RAM
8GB internal Mass Memory
1500mAh battery
By today's standards of dual cores and 1GB of RAM, the E6 is kinda slow. But that's the appeal of Symbian OS, it doesn't need all that to run effectively. It has tons of processor optimisations and power settings that ensure the phone gives you the power when you need it and prioritizes battery life when it's not powering thru apps.
Power SavingOne very awesome feature I found was the Power Saving feature. A quick tap on the battery icon and you can turn the phone into a power sipper. It lowers brightness to the lowest setting and turns off the vibrator. And the phone automagically switches the feature on when batt is down to 10% thereby giving you that extra bit of juice.
I won't go into the nitty gritty of how long the battery lasts. Just my personal usage.
For myself, I send out about 50 messages a day, and at minimum 5 calls a day, the phone lasts about 1.5 days before I start charging it. To avoid unpleasant loss of service, I've got myself a car charger and mount to charge it when I drive back from work. The 20 minutes it spends plugged in really helps. Alternatively, you could charge it in office and at home.
OS Changes - Symbian AnnaSymbian Anna is touch optimised and slightly easier to use, while retaining the familiar feel of Symbian-ness. Icons are larger, easier for touch and menus revamped. But still we're talking about squeezing 640x480 pixels in 2.46 inches instead of the usual 4 inches that other touchscreens offer. Then again, that's more of a choice of form factor. For me the hardware QWERTY just sells it for me. I can't quite yet picture being on a full touchscreen. Maybe I'm just being stubborn. I see so many people using full touchscreens with ease. For me, full touchscreens offer the cool factor at the cost of tactility and error free typing. But that's just me.
Hands On FeelThe handset feels very comfortable in the hands, going with the tried and true dimensions of E72 and E71 previously pioneered. The added 5g of weight is barely felt, it feels as natural as the E72 to hold for calls and messages.
Two handed use is definitely recommended though Nokia would probably have you believe you could use it one-handed with prediction turned on. And here on, you will notice the touchscreen will come in handy, just a little tap and the message gets sent. Instead of flicking thru menus with the D-pad, you can speed things up by tapping the specific item you want.
And of course the D-pad is still there (as opposed to contender HTC ChaCha that removes the D-pad and gives you 4 arrows) for purists or those still acclimatising to touch and type.
MessagingThis should be the phone's strongest card in it's deck.
Messaging was very comfortable and reasonably quick. It allows you to use Conversation mode (aka Threaded mode) to view new messages. This was a big plus to me, as I communicate with my partner via SMS alot and messages can get lost pretty fast, hence using threaded mode gave me a feeling of improvement. Some threaded views show a whole long list of the entire conversation which takes time to load. Nokia has set up the Conversation to only load the few latest messages and it archives the rest under "Show Older Messages". This speeds up loading a conversation alot.
Alot of reviews don't cover this part, but me being quite anal, want to touch on the message capacity and the phones ability to handle large volumes of messages stored in inbox and sent. I get this tiny sense of satisfaction of pushing the limits of the messaging component of a phone. At time of writing, I have 523 Received; 644 Sent. I'll probably reach 1000 messages in Inbox before I have to clear it. So far there's only a slight detectable delay in opening a long conversation, but as mentioned above, Nokia have a workaround for it.
PhonebookThe phonebook sports a small SNS (Social Networking Services) tie-in. You can link your contacts with Facebook or Twitter via the Contacts. You can use your friend's Facebook picture as your contact pic. If your friend has a current status, it will show that above the phone numbers.
This wasn't the biggest deal for me, as I'm not such an avid Facebooker.
Gee That's Good GPSI've previously used Garmin on a Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro, and I found that very useful, having been my first foray into GPS. I've also used a GPS Bay standalone GPS unit, and it was just as expected. Naturally, when I first booted up Nokia Maps, I was skeptical that it would perform up to the standards I was so used to.
And I was pleasantly surprised with how easy it was to use. Sure there was a bit of learning curve, but it's no different from using Garmin for the first time.
Zooming in and panning the map about was smooth and graphically pleasing.
Voice Navigation was accurate and not much different from Garmin's. I have yet to test out using my own voice to record. Once I have tested that I will post an update.
Best part about Nokia Maps 3.0 is that you can update maps via wi-fi and store them locally, hence saving on data costs. Brilliant.
Data PlanYou could use this phone without a data plan but you'd be missing out on alot of the features like Phonebook SNS integration (as mentioned in Phonebook section above).
Using it without a data plan would require alot of mucking about the settings to turn off all the features.
GPS also relies heavily on data plans, sometimes using the 3G network to determine location and show places of interest nearby your location. Skimping on the data plan would mean seeing alot of blank spaces in your apps.
Software MarketThus far, I haven't seen alot of Apps in the Ovi Store. Nokia better get some new software in as this is a smartphone and part of being a smartphone involves being able to expand the usability of the handset via 3rd party apps.
Ovi Store for Symbian Anna OS looks like an tiny infant when compared to giants Apple's iTunes and Google's Android.
ConclusionThinking about technology in general, I feel that Nokia rushed this E6-00 out to beat competitors HTC (with the ChaCha) and Blackberry (with the 9900). It's definitely a good effort and I love this phone like an extension of my limbs.
If you are currently using an E72, you might want to wait and see if Nokia releases an autofocus touch and type.
If you are currently using an E63, this is the phone you should consider.
If you are currently using a T9 phone and want to venture into QWERTY territory, make this your Top 3 considerations. (The other being Blackberry 9900 and HTC ChaCha)
The price is currently listed as RM1,065 at time of writing.
On my scale of measurement, I give this phone an 8 out of 10, losing points only for fixed focus, processor speed and RAM (based on today's smartphone standards)
This post has been edited by altie: Jul 19 2011, 11:20 PM 
Feb 7 2011, 04:29 PM, updated 15y ago
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