Brand: Nokia
Model: C6-00
Operating System: Symbian S60 5th Ed
Today email and Facebook are two common activities in the use of a mobile phone, and Nokia, with the C6-00, had good sense to incorporate an sliding landscape QWERTY keyboard to improve the user experience.
1. Evaluation of construction, quality and accessories included
The C6-00 exhibits its weight (150 grams) and gives us a nice touch through the casing, which is predominantly made of plastic.
The C6-00 screen is 3.2-inch resistive touch technology, I mean, responds to the pressure and not to the touch. Usually performs well, although we will notice the difference compared to capacitive displays, especially in the use of the web browser: it would have been wise to include an stylus to support the accuracy and improving the user experience.
In the front of the cell highlight the front facing camera, and the three physical buttons (for calls, on/off the device, and a central to access the application menu/multitasking). At the upper end we will find the 3.5 jack, together with the micro USB port and the standard Nokia charger connection. On the right side there are the volume keys (also to control the zoom action in some apps), a lock/unlock display system, and the always necessary photo camera button (to start the function and to capture scenes): some devices forget this last button, and besides being practical it compels us to hold the phone properly, providing greater flexibility for users when making photos. On the left side, Nokia its been intelligent to include an external access to insert / remove the micro SD card, and so it will be easier to use several cards (for example if we own a good music library distributed in three 8GB cards)
In the back of the C6-00 we will highlight two details. The first is its 5MP camera lens + flash LED, and the second the external speaker represented by 4 vertical slots. To remove the battery cover, with the charger connection facing up, nailing the index finger in the bottom of the tab on the lid, and gently tilt the finger inward.
If there is one thing that stands out in this mobile phone is the sliding QWERTY keyboard: is a bulwark to make life easier with long messages, emails, and comments on the Facebook wall. The touch of the keys is excellent, and the convenience of use is more than remarkable: well trimmed nails will improve in a lot when pressing the keys. We will see good-sized keys slightly curved.
The overall assessment of the device is good, the main material used is plastic, but we'll find a metal area on the back. If we are of those who lead the mobile hanging from the neck...we will find, on the bottom left, the holes to tie the alanyard. In regard to the brightness of the screen, the C6-00 boasts a remarkable visibility even full sunlight: the default brightness level is set at 50%.
About accessories, the C6-00 counts with a 20cm USB cable, an standard Nokia charger, and low quality headphones that provide clear sound, although we will appreciate low power when we are outdoors (will be necessary to bring the volume to 90% minimum).
2. Battery Performance
The 1200mAh battery is enough for a device to mainly listen to music, manage calls and to access Facebook sometimes: the autonomy can last 1.5 or 2.5 days. I recommend to disable the "vibration" display response.
Configurations: 1 Hotmail account updated every 15 minutes, dual network (3G/2G), screen brightness at 50%, motion sensor disabled .(device off during 7.5 hours)
Charge: Complete the 25th-November at 10:30h and "0%" the 26th-November at 18:32 h
Use: 45 photographs (7 with flash), 285 minutes (+4 hours) music playback, 32 minutes phone calls.
It must be said that the use of photo the camera needed a lot of battery. My personal opinion: very satisfied.
3. Evaluation of the UI (User Interface): S60 Symbian 5th Edition
The C6-00 runs Symbian S60 5th Edition, being the greatest feature the customization of your home screen, for example, with widgets for e-mail, Facebook and music player , shortcuts for apps or your favorite contacts.... We have the option to configure up to 6 widgets: the original Symbian S60 was more limited.
The screen customization is useful because we have all the information at a glance, and access to applications we frequently use (FB, music player or photo camera, for example).
At the lower end of the touch screen, the touch options button (left) allows us to organize or hide the 6 widgets available, so we can have all the information more accessible, or just let us enjoy a wallpaper. The central touch button brings us to the phone pad, and the right button can be freely configured according the user preferences.
Looking at the front of the device, the central mechanical button take us to the applications menu with only a single click! or, if we press it a few seconds, we will access to the multitasking menu to navigate or change between different applications still open.
Once inside the application menu, the user of the C6-00 can take advantage of a free apps distribution and create new folders, so he/she will be able to design its own personalized menu.
The screen has a default brightness set to 50%, which can be changed from settings, phone, screen. In regard to the motion sensor, you can keep it active, so when you turn the phone horizontally will change the menu and applications distribution; or disable, and then the landscape viewing mode will only work when sliding the physical QWERTY keyboard (Settings, Phone).
note: the last screenshot shows the options of the camera function.
The central button on the front of the cell will flash intermittently when we'll receive incoming emails, calls or SMS. Symbian S60 is great for its extensive customization possibilities, for example, configure sound profiles with melodies for ring tones, messages and emails.
4. Apps: OVI Store
PREINSTALLED APPS
-OVI Maps: Nokia has developed a complete solution suite to let users set routes and get full information around the destination place.
- Facebook: functional but slow app to review the entries from our network, write comments, send messages, and view images posted by or friends. Snaptü is the downloadable suite that maybe will give you faster access.
- Recorder: superior quality voice recording app to store our notes. The encoding is done in MP4, requiring a size of 249kb each 30 seconds.
- QuickOffice: excellent app not only to view Word or Excel documents, but also to create documents after buying the Premium version.
- Zip Manager: smart tool to group content or reduce the size of a file, so being a solution to easy share multiple files via Bluetooth or email.
- Shazam: If you have a 3G data plan, you just have to start the app and let the software to recognize the music you are listening to. In a few seconds you will get the name and the artist of the track: the system stores the search found. You won't have to ask again.... What song is it?
DOWNLOADABLE APPS
- Wikipedia: get the wikipedia information on your phone, an app that let you easily read the content on the C6-00 screen.
- Screenshot for Symbian OS : Useful, accurate and efficient.
- ION battery timer: How many hours and minutes of battery life will we have? Apparently you need about 5 battery charges for tuning accuracy. Great app.
- Snaptü: suite of apps with Facebook, Flickr, RSS news reader and other tools. Highly recommended.
5. Voice and Data
Voice: the voice sounds clear.
Data: access point configuration is automatic (at least in Orange), although it is always advisable to check in settings, connectivity, network destinations, Internet.
Email: the onboard Nokia's sliding QWERTY keyboard is a perfect tool for writing e-mails in a quickly and efficiently way: touch and size of the keys are fantastic.
The email software is rather slow comparing with other operating systems, and perhaps words in some messages can be shown small on occasion. But the truth is that synchronization works well, at least with Gmail accounts: you can preset the checking of the inbox for periods of 15, 30 or 60 minutes, for example.
Web browsing: the C6-00 can explore the web in its 3.2-inch screen but it's not very comfortable with a resistive touch technology. Under my point of view, the C6-00 should be only used for specific queries or check YouTube videos (there is no app, but the phone icon will redirect to its mobile website.)
Instant messaging: the sliding QWERTY keyboard makes the C6-00 a productive device inthe use of an instant messaging app.
Tethering: The user can surf the web in its Windows laptop using the C6-00 3G Data Plan. The first time you connect both devices, through a USB cable, you will be requested to install new drivers and "Nokia PC Internet Access" software.
6. Multimedia performance
Music player: the C6-00 has excellent qualities as a digital music player, but the listening could have been better if Nokia had included headphones more appropriate according to the product price range. If you are going to use the provided headset is convenient to fix the "bass booster" preset include in the equalizer options.
The user will appreciate an equalizer (5 presets), that offers different adjustments on the balance between bass/treble.
Photo camera: the C6-00 have a 5MP camera that provide good results on sunny days. Software comes with a default "sharpness" set to "normal", so to increase the quality of the shots we will have to manually change the value, every time we launch the camera function.
Note: sample images at a resolution of 2592 x 1944 pixels
DivX Video playback: the user won't have the possibility to playback DivX movies or TV series.
YouTube video: the C6-00 will show an acceptable video playback.
Video Recording: The Nokia C6-00 records video at a maximum resolution of 640 × 480 pixels: 1 hour recording requires 2GB of free space (encoding format, MP4). The quality is suitable for the device's display but the noise increases and the definition of the scene drops significantly in a 32-inch LCD TV or in a computer display. Leave some sample images on YouTube.
sample video: YouTube Link
7. Connectivity
Both WiFi and the Bluetooth works perfectly. The only thing I have not been able to enjoy is the Tethering with an Apple computer.
8. Weaknesses / strengths
The purpose of this section is to establish which are the improvable features.
Strenghts
-Music Player
-Sliding QWERTY keyboard
-Battery capacity
-5MP camera.
Weaknesses
-Resistive Touch screen
-Not DivX playback, and low YouTube quality playback.
9. Conclusion
Overall, I think Nokia has done a good job with the C6-00, a device specially focussed for 4 main uses: music, email, instant messaging and calls.
Spanish Review: Alexi's TechBlog
Main Features: 113.4 x 53 x 16.8 mm and 150 grams, Symbian OS S60 5th Ed, 3.2-inch resistive touch screen,
1200mAh battery, 3.5 audio jack, 5MP camera + flash LED, sliding QWERTY keyboard
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