6680: Initial Review

[Ben]

What's in the box:
Nokia 6680 Handset
Battery
Headset
Manual
Charger
64mb DV RS MMC (40mb free) + Adapter
CD-ROM

Additional recommended purchases:
256mb DV RS MMC
Multi-card USB2 reader

Physical Features:
The first thing you notice about the handset is that it feels solid and robust. A chrome strip adds detail to the side of the phone, while the front is dominated by the large screen and attractive chrome-ringed camera. At the top there is a slit for loudspeaker output, and at the bottom the usual Nokia connectors. On the reverse, you find the sleek camera cover, which slides down very easily, yet somehow seems to have enough resistance not to come down accidentally. One thing you notice here is how thin the phone would be if it wasn't for this cover. While it would be nice to have this phone thinner, the camera cover is invaluable.

The right hand side of the phone very cleverly houses the DV RS MMC card. I say cleverly, because the compartment is covered by a properly hinged chrome door - very sturdy indeed. As soon as you open the door, the handset automatically closes all applications that reside on the memory card and prompts you to remove it. It works extremely well and has been excellently designed.

The battery compartment, unlike far too many Nokias, is easily removed, and the SIM-card slot is the "slide in and lock down" plastic holder style.

You'll notice that the phone is quite heavy, but it doesn't feel uncomfortably so.

Back to the camera cover for a moment. This feels like the least durable part of the handset. While I'm sure there's no worry of it breaking off any time soon, it feels light. Constructing the whole thing out of chrome, however, would have added to the weight considerably.

The keys on this phone are fantastic. Each makes a reassuring and very quiet click when pressed and provides just enough resistance for comfortable yet speedy use. I'm yet to accidentally push the wrong button. I don't have push to talk set up, obviously, so the PTT button on the left side isn't being used at the moment. On the right side in the same place is the power button, which for a Nokia is actually very easy to press considering you used to need to jam pen-ends down stupidly small holes!

Turned On:
The home screen on the 6680 features a row of icons for your contacts, messages, callendar, gallery and printing. The 6680 has extensive photo printing functionality and I hope to put this to the test at a later date. The two large softkeys link to Messaging and Camera. Pushing the camera button while the back cover is closed will force the front facing camera on. Switching between the two, even in a video call, is as easy as sliding the cover down or back up again.

Lifeblog comes installed on the handset, but I didn't see it on the CD. I installed it from the Internet instead, but I'm yet to discover whether it's actually worth using. I have also downloaded MusicPlay from Orange World - and so far I'm pretty impressed. I'll be investigating these pieces of software further at a later date.

The rest of the software is very much as you'd expect for a Symbian phone. The first thing I did was copy the 24mb or so content from the Nokia MMC onto my own-purchased 256mb MMC. You'll need to format all MMC cards in the handset (or in a compatible handset) to even have a hope of using them in the phone - formatting via Windows is just a no-go. It took two attempts, but the second time the phone accepted the new MMC, loading the applications up the same as with the original one. Why bother? Because I can't stand carrying around more than I need - a separate MMC for my MP3's and my applications would literally drive me nuts!

As soon as I turned the phone on, all Orange connectivity features worked instantly. That's all thanks to Symbians settings wizard, which detects the network and configures your phone automatically. I have also tried with my Vodafone SIM - and while I couldn't get on Vodafone Live! I did make a ten-or-so minute video call between the 6680 and my Z1010. The quality was good, sound very clear, and switching between cameras using the slider on the back was addictive! What wasn't immediately obvious was how to play a video from the 6680 instead of camera footage - a feature Nokia claims is implemented - but I wasn't exactly digging around for it.

General Observations:

While I am told the screen is not noticably different to the 6630, I will say it looks superb. The now-almost-standard brightness detector also works well, as does the automatic flash. Wow - what a flash, it's pretty damn bright!

I'm extremely encouraged by what I've seen so far. I look forward to reviewing individual aspects of this imaging smartphone in much greater detail!

[Ben]

Further pictures for this Initial Review can be found below:

[Ben]

Further pictures, including the active Orange Music Player playing "The Weekend" - I wish it was!

I have also been frustrated in other peoples reviews of handsets that they have failed to compare the size to vegetables. For your viewing pleasure, the final picture compares the 6680 to a Maris Piper Potato, from Sainsburys.

Mmmmmm, potatoes.....

Looks like a nice phone too, I like the idea of the lifeblog software and look forward to your review.

[Jon3G]

MMMMMMMM

That looks amazing. Cant wait for it to be available

Come on Voda or Orange. I need it NOWWWWWWWWWw

[Ben]

Thanks guys, a full review with better pictures will be available by the end of the week. If there's anything in particular that you'd like to know about then please post your requests here.

[chaslam]

Hey Ben,
I dont know why but I like to see the qulity in the dark (pictures that is). Clould you take a pic or somthing in good light, and then in bad with the little phone light on?

Thanks

[Ben]

chaslam - as requested. They're not fantastic photos, but you get the idea! I was too close with the first two - which for some reason wont upload, but the second two give you an excellent idea of how powerful the flash really is. And it does flash - unlike some phones that just have a light.

This was in normal daytime mode in a dark room.

Had to reduce the quality in Paint I'm afraid, had the phone setting on high and the image sizes came out huge!

[chaslam]

WOW that is bright! Thanks for the pics! This is my dream phone!

[davidlove]

Nice first pass, thanks.

Would be fascinating to know how 3G speed affects browsing and how the Symbian browser has moved on since 6600.

Also, would like to know what the email client can now do. Polling? Display of attachments, PDFs etc? HTML mail display?

TIA.

What about more images!?

thx anyway, nice review

[Ben]

Thanks davidlove and Apocalypso™ (oOo I can still remember the right keys for that one!) - I'll be writing my 'proper' review after a bit more playing, with oodles more photos I'll also do the best to answer your questions in more detail davidlove, but I can tell you that the email client does do polling, that the phone has a PDF viewer, doc viewer, excel viewer, presentation viewer, and notepad. Not tested the display of HTML email yet, but the included browser seems to be able to browse normal web pages 'interestingly' - it re-arranges this forum something proper, but at least it works!

[Jon3G]

Them pics are quality

[Ben]

Thanks Jon3G.

I've noticed a lot of Guest visitors reading this thread, which is fantastic. However, if you register for free then you can add to this thread with any comments you might have, or requests for my up-coming full review.

So, if you're interested in the Nokia 6680, sign up and ask away!