All About Symbian unboxes the Nokia 6290

Stefan Constantinescu

Stefan Constantinescu (@WhatTheBit on Twitter) has loved technology since as far back as he can remember. It started with computers, but in the past few years his passion has turned to mobile devices. As a mobile phone enthusiast who lives and breathes devices that connect to the internet, he knows he is not alone with this radical fascination of all things wireless. He is strongly opinionated and enjoys a good debate so leave comments in his posts and he’ll get back to you! Stefan began blogging as a hobby in the fall of 2006 and joined IntoMobile in the summer of 2007. Later he got a job at Nokia in March 2008, but as of June 2009 he has rejoined the IntoMobile team. He is currently based out of Helsinki, Finland.

• krisse

  Thanks for the link!

  “(The 6290) is the fastest S60 device out there. The TI OMAP 2420 inside the N95, E90 and N800 only runs at 330 MHz, but the Freescale solution inside this bad boy is rocking the boat at 369 MHz!”

  This is where things get complicated.

  The 6290 does have the highest processor clock speed of any Nokia phone, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the fastest phone.

  The N95 and E90 have dual processors, one for phone tasks and one for computing tasks, but the 6290 has just one processor which has to deal with both computing and phone tasks. Under normal use you would have your phone connected to the phone network, and in that situation the N95 and E90 would probably be faster than the 6290.

  Added into this murky picture are 3D graphics, as the N95 and E90 both have 3D acceleration hardware but the 6290 doesn’t. The 6290 would have to do all its 3D work through the main processor, whereas the N95 and E90 could divert some of that work to their 3D hardware. (This is why the N-Gage had jerkier graphics than the Nintendo DS despite having a much faster main processor, because the DS had graphics acceleration hardware and the N-Gage didn’t.)

• Stefan Constantinescu

  Just because it’s a single core processor doesn’t mean it can’t rival the OMAP 2420.

  Yes the N95 has video acceleration, but most Nokia’s do not.

  The OMAP 2420 is the old way of doing things. Companies always try to use chips that have more and more capabilities on them. The modem aspect of the Freescale chip is embedded on the single core processor instead of being a seperate component. In the low end segment the goal is to have a complete SoC (system on a chip) solution. In both markets the goal is cost reduction and less complicated (to build) devices.

  I’m sure when you’ll post your review of the 6290 you’ll mention the snappiness of the device. I know I had that reaction when using it for the first time. That is thanks to 369 MHz of madness!