Disqus
Right, on to my second five-minute fiddle of the week (note: the five-minute fiddle is entirely different than a five-knuckle shuffle – if you’re looking for one of those, you are on entirely the wrong site!)
For those of you that are not familiar, the aim of the five-minute fiddle is to spend a very short period getting first impressions of a given handset/service, like you would browsing in a shop for example, and then write things up with a summary ‘gut feeling’ about it.
I’ve been lucky enough to receive a ‘Nokia X6 Comes with Music’ this week, in amongst the slew of mail that I got. Fortunately this was one (padded) envelope that I was looking forward to!
Unpacking
If you’re German, I guess you’d comment “Alles Gut” on the packing front. Yep, it’s all there, and part of the Nokia bread and butter competences these days is getting a device well-packaged, with all the accessories. In my first few minutes however, I wasn’t too concerned with what I found as long as I had the device, battery, and charger – a tick in the box for each of those then 
Hardware form-factor
The Nokia X6 has a capacitive screen, which is something I’ve been looking forward to trying out, as I personally can’t stand resistive screens! That’s not to say I won’t give them a fair go, but, given the choice I’d choose capacitive. I’m happy to report that the X6 screen is a reasonable size, and responds well to touch.
The design of the device is a little bit quirky, but that’s something I can well appreciate in a device that could well form the beginning of a new line of mid-range touch-enabled devices. It’s pleasing to find tactile buttons where they are needed however, and the usual array of buttons on the side (volume, keylock, etc).
I have to say I do think the battery cover is a little on the flimsy side – it stretches from to bottom of the back of the device, in a central strip – but should have been engineered out of something a bit more sturdy in my view. I felt very uncomfortable popping it off and snapping it back on again.
My device is the blue/white version (the other is red/black), and overall I think it’s going to be one of those appearances that either visually attracts you, or not, since it’s quite striking.
Software / UI
I have to say I was a little concerned at what exactly Series60 was going to offer up as a touch interface, as to my mind, Nokia are way behind the likes of Apple and HTC/Android in their touch-enabled designs. However, I was pleasantly surprised – everything is reasonably clear, and once you drill out of the main menu grid, buttons etc continue to be finger-friendly – something that wasn’t always the case with some of the earlier touch interfaces on Nokia devices.
All of the usual candidates were there in terms of applications, but what I didn’t get to try was the whole ‘Comes with Music’ experience – more of that hopefully, in a longer review next time.
I did check out the typing on the virtual on-screen keyboard however, because I think it’s something that needs to work really well in a touch-based device – and I’m pleased to report no lag in inputting characters – the space bar did seem slightly shifted to the right though, which catches you off-guard a bit at first!
Conclusion
Overall, I’m feeling quite positive about the X6, and looking forward to spending some more time with the X6. Its got a good (capacitive – yay!) touchscreen, and a UI that at least seems usable and lag-free. Whilst it doesn’t have the bells and whistles of some of the high-end smartphones, that doesn’t matter – it does the basics seemingly quite well, and it’s trump card (in this case) should be the ‘Comes with Music’ offering – more to follow on that one!
Verdict: Has good potential
You can find out more about the ‘Nokia X6 Comes with Music’ here.
About The Author
Ben Robinson
Ben is a 10+ year veteran of the Mobile industry – starting his career when SMS was a still a relatively new concept for most people (!), he has now consulted on everything from bleeding-edge Mobile content, to the next-gen accessories you might view it on. As a result he has a broad and deep knowledge in numerous areas of Mobile – from network operators to device vendors, to infrastructure and middleware vendors (not to mention content delivery) – and has worked for companies in all of these areas! He is based in the UK, a hotbed of activity for mobile, and recently became a father for the second time – as oppose to in his younger years when he was happy spend time tweaking all manner of mobile devices to 'nth' degree, he now looks for services and hardware that provide the most efficient, compact, and reliable improvements to his already manic life! It’s his opinion that Mobile solutions should be there to help to make your life better – if a particular solution (be it service or device) isn’t doing this, he believes you need to ask the very important question of why you continue to use it... His focus at IntoMobile is mainly on Mobile content, services, and infrastructure, particularly as regards the UK market – and with the occasional look at devices. Additionally, using his extensive experience in the industry, he will provide commentary on the industry at large, with regular (and hopefully thought-provoking) articles.
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