Nokia C6 Review
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Introduction:
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It is intriguing to review the Nokia C6-00 as a new alternative to the not so successful flagship N97, and the first touchscreen phone from Nokia – the 5800 Xpress Music. The C6 seems to be heading for right smack in the middle of those two, as any self-respecting Cseries device should. It takes a little bit of both by stealing the run-of-the-mill screen, innards and appearances of the 5800, but upgrading the camera to 5MP; then adding the slide-out keyboard of the N97, but omitting the Carl-Zeiss lens and the generous built-in memory to keep the price in check. Is it combining the right ingredients to become a viable Cseries mid-range offering with the somewhat tired Symbian, considering the proliferation of modern touch-based mobile OS's? You'll have to read on to find out...
What's in the box:
- Nokia C6-00
- User manual and Quick guide
- Travel charger
- microUSB cable
- Stereo headset with microphone
- 2GB microSD card
Design:
The Nokia C6 is no lightweight at 5.29 oz (150 g). The handset is plump on account of the added physical keyboard, which fattens it up to 0.66 inches (16.8 mm). We've seen much svelter handsets with slide-out keyboards – the Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro, for example, or the Motorola MILESTONE. It is thicker not only than the N97 mini, but than the N97 itself as well. Thus the handset only approaches the outer appearance of the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic at the front, but when you hold it, it feels chunky.
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The Nokia C6 is no lightweight at 5.29 oz | ||
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You can compare the Nokia C6 with many other phones using our Size Visualization Tool.
The 3.2” TFT screen that is present on the Nokia C6 has resistive technology, 16M colors, and the 360x640 pixels nHD resolution. The screen is fairly responsive for a resistive display, but it can in no way be compared to any capacitive offering. It does what it can for the technology used when in direct sunlight, which is not much, unless you set it on full brightness. The device is very easy to operate with one hand, since it is pretty narrow, due to the 16:9 aspect ratio of the screen. The only thing that bothers us about the display is its resistive nature.
Underneath the screen are three buttons in a row – the middle menu key, flanked by the send and end keys. Above it are the ear speaker, the front-facing cam and the sensors – proximity and ambient light. The screen half needs a solid push to open and close when you want to gain access to the physical keyboard. It doesn't tilt up like on the N97 series, but has a metal plate underneath it for added rigidity in an otherwise all plastic phone. We had the black version, but the phone is also offered in white.
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Traveling around the Nokia C6 finds something on each side of the phone. The microSD slot cover on the left is pretty hard to open unless you have dragon fingernails, but the microUSB port flap on the top is fine in that respect. The top also houses the standard audio jack. The right hand side is reserved for the volume rocker, the lock slider, and the camera key. We finish the round trip at the bottom, where the charging port and the microphone are. There is no USB charging unfortunately, so anywhere you go, you have to bring the mains adapter with you, instead of the short and sweet microUSB cable.
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The sides of the Nokia C6 | |
The back of the phone hosts the 5MP camera, which has an LED flash, and the speaker grill. Nokia has used cheapo plastic for the back cover, which offers almost no traction when held, so you always have to grasp on the phone from both sides if you don't want it to slip between your fingers.
What's of real interest on the Nokia C6 is how good the physical keyboard is. For starters, it resembles the one we find on the Nokia E75, not a more expensive “chicklet” type, where keys are separated from one another. It spans on four rows, unlike the three rows on the N97 duet; on top of that it has a D-pad on the right in a shorter than the N97 package, so it feels pretty cramped to type on quickly. There is a numbered top row, but you still have to press “Fn” to switch modes, so the whole point is somewhat lost.
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The physical keyboard of the Nokia C6 | ||
We should add that the screen doesn't tilt up, and there is almost no spacing for your thumbs on the first row as the screen half is too near. For that matter, the keys are domed, space bar is in the middle where it belongs, and tactile feedback of the letter buttons is plenty. All in all, it doesn't speed typing by much, compared to a good on-screen landscape QWERTY, which is missing by default on the Nokia C6. The portrait keypad actually does the job very decently when you don't feel like opening the keyboard for a quick text reply, for example
The design as a whole leaves a bit sub-standard impression. The phone looks and feels as if the department in charge has been roughly combining clues from previous Nokia touchscreen and physical keyboard handsets, without putting much thought and effort. CseriesMaybe if we had the white C6, we would be more in favor of the looks – for now it seems like an incest child of the N97, but without the nice screen tilt, and the 5800 without the slim waistline. Other than that, the construction is fine, and the spring-loading keyboard mechanism uses tight tracks.
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37 Comments
1. Peter007 (unregistered) posted on 20 Oct 2010, 01:55 0 0
6 out of 10 for that crappy phone??? Be serious...
2. uk786 posted on 12 Aug 2010, 07:00 1 0
"We've seen much svelter Symbian handsets with slide-out keyboards – the Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro, for example, or the Motorola MILESTONE." Since when was the Milestone a Symbian device?
3. ace1122 posted on 12 Aug 2010, 10:34 0 2
That is one of the ugliest phones i've ever seen. Period.
5. Stevie Jobs (unregistered) posted on 12 Aug 2010, 23:49 0 0
I know you are the fan of Apple, I phone. You can look the design of the I phone it look all the same the Ugliest of all the touch screen. You can take an I phone with I phone 3g or even I phone 3gs they look all the same. The designer in Apple has has no idea or may be an idiot. I really praise on Samsung where they have a lot of design on their touch screen. It's time when super AMOLED display has the same resolution with I Phone 4 & then we can tell which dispaly is the best... No TFT LCD screen can beat AMOLED screen.
6. ace1122 posted on 14 Aug 2010, 12:03 0 0
OMG your right on the money! Really? Really? No. I couldn't care less about the iphone. The iphone is a good product but i hate what it stands for. It is a phone used by lame shallow people thinking they will be cool bcuz they have an iphone or by people who know nothing bout phones and just assume its the best. Not everything is about the iphone. Why would you even bring it up? If anything, you're the isheep
4. Johnny Tapa (unregistered) posted on 12 Aug 2010, 12:42 0 0
I don't believe in this web site, where they more pro to Apple, RIM and Android!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
7. ilovemccormick53 (unregistered) posted on 14 Aug 2010, 16:00 0 0
this review looks biased. please give some justice in reviewing phones. and please review with partiality...because it seems that this site loves to give apple, android, and rim phones a better score and leave all other phones with an ill-fated review! Please, phonearena...do not practice some biasness for the sake of your good fellow readers!!!
8. dojob (unregistered) posted on 18 Aug 2010, 07:41 0 0
Why the display of Nokia C6 in this review look so dim............................???
9. SRV (unregistered) posted on 29 Sep 2010, 11:32 0 0
Dear editor, you are suggesting to buy Motorola Milestone, and Sony Ericsson Vivaz pro over this set??? The Nokia C6 will cost around 14k INR and Motorola Milestone comes at 28k INR and Sony Ericsson Vivaz pro at 25k INR...So how can u compare this set with almost double priced sets??? people looking forward to buy this phone can spent maximum 1 or 2k more. so please suggest within range...
10. SRV (unregistered) posted on 29 Sep 2010, 11:34 0 0
and please do give me a reply or put your answer here.....
11. nandar (unregistered) posted on 02 Oct 2010, 10:15 0 0
i think, you, as in this webstite dislike nokia, please review honesty, F U. i still love nokia
12. skar1911 (unregistered) posted on 07 Oct 2010, 14:18 0 0
Honestly i didnt like the review... sorry.
13. aka1240 (unregistered) posted on 10 Oct 2010, 02:41 0 0
I totally agree with all the above 4 comments...actually the editor had forgotten that the c6 is only of 13k...n to its price range its the best smart phone till now...n even though its not a very high class phone but still its up to mark n if the editor is going to look only at it only with a negative side and i think the editor must hav reviewed iphone4 or htc n then he must hav reviewed C6..so his reviews are like this...but acording to me people with budget 12k to 14k cant get a better phone than this....Nokia rocks!!!!!
14. aka1240 (unregistered) posted on 10 Oct 2010, 02:42 0 0
I totally agree with all the above 4 comments...actually the editor had forgotten that the c6 is only of 13k...n to its price range its the best smart phone till now...n even though its not a very high class phone but still its up to mark n if the editor is going to look only at it only with a negative side and i think the editor must hav reviewed iphone4 or htc n then he must hav reviewed C6..so his reviews are like this...but acording to me people with budget 12k to 14k cant get a better phone than this....Nokia rocks!!!!!
15. JC (unregistered) posted on 26 Oct 2010, 09:56 0 0
If you don't need a physical Keyboard I think Nokia X6 is a much better option.
17. Mem (unregistered) posted on 18 Nov 2010, 17:25 0 0
I have a C6 and I love it. Not because I have it. This baby performs well and feels well.
Thick - True. Sure fits my pocket though. Smooth and not bulky
Resistive screen - For the price range. Not really. Compared to iPhone Yes.
The keyboard feels cramped - keyboard feels good to me. and typing pretty fast with it.
No DivX/XviD video support - Get a converter. Geez.
My opinions though not bashing here. :)
20. nokialover (unregistered) posted on 05 Dec 2010, 12:24 0 0
i believe that Phonearena is being unfair. i recently got a nokia c6 and i really like it. these people do not understand that yo can not compare a phone to one that is nearly double in price. i really dislike this review.
21. Elie 005 (unregistered) posted on 20 Dec 2010, 09:50 0 0
I think it's the best phone till now and i love it and i'm gonna buy one this week end :D
