6680 Worth the wait (Nokia 6680)

Member Name: brooklyn77

Product:	Nokia 6680
Date:	04/06/05 (4982 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Design features, Specs/features, Themes

Disadvantages: Slow laoding menus sometimes

This guide is really for anyone buying a mobile of this stature for the first time. What can this mobile actually do? Well let’s begin with the specs. It holds an internal 10MB of memory that’s plenty of space for any person who is not really into computers and downloading stuff. If you only like downloading the odd ring tone here or there then, then this amount of memory is plenty.

However for anyone who gets all the software from the web then 10MB is actually a small amount, but it’s a starting point. Some phones like the D500 have much more than this. But fear not the memory card it comes with hold 60MB of memory. Plenty for anyone, at least for starters. To date I have in the region of 10 ringtones in MP3 format 12 Jpeg/Gif images and 10 Themes all on the memory card alone and there is still well over 30MB of space left. Just to give you an idea.

The battery standby time is good, better than the 6630 I had prior to this phone, it lasts on average for about 48 hours+ and that is with reasonable usage of the phone (not including texting or calling). With talk and text time, like most phones, it generally needs a good charge after 24 hours. Don’t believe mobile stats that say they should last 3-4 days. Its just not true.

The phone is light, and although it feels bulkier than say the good sized 6630, it is actually not that much bigger, put the 6630 next to a 6680 and there is not that much difference.

Enough of the specs. What about the outside features of the phone? Well There is the 1.3 Mega pixel camera on the rear of the phone (It has a slide to protect it). Its good quality like most other 1.3MP camera and it also has a flash to be used for low light photos; it won’t work in very dark or pitch black scenes. The front camera can be used to take photos but it is mainly for use with the Video Calling feature. Does it work? Yes it does and it’s a lot of fun when using it for the first time. As the front of the phone faces you there is a button on the left side of the phone. It’s a quick access button for your saved voice tags. On the left of the phone is the on/off switch and below that is the slot for the memory card. It;s got a strong cover to protect it and it is easy to insert and take out. As usual it has a place on the bottom edge for a PC dongle and Charger.

The key pad buttons are very easy to use and have a nice feel about them. If you are used to the Nokia keypad layout from the 6630 and back, it will take a day to get used to this layout. It is not vastly different so it wont grate too much, but there are a couple of changes. But it will feel normal eventually. Nokia has kept up its status as the best mobile for texting. Its easy to use and the middle soft key does not actually intrude on your texting experience, although people with large fingers may struggle a little. When do they not?

The screen is excellent its optimum image size is 1280 x 960.
The sound from the speakers at the top edge of the phone is actually one small let down. It’s not bad by any means but compared to the old Nokia 6630. It is much quieter. Don’t get me wrong, you won’t have to struggle to hear it but it could be better. You may experience missed calls more often though.

So finally, to the internal menus and programmes. Like the 6630 you can change the layout of the menus, Grid format or not? Your choice. The main screen is set up nicely and looks very swish. The main menu Contains;

Messaging
Usual

Contacts
Usual but the menus are swish; in fact all the menus are unique to this latest Nokia range. (Although other manufacturers have used this before. When you go into a menu, for example like ‘file manager’ you can just scroll left and right to flick between Memory card files and phone memory files without having to go in and out of menus, its all much more sophisticated.)

Calendar
Again it’s all more sophisticated but they have made it a bit more complicated in certain areas. Trying to set an alarm on a reminder is no longer an easy task.

Gallery
Usual

Camera
Usual and video aspect can record up to an hour! The default though is 30 seconds. The camera also has a very good zoom feature. And a low sounding clicking noise for once when you take the pictures.

Imaging
Image viewer, Image print, Video editor and Real Player. All sounds complicated? In fact these are very basic tools if you have a PC.

Clock
Usual and Digital or clock face?

Web
Usual

Office
To-do, Calculator, Converter, Voice Recorder which is very good indeed, picks up everything. And finally notes.

Connections
Bluetooth, Synchronise, Connection manager, Call log and Instant messenger (This costs extra on some networks.

My own
Wallet, Help (Not very helpful), About (pointless) Go to (Shortcuts)

Tools
Tools takes you to the second main menu, here there is a wealth of sub menus including;

Voice commands
Voice mail
Speed dial
Profiles
Settings
Themes
Transfer
Application manager
File manager
Memory card
Activation keys
Device manager

Sadly some 6680 phones like mine do not come with pre-installed games, although you can download them of course (Some 6680’s do according to some). The ringtones are ok but there are not a lot compared to some phones. The phone is not protected by DRM, that’s digital rights management. This means some people can download illegal songs and put them onto their phone and if they want to set them as ringtones. But of course that is illegal and I hope no one out there does that. (Fight capitalism, it sucks…uhhmmm where was I…oh yes..). You can download videos as well although it still really needs to be 3gp based content. It accepts MP4 if it is 3gp compatible, which most are not. Shame they have not sorted this out yet. But it will come, just you watch.

Well what’s my opinion? K750i ? It’s a close call. But Nokia wins every time for me. D500? Again close but for me the D500 is whistles and bells with not much substance behind it. Its intelligent, more than most, but there is just something about it. What about the new 6630i? Well if you don’t want to make the leap to a 3G phone…it’s better than most other phones out there. Any other phones? Well there is the Nokia N series with a reported feature to watch TV, but they won’t be here for a while yet, not until the end of the year. The 6680? Well, it has everything that a phone on the market needs and you should want at least at the moment anyway. There is not much better out there short of buying a Nokia 7710 or XDA or blackberry, but if you do that you may as well buy a PDA, not a phone.

Oh one last thing, the new Push to talk feature, (using the phone like a walkie talkie). The Nokia 6680 has this capacity but only on certain networks including T-Mobile and Vodafone. Three does not support this feature. Fact,

As of the 04/05/2005 this phone is only on the three network, it is due extremely soon on the Orange, O2 and Vodafone networks, not sure about the others. And as of 04/05/2005 the supposed best networks for reception are Vodafone and 02. But T-mobile and three are way down the list, however three are improving all the time it has to be said. Foe customer service, Vodafone are ok, O2 are very good but three are the worst in the world. This is the truth. If you don’t believe me check out other review sites.

Mind how you go.

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