Nokia X6 review
The first in the all new line up of X series cells, the Nokia X6 is the finnish phone maven’s first mobile to rock a capacitive touchscreen. Chuck in some XpressMusic-style skills and you’re looking at a blower aimed right at those who want easy access to stacks of media. So has Nokia finally made it to the touchscreen top table? Read our Nokia X6 review now and find out.
The minute you start zipping around the Nokia X6, it’s obvious that it’s the best touchscreen panel Espoo has slapped onto one of its phones. It’s responsive to every touch, doesn’t lead to infuriating lag when typing texts and means cruising through your snaps couldn’t be easier. Just slide across your finger and your pics will move gracefully across the 3.2-inch, 640×360 effort. The only shame is it’s taken Nokia this long to get up to par with the iPhone and the very best Android handsets.
Just like the now ageing Nokia 5800, the Nokia X6 is very much a music phone at heart. The Finns have really carved out a niche here and the music player is as good as you’ll find on any blower, bar Apple’s iPhone. It’s easily accessed and once in action sits pretty on the front screen. And that touchscreen means skipping through tunes is easier than ever.
Sound quality is also ace, and the Nokia X6’s 3.5mm jack, stuck bang on top of the phone, means you can quickly shove in any cans you like without having to yank it out of your pocket. You can also pick up a Comes With Music version, although we’d suggest steering clear and waiting for Spotify Symbian support instead.
However, the Nokia X6 does suffer from some big time issues, which will soon leave you utterly infuriated. Symbian S60 has a great home page here, with big, proddable icons. But it’s just not up to the job on touchscreen phones, as the inclusion of Maemo 5 on the N900, and its forthcoming redesign show.
The OS is laggy when switching from portrait to landscape, taking an age to change itself. It’s just not good enough when comparable phones can do this in two ticks. The main menus smaller icons also prove a problem. Plus the Nokia X6’s QWERTY pad is a disaster. Not because it’s hard to use, but because a must-have auto-correct function has been lopped off. It means constant shuffling back through your missives to make sure everything’s tickety boo.
Another major niggle comes with the hard keys on the Nokia X6. The unlock button requires a real yank and we found it took more than one go to wake it up. Not great when you’re on the move and need to get it going as quickly as possible. The buttons along the bottom also feel cheap and tacked on. The build quality is ok, but nothing spectacular for a phone with its sights set on the very top.
While the Nokia X6 is a handy phone for music fans and media mad kids, we’d suggest giving it a wide berth. Its excellent touchscreen is tempered by some truly annoying failures. Here’s hoping Nokia can combine the best bits here with the N900 and all new Symbian to make a truly stunning smartphone.
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