Nokia 6682: my first look

[Treatz]

http://www.howardchui.com/modules.ph...icle&artid=190

As many are aware, the announcement of the 668x series of series 60 phones by Nokia comes as good news for many Series 60 enthusiasts and those not sure about Series 60, but curious to get into and try the OS. It is with this anticipation that I write this first look of the Nokia 6682. I was admittedly not a big fan of the S60 interface or design when I first came across it on the 3600 based phones. However, with the Rogers launch of the 6620 I have come back to S60 and revisited it.

Please note:
The 6682 that I am currently using is a Beta product, and as such is no where near the finalized product. When the Finished product becomes available I will do a full review at that time.

First impressions
The first thing that grabbed me about the 6682 is the look.
Quite frankly, I like the look. Many who know me know that I prefer a more conservative styled product which was why I was turned off by the 7610. The 6682 is what I like. I have always said to my friends and associates that if Nokia took the 6620 and straightened out the sides they’d have a winner. Low and behold, the 6682 is exactly what I have wanted in a S60 device. Clean lines, good keys and a classic demeanor.

Sizing of the 6682
The size of the device is also quite comfortable for what the 6682 brings to the table.
Having a 262k screen, EDGE (class 10) dual voltage RS-MMC hot swap media, 1.3mpix camera w/ flash in a package that is 55mm (2.2”) x 21mm (0.8”) x 110mm (4.3”) is quite respectable.




The device is also surprisingly easy to hold and use with 1 handed operation.
Placement of the S60 buttons are also conveniently placed. The menu, clear and cut/paste buttons are logical and easy to press and require minimal finger stretching.



The keypad itself is also quite good. I find I tend to miss the odd key because of the small and tight nature of the keys but I prefer this keypad to that of the 6620.

Take a look at the 6682 beside the 6620 to see its relative sizing.


General usage and comments of the 6682
Having used the phone for a few days I was impressed, although the software is beta it still worked well. The sound quality of the 6682 was very good. The Earpiece volume is also louder and cleaner then that of the 6620, so I don’t see that changing for the worse on the official released 6682.
The screen on the 6682 is bright and vibrant. There is also a photo sensor on the top left corner of the 6682 which will dim the keypad/screen under ideal lighting, or increase the keypad/screen under absence of light in an effort to conserve battery life.

The RS MMC card slot is easy to get to and change out. Being a hotswap port it’s hidden under a door on the right side of the unit. When you open the door the Phone will close out any running applications/themes that you have stored on the card as well. You then remove the memory card and press OK, signaling the unit that you’re done removing the card. Of course, with the card out, any applications/images/themes etc stored on the card are inaccessible. Once the card is put back into the unit all applications/images/themes are available. You will also have to change your theme back to what you had since removing a theme saved on the card will default back to the nokia theme.

Camera
The 6682 features a Nokia 1.3 mega pixel camera that is on the rear of the unit.
In an interesting design feature, the camera resides behind a sliding plastic door. Once this door is slid down exposing the camera lens, the phone instantly goes into camera ready mode. Sliding the cover closed will also go back to the standby screen

There only appear to be 2 images sizes with 3 modes at this time,
640x480 and 1280x960 each having an image quality option of basic, normal and high
.



handsfree/Bluetooth
The 6682 features the nokia pop port on the bottom of the unit. I connected the headset and data cable to it and had no issues. The Bluetooth implementation is also good as it is on other S60 devices such as the 6620. The 6682 worked well with Nokia PCsuite 6.5 and I was able to sync my outlook contacts/email addresses to the 6682 with ease. This is a Nokia strong point here as I find they’re ridiculously easy to sync to your outlook


Final thoughts
In closing I am impressed with the 6682, even in its beta form, and can say that it will be the S60 device for me when it comes out officially. Its form factor and style I like and its class 10 EDGE with GSM850/1900 support and 1.3 Mega Pixel Camera are key for my buying decision. The Dual voltage RS-MMC, while conveniently placed, creates one minor concern for me. Seeing as the 6682 is a logical upgrade to the 6620 my concern is that the removable media isn’t the same so the 6620 user will have to reinvest into dual voltage RS-MMC cards but the battery saving itself may be worth it

Either way, the 6682 will be the S60 phone to have for Canadian/Us residents. I look forward to its retail release so I can further my review and testing on the final polished product

[TelecomZombie]

Hey Iam the first to say "Nice" !!

[Synergie1]

Great review! I also like the looks of it and the more I play with the S60 interfact the more I like it.... I can actually make it look more like winsows xp, than the windows ms smartphone edition (since the top and bottom bars on those can not be skinned yet... I dont think anwyay... someone needs to make a wisbar version for smartphone)

Anyway my one concern for theis phone is that the dual voltage rs-mmc is going to cause a problem. Since it IS supposed to be upgrde, you'd think they'd take memory into consideration. I realize battery life is important (though I dont have a prob with my 6620 - I just plug it in every night) Anyway the highest memory capacity for DV RS-MMC is only 256 megs!!! Since many people are using their phones as an mp3 player... that will get filled way too quick! Add on top of that videos, pics etc and it downright sux! I need at least 512 megs, and thats the minimum. Ideally a 1 gig card... And even worse, I read that they are having trouble trying to fit enough silicon into the tiny body of the dv rs-mmc cards.... so higher capacity might not happen for awhile. - Let's hope they'll figure it out by the time the phone hits the market.

Anyway thanks for the review Treatz!

Oh and a question... how did you get that today screen on the 6682??? Is that an s60 app??? Or is that on the new software itself? It looks like a ppc today screen! I like.... I want!!!

[rip]

it's the same as the 6670 that i had other than the 850 band....Nokia makes really good phones, this coming from a SE fanboy who has no more SE products...all NOKIA now


btw...damit treatz, now i want that phone...lol

[jjpun]

nice review

[kalok]

Nice.

kalok~

[buluketek]

how is the keypad vs 6230?

[Treatz]

Wirelessly posted (Nokia6682/2.0 (2.50.8) SymbianOS/8.0 Series60/2.6 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1)

Originally posted by buluketek
how is the keypad vs 6230?

I like 6230 better because keys are bigger. However, for series 60 this keypad is excellent

[Macross_Freek]

is there an estimated release date for the phone?

[Synergie1]

Treatz, what is that today screen thingy you have on there??? Closest I could find is a program called Active Today which doesn't look as good. The one you have on the 6682 there looks like a ppc today screen! Is it a program we can grab from somewhere?

[Treatz]

Wirelessly posted (Nokia6682/2.0 (2.50.8) SymbianOS/8.0 Series60/2.6 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1)

Originally posted by Synergie1
Treatz, what is that today screen thingy you have on there??? Closest I could find is a program called Active Today which doesn't look as good. The one you have on the 6682 there looks like a ppc today screen! Is it a program we can grab from somewhere?

If you mean the row of icons on the main screen it's built into the phone. Active standby is what it's called and is an option you can turn on or off. It's built into the os so i don't think you can download it onto your 6620

[moofur]

That's a nice camera

[switch]

Wirelessly posted (MAD SEEG EDGE via: Nokia6682/2.0 (2.50.8) SymbianOS/8.0 Series60/2.6 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1)

This phone is awesome. All i can say is i an buying one when it comes out. It's a 6230 on steroids. The interface is alot faster then the 6620. And the t9 has improved a little bit. The led flash actually does make a difference. So so pro.

[crocket]

Nice Phone, To bad there is no release date yet.

[B0000rt]

Originally posted by Synergie1
Anyway my one concern for theis phone is that the dual voltage rs-mmc is going to cause a problem. Since it IS supposed to be upgrde, you'd think they'd take memory into consideration. I realize battery life is important (though I dont have a prob with my 6620 - I just plug it in every night) Anyway the highest memory capacity for DV RS-MMC is only 256 megs!!! Since many people are using their phones as an mp3 player... that will get filled way too quick! Add on top of that videos, pics etc and it downright sux! I need at least 512 megs, and thats the minimum. Ideally a 1 gig card... And even worse, I read that they are having trouble trying to fit enough silicon into the tiny body of the dv rs-mmc cards.... so higher capacity might not happen for awhile. - Let's hope they'll figure it out by the time the phone hits the market.

Yeah, 256megs is pretty meek, seeing as how my 1gig MMC is already half full (or half empty ).

I think I'm gonna skip out on this badboy and wait for the next s60 iteration from Nokia. Though this phone would be the perfect upgrade for those coming from the 36xx s60 phones eh

Seeing that side by side comparison with the 6620 make me 2nd guess this phone

The 5 button direction pad looks mighty nice. It looks hella easy on the thumb, while playing SonicN

As you kept mentioning it was a beta version of the 6682, what's the firmware version?

Edit: The link on the howardchui.com website at the bottom for "Discuss the review at Howard Forums" redirects us to the Moto forum! Eek gads, what if newbs click on the link, they'll be eaten alive!