Nokia 6101: A first look

[Treatz]

http://www.howardchui.com/modules.ph...icle&artid=198
I've been using the Nokia 6101 now for a good solid 3 weeks now and wanted to put up this First look.
Please note, I've been using a Beta 6101, and as such the Rogers retail unit can be a lot different from what I've used. I will amend my review when the 6101 officially launches and I have a chance to follow up this first look with a full in depth 6101 Rogers retail review.

Nokia and Clam have been 2 words that haven't gone together since the days of analog and the Nokia 282.
http://www.nokia.ca/english/products/282/282.asp
The Nokia 6101 has been the first Series 40 GSM clam in a while, aside from the 6170/7270 series which saw small success among the Nokia fans.

First Impressions:
First thing that grabs my attention on the 6101 is its colouring scheme. The unit I've used is the black on grey unit with the chrome look accents.
It's quite a finished and "professional" looking, which I like. The screens worked well and fit and finish seemed excellent. the Flip that I had didn't exactly have the spring to it that most clam users look for, but being a beta unit I chalk that up to the phone being passed around to many hands and the clam itself may have been abused. I will know better when i get retail 6101's in stock, and will report back in the full review.



The buttons on the unit were nice too. A little to stiff for my liking, but they may loosen with time or could be different on the retail piece. Spacing on the keypad was excellent as it has big block buttons and will be a great phone for those of you who want simple functional keypads with large buttons.



One interesting thing about the 6101 is that it’s the first Nokia phone I’ve seen that doesn’t have a separate power button.



Display

The external screen is a 4k 96x65 unit, which truth be told, is actually quite large and easy to see. I give Nokia credit for doing this as many other clamshell phones have small external LCD's. Not so with the 6101. The external screen is large and useable. I'd prefer a 65k unit with better resolution, but at $50.00 3/year I won’t complain.

Internal screen is a 65k TFT 128x160 unit. It's easy to read, is nice and white and has good colour and saturation for a phone in this price point. It also reflects light so in direct sunlight you can still make it out.

General usage and comments
The 6101 is a good little phone to use. I had no major issues with it. The Unit I had came with netmonitor so I noticed similar RF levels to the 6230/Razr/V635 so it's good on that front. Ring quality was loud but high in treble. The camera is nothing special, it's pretty much a 3220b folded into a clam. The earpiece quality was also good, I'd like it to be louder so I'll check the retail version after and see if they upped it.

charging
The 6101 moves away from the traditional Nokia pin charger and uses a smaller plug. Nokia Canada provided me with the ca-42 adaptor, and I assume this will come in the box but I'm not to sure. What this means is that for all the Nokia faithful, you'll have to use that adaptor on your existing home/car chargers to maintain your investment in Nokia accessories

mms/email The MMS client is similar to the one found on the 6230i and 8800 system where you now define profiles. It worked only to receive. I couldn’t get sending to work; then again I didn't exactly invest much time in MMS anyway. The Retail version will have working MMS both ways so this is nothing major. The 6101 also lacked an email client for those of you who want such things on your phones.

[cgartly]

Isn't the 6101 launched yet? I picked one up about 2 days ago......maybe the store released it early accidently?

[Treatz]

Isn't the 6101 launched yet? I picked one up about 2 days ago......maybe the store released it early accidently?

it is out.
I just got this up now and will ammend it later with a full review

[emo_mike]

thought i'd add a bit more pictures

[Holishi]

this is a 6101 thread, don't let v6 take the spotlight.

[JP]

thought i'd add a bit more pictures

More like:

"thought i'd show off a bit"

The v6 looks ugly opened in my opinion tho

[Beckham23]

nice nice

[FunkMeista]

Thanks for the review Treatz, Nokia's clam designs are kinda..

Would u recommend this or the P207?

[Evil Ernie]

^^ treatz doesn't appear to be tha biggest Samsung fan....

isn't there a thread titled p207 vs 6101 out there....???

btw treatz tha phone does come with tha power adapter in tha box for older Nokia accessories.....

did you find any way to change it back to tha 'traditional nokia' menu grid??? (ie: one big menu option per screen.....

[TelecomZombie]

@ the Source they have 2 6101s for $30.oo with a Free portable DVD player. on a 3 year.
$384.oo Cash & Carry if I dismember correctly. @ these prices I suspect there will be a load of these sold or Contracted!!

Treatz does the Production model still continue "Web Sessions" with Flip Closed ?? Which is a GREAT Idea a long time Coming!!!!


Still Hate FLIPPERS!! ! Nokia or Not !!

[Evil Ernie]

^^ I think that's one of tha new things with nokia.....

[didouche]

Nice first look Treatz....looking forward for the full review

[emo_mike]

More like:

"thought i'd show off a bit"

The v6 looks ugly opened in my opinion tho

well not really showing off... seing as it isn't mine... i went into work and my boss had it reserved for a customer and i was playing around with the 6101 and the v6 for i thought i'd let people see it. but i agree it isn't too nice. then again i'm not a big moto fan to start off with

[fredwards]

it would be funny if the demand for flip phones died down completely just when nokia folds and starts adding more clams to their line up...

[B0000rt]

well not really showing off... seing as it isn't mine... i went into work and my boss had it reserved for a customer and i was playing around with the 6101 and the v6 for i thought i'd let people see it. but i agree it isn't too nice. then again i'm not a big moto fan to start off with

Not really good to compare sizes with something noone's ever held before

A ruler or possibly a V600, the defacto flip, would suffice for size comparisons