Editor-in-Chief Jørgen Sundgot takes Nokia's new messaging chameleon, the 6800, for a spin. So what's it like, you ask? In Jørgen's own words: Excellent, but pricey.
Having made some previous attempts at creating devices with QWERTY keyboards, including the Nokia 9000 range of communicators and the somewhat bulky 5510, third time seems to be a charm for Nokia. Its dual-band 900/1800 MHz 6800 model doubles as both an ordinary mobile phone and messaging überphone, and on top of that features an excellent feature set for experienced users.
The most notable trait of the 6800 is of course the way in which it expands from an ordinary mobile phone with a numeric keypad to a fully fledged messaging device with a QWERTY keyboard. To open the device and expose its internal keyboard, one turns the device horizontally and opens it like a book, with the left half of the keyboard snapping securely into place in either position and the screen tilting 90 degrees right. Strangely, the tactile feedback of the numerical keypad is only so-so, while that of the QWERTY keyboard is very good.
 | | A quick maneuvre, and the 6800 switches into QWERTY mode |
The keyboard itself offers a comfortable layout with bright, user-toggled lighting, and provides quick access to commonly user letters and symbols. Sadly, there are no shortcuts to frequently used applications, except for those - available in both configurations - provided by pushing the directional joystick centered under the screen in one of its four directions. Speaking of the screen, its brightness is impeccable, although the traits of the technology bode for slow refreshing and blurred motion which can be mildly frustrating at times - and particularly so when playing action games.
The audio aspect of the 6800 is impressive, as it offers excellent voice call and ringtone quality both through the bundled handsfree set, the internal speaker and its loudspeaker feature. The built-in FM radio is also quite good, but cannot be compared to a stationary tuner when it comes to signal reception.
On the topic of messaging, which is the main emphasis of the 6800, the device does quite well through an excellent line-up of SMS and MMS features which users can gain quick access to. Also included with the 6800 is an e-mail client, which offers a vast and impressive array of settings and performs well - with one fatal exception: users can not download headers only, but must at all times download full e-mails whether using POP or IMAP.
Other features worthy of mentioning include the (now-obvious) support for J2ME, as well as the inclusion of a SyncML client to synchronize contacts and calendar information with a network server, the electronic wallet for PIN codes and similar information and the WAP 1.2.1 browser - all of which performed flawlessly throughout testing. Talk time and standby times ranged respectively at 4 hours and 9 days, only minimally below Nokia's own claims.
Availability
The Nokia 6800 is available now in most European countries priced int he 550 EUR range. A version for the North American market will be available shortly.
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