Sindre Lia weighs in on Nokia's new 6810, replacing the low-resolution camera of the 6820 with an FM radio. Yes, the collapsible thumbboard is still there.
Following hot on the heels of its 6820 model, Nokia's 6810 has hit shelves, complete with a collapsible QWERTY thumbboard and a feature set almost identical to that of its sibling. So what's the difference, you ask? The digital camera has been replaced by an FM radio, which some might like and others not - however most importantly, there are significant gains both in weight and size.
 | The 6810 is Nokia's third handset to feature a collapsible QWERTY keyboard
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Exterior
In its closed mode, the Nokia 6810 appears to be just any other ordinary mobile phone, but just as with the 6820 a quick, horizontal flip of the top half of the numerical keypad reveals a full QWERTY keyboard. The 6810 measures 119 x 55 x 23 mm in closed mode and weighs 122 g.
A 4,096 colour screen with a resolution of 128 x 128 pixels is placed topmost facing the user, under which a 5-way joystick and numerical keypad can be seen. Rotating the handset 90 degrees to the left and swiveling its keypad all the way open will reveal its QWERTY keyboard, while the screen will automatically adjust its orientation accordingly. The keyboard is naturally divided into two halves on either side of the screen and navigational buttons.
Ergonomics
Both the numerical keypad and QWERTY keyboard emit minimal noise in use, and come across as very comfortable despite the small and narrowly spaced of the latter. Furthermore, the handset rests comfortably in ones hand in both closed and open mode, and an additional navigational button for use in QWERTY mode makes for ease of use in both modes. The length of the 6810's joystick is adequate, however it would benefit from reduced noise levels when used as a selection button.
Features
The Nokia 6810 is well-equipped what regards WAN connectivity, featuring GSM 900/1800/1900 MHz as well as HSCSD/GPRS/EDGE for data connectivity. Equally well equipped in the PAN area, the 6810 supports both Infrared and Bluetooth, and comes with 3.5 MB of dynamic memory.
Standard fuctionality such as an XHTML browser, J2ME based e-mail client, PIM applications (Calendar, Contacts, Notes and To Do list) and support for SMS/MMS and J2ME are also present in the 6810. Additionally, we find Wireless Village-based instant messaging, plus voice dial, voice commands, a dictaphone and loudspeaker - and an integrated FM radio.
Performance
Nokia's by know well-known Series 40 platform lies at the base of the Nokia 6810, and in the vast majority of cases the platform appears both stable and user friendly, with interaction between platform and text input in both modes as particularly positive.
There is little doubt that the QWERTY keyboard of the 6810 is its most important feature, and thus it is of great significance that it is both easily activated and comfortable in use. As with its predecessor, only a short amount of time is required to acquire a certain level of proficiency with the keyboard - resulting in waning use of the numerical keypad of our review sample. On a side note, the QWERTY keyboard is also backlit, however this must be controlled manually through a key placed in the top left corner of the keyboard.
As is common with Nokia handsets, audio quality in the 6810 was found to be very good. Its listed battery capacity is up to 6 hours of talk time and up to 15 days of standby time; we experienced approximately 5 hours and 10 days, respectively.
Availability
The Nokia 6810 is now available in most European countries, and sells in the 350 EUR range without subscription.
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