Nokia E6 aims for mobile glory
2011-10-03 08:21
Cape Town - The Nokia 3310 set the standard for a reliable cellphone for its time and despite it being many years since its release in 2000, it set the bar for a generation of mobile devices that came afterward.
Enter the Nokia E6: It might be leagues ahead of the 3310, but the mobile world has evolved rapidly and Nokia is facing a crisis with diminishing market share and competition from all sides.
The E6 has solid build quality and this is how Nokia built its reputation. The device has a metal case in a plastic world and the difference is that the smartphone feels noticeably better than some competing devices.
Nokia isn’t too shy about employing Qwerty keypad and a touch screen (as made famous by a particular fruit company) on the E6 and using it feels easy and natural.
Though I've had the phone for weeks, I have never needed to refer to the instruction manual: One can navigate easily from the home screens.
Home screens
That is not a typo. Because the screen is small, Nokia has employed multiple home screens and one cycles through them and all updates, messages, e-mails, and notifications are accessible.
The operating system is Symbian Anna which isn't bad, but will soon be replaced by Windows on all Nokia devices and currently, according to industry tracker comScore, Symbian commands less than 3% of the smartphone market in the US.
Nokia has to do something to compete with the phenomenal growth of Android, but some analysts believe that Google's purchase of Motorola may give Nokia the injection it needs as manufactures like Samsung and HTC may look to hedge their bets.
One of the benefits of the partnership Nokia has with Microsoft is that Quick Office is included with the E6 and this allows one to create and edit Microsoft Office files with ease.
The phone comes with 8GB onboard memory and a memory card slot and the camera is impressive at 8 megapixels with a flash.
In the smartphone environment though, one of the toughest challenges for manufacturers is battery life and the Nokia eclipses many other device manufactures with a respectable real-world battery life.
Standards
The native web browser is a bit fiddly, but a quick download of Opera Mini resolved that in minutes.
Nokia is also taking the fight to Google with its own Ovi Maps mapping application and a radio and MP3 player is included.
The Nokia E6 may not break records and set standards like the 3310, but it is a smartphone that stands apart from the clutter in its own right.
The Nokia E6 has a recommended retail price of R4 499 in South Africa.
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