This was the catch line of Action shoes for its Milano shoes as advertized by Kapil Dev. Now you must be wondering why I put it here on a review of the Nokia 6060v handset. Well I shall elaborate as per my humble knowledge of the English language permits me to.
The current trend in the cell phone market clearly show that people are looking for more and more features in a handset at a slight compromise on quality. Yes, this is very true and in fact, there are many cases where people buy a product for its flashy looks and various add ons, knowing full well that it has a slight battery problem or the camera is not too good. And they continue to live on with the same problems, resigned to their fate. Why? Cause they couldn’t control their urge to go for it.
This is one of the reason why the Nokia 6060 is on its way out of the Indian market. Add to that the fact that it has an antenna. "Pooh! Antenna?!" or "Yuck! Who wants an antenna?" are common reactions to this.
Now, I don’t know if you’ve read my review on the 6030 which I owned till now. Well, as fate may have it, one and a half months down the line, my family required another handset and I was the one to look for it! The budget was 4 grand and I was left to my own, roaming the streets of Bangalore. I had prior knowledge about this handset and was quite taken in by its looks. What I wasn’t happy with(at that time) was that it lacked a radio.
Well. Times really change. Here I was a month down the line, realizing that a S/W engineer hardly has time to listen to FM! At least I don’t have that liberty.
So my hunt reduced to:
1) Colour display
2) Polyphonic preferably mp3 ringtone capability
3) Nokia for sure
4) No camera
Mentally I noted the available handsets in this range. 2310, 2610, 6030. And then I started thinking, just six grand more and I have my most wanted handset! Surprise surprise, it cost me only 4300 in all!
Ok. So hunt’s over. Now to see how it actually is. I’ll list out by features.
Keypad: I must say, this keypad is one of the softest most easy to use in all 4 handsets I’ve used so
far. For someone like me who messages a lot, its very convenient.
Interface: The interface is almost similar to 6030. Except for the fact that it doesn’t have an fm, everything else is the same. The navigator key is a bit broader.
Display: The display is good and one can message easily in sunlight too. The screen is clearly visible.
Size: For a flip phone with very basic features, one may wonder whether it is small. But it is a very convenient size indeed.
Ringtones : The ring tones provided are pretty good. There are 3 mp3 ring tones provided as standard. And the ability to connect a data cable provides added personalization.
Flash value: Indeed, this cell has a great value for people who like to flaunt simplicity. Most people don’t believe thats its just 4.3 grands in reality.
Battery life: The battery lasts continuously for 3 hours from charge to complete discharge. It is good considering that the software and model is over a year old.
Speaker volume: This is about the only feature that is not too good on this phone. IN silent areas it is fine, but in heavy traffic one has to listen hard to hear clearly.
Convenient features :
1) Ability to answer the call when the flap is opened(without pressing any keys)
2) Convenient navigator keys
3) Inbuilt expense manager
4) Convenient planner
5) LED light on the outside keeps flashing when a new message is received. And unless you read the message, the LED flashes to indicate so.
6) Though the speaker volume is low, the loudspeaker is very good indeed.
Now its time for a reality check. "Is this phone really VFM?" one might ponder. My word on this question is, this is a good basic phone for those who are starting out on the ladder to executive success with enough looks to be classy and yet maintaining the tag line of simplicity. This is also a phone that one can buy on a tight budget where the necessity is GPRS capability without an FM radio.
All in all, the Nokia 6060v is an undderrated handset with good practical features that is largely offset due to the fact that it has an antenna!
Brownie fact specially for wannabe customers: The delivery price of this handset to the dealer is Rs.4098. So you can probably bargain the price down to Rs.4100.
NOTE: This handset is still available in the market, though dealers generally don’t stock it due to lack of demand(antenna!). Just ask them to contact their distributor. Please DON’T buy an open pack though the dealer may insist that its out of production. Insist upon the sealed pack fromt the Nokia company
Having read thus far, do take some time off and click on one of the rating buttons just below(yeah, the orange brick like things) even if you didn’t like what I’ve written.
Regards,
Adi.