When I decided to change my Nokia 3120, I had very simple needs -
User friendly interface, quick getting-used-to-time
Cool & nice looks
Reasonably tough body to withstand minor falls, dusty environment etc
Should not have a lot of ornamental (and pricey) features like high-pixel Screen, High MP Camera, Music Player, Video Recorder etc. (I am a photography buff, and have a pretty decent camera to gun around with.)
Fast & responsive menu.
Good talk time & standby time. Fast charge ability.
Organizer, Alarm, Converter, Calculator, Wallet functions.
Ability to sync up Contacts, Organizer with MS-Outlook on my Laptop.
Phone should have just enough memory to support my contacts & daily organizer sync-ed, while I don’t need huge memory for music, video or photos.
With the above parameters clearly defined, I went phone-hunting.
Compared 7360, 7260, 6681, 6600, 3230, 6230i, 6680, 5140, 6021, 7610, 6680, 6670, 6020 and the 6610i. Guess what - when I finished composing the excel sheet with all the features of the phone models compared, 6610i came out as a clear w-i-n-n-e-r by a wide margin of price advantage, since it is available now for as low as INR 6200/-.
So much for the pre-purchase research. After I bought the phone, I instantly felt at-home since I already had the 3120 which is 90% similar software/menu items with same res display, even the metal-feel-flat-keys are also similar. So no getting-used-to-factor. It has some cool features I like - e.g. does not vibrate when charger is connnected, even if vibrator mode is on. Radio sounds great!
The speakerphone is great! Mic reception in speakerphone mode is also quite good. Just keep in on a table and speak from 3-4 feet away, the person on the other end will not face any problems in sound quality. The OEM blue cover looks pretty cool, and the screen is pretty much scratch resistant in normal usage. I have dropped it four times in six months (thrice on dry, sandy earth) and now it shows some signs of ageing. But no operational problems.
The XPress-On phone cover is not built to be as strong as the 3120 or 3310/3315. These is much more flimsy, lady-like, gives out crunching noise when pressed at the corners.
Camera (though hardly of any use) has a self-timer, but never cared to use it. Keys are pretty usable & soft - SMSing is a breeze. I love the configurable GoTo menu. The Infrared is pretty strong. I keep it within 3 feet of the laptop’s IR port, and sync-up is a childs play as long as nothing opaque comes in-between. And the Nokia PC-Suite is a great boon for people like me. I think I will never upgrade from this phone model, as long it’s available in the market. I have found almost all that I need here.
Only a few little things I felt let down with:
Nokia packed so much power in this phone, just lacked the Bluetooth connectivity - this phone would have eaten other doubly-priced phones for breakfast!
If I have a Contact with two or more numbers (e.g. Home, Office, mobile), when I call each number belonging to the same person one after another, the "last dialled call" points to the person, with the number being updated as the latest dialled one. So I have to go to the phonebook again to get the other number belonging to the same guy. IMO, The phone should identify and remember last called numbers by different numbers, even if they point to the same person.
No voice-dial/voice-command feature.
Cannot assign a particular ringtone to a particular phonebook entry (I dont know why Nokia took this feature away - this was available with the very basic earlier phones like 3310). All I can do is "group up" all my Contacts among a maximum of 5 "Groups" like VIP, Family, Friends, etc. and then I can assign a tone for each group. On a 3310, I could differentiate calls from my brother, cousin, dad or wife, althoug all were family. Here I cant!
The Digital Clock screensaver is too dark (blame the screen contrast) to be useful.
The Calendar has an option to "Delete All Notes". Instead, it should have a feature "Delete all notes before date ... " This will make this option a lot more usable & versatile.
In the Wallet, "Card number" take only numeric digits. I wanted to keep details of my other cards also (like PAN, with alpha numeric code), which was not possible.
The Volume up/down switch on the sidewall looks sleek, but its too thin (like a needle) and is not easy to operate while on a call.