Finally, I got my 6630 after waiting for this phone the moment I saw this on Nokia’s site in September. So patience does pay off!
The whole idea behind writing this review is to pass on the analysis I did before this purchase and my experience with this product. It will serve best if I bifurcate my write up in modules, my favorite way of doing things!
• Architecture: the phone has Symbian OS 8 running on a 220 MHz ARM9 CPU, and has 10MB phone mem + 64MB RS MMC Card, enough to store your own stuff. This particular Symbian release is pretty stable and error free, though the initial releases had reboot problems. The CPU is the main engine, having equivalent power as of earlier Pentium CPUs, and easily makes this phone one of the fastest around. In fact, its faster than the upcoming 6680/81 as is proven by bench marking s/w. The interface is Series 60 based.
Its really fast, and you can instantly feel the power if you have used 6600 earlier. Snaps and videos are taken in no time, and themes are applied b4 you have winked.
• Display: though all the 6670, 6600, 6630, 3230 etc have 176x208 resolution, this display is the largest you can find! Even larger than upcoming 6680/81. colors are bright, sharp and offer good visibility in sunlight as well.
• Imaging : it’s a visual delight, pictures are pretty sharp and videos of acceptable quality, though I would have liked if the video resolution was higher. Digital zoom is seamless , and works well. Night would be a different story, as also low light conditions. But still acceptable images. You get photoeditor and Video director built in applications which further enhance the imaging capabilities, allowing you to resize/rotate/crop images and edit movies or insert visual themes which Nokia calls “movies”. Pretty innovative ideas.
Another delight is that you can have upto 1 hr of video recording, which makes ur phone a good mini handicam. The videos are in 3gpp format which can be easily converted to mpg or other popular formats using encoder s/w.
Though 3230 has a 1.3 MP camera, images with 6630 are more natural
l and very sharp.
• Smartphone features: it is truly a smart phone as it has all the relevant applications, such as wallet, well designed organizer and calendar, calculator, and supports email over pop3/smtp. Whats more, you can add on third party applications which are available in plenty to add on the functionality. In fact, I went for Nokia phones coz of this very reason, probably no other manufacturer offers Symbian OS phones in this price range. The benefit is you are not dependent upon the manufacturer provided functionality, in fact, if you are a good devdeloper, you can use the S/w Development Kit for Symbian OS and develop and upload ur own applications/games. The possibilities are endless. I have almost 100 games and applications for my 6630. You can also view word , excel and powerpoint and pdf docs with built in apps! Syncing with popular email clients such as Outlook is also supported and works fantastic.
• Visual delight: you can change the looks and feel of ur phone with the themes feature, just like with your windows PC. There are tones of themes, wallpapers and ringtones available on the net, and they make your phone a head turner!
I for one have about 100 themes to experiment with.
• Great stereo sound: this phone has a built in MP3 player, though with a low sound even at the highest setting. Howver, wear the package-included stereo headset, and the set ROCKS!!! Sound quality is absolutely fantastic! But you will miss the FM built in radio which is absent. However, its available as an accessory.
• Connectivity: the phone connects to your PC easily with USB cable and PC suite application. You can transfer data just like yhou transfer to any folder in your hard disk, its that easy! Create folders, transfer images, mp3 songs etc. and off you GO!
• Web browsing and EDGE: lots has been said about TV on ur handset, but we are miles away ! Hutch provides only few mins clips, and despite their claims, its not so fast . Also, one very disappointing thing is all other protocols except for http is blocked on GPRS, so if you got GPRS/EDGE and you think you can access your corporate mail, you are in for a disappointment. You have to pay a hefty rental to acticvate this service.
In built web browser is fast and good, and gives all the options available in other browsers. HTML/xHTML(wap) and Java pages are supported, as is also https.
• Other features: Voice recorder, Voice commands, voice notes etc., blue tooth connectivity, JAVA applications/games, extensive address book etc. Get a detailed listing at Nokia6630.com
Phew! I am already exhausted listing the features, so lets turn our attention to few things that are absent or that I didn’t like!
• Not good battery life: It usually wont last beyond 2 days! That was the state of affairs with the original battery I got in the pack. As I write this, I have already gone for replacement of my battery, hope this one fares well!
• FM radio is missing!
• Not very good images in low light conditions.
• Resolution blurrs a bit with too close objects.
• Video resolution is somewhat low
• No built in games
On the whole: I LOVE this phone! As a IT manager, this phone serves my needs wonderfully, be it using as on-the-move email client, as a scheduler and reminder, as web browser , as a great imaging device, or playing nice 3d games. This smartphone is worth every bit the money, and Nokia deserves the credit for bringing out this gem of a device.