Pros and Cons of the Nokia E6

For the past two weeks I have replaced my Nokia E72 with the E6 to see how it would fare as an upgrade option for those currently using a Nokia E series phone such as the E72, E71 or E63. The biggest change in the E6 is obviously the addition of the touch screen to what is pretty much the E72 in an upgraded case and a downgraded camera.

The Long and Short of it

The E6 is slightly faster than previous E series phones but the phone's display is distinctly more vibrant compared to the Nokia E72. Holding the two phones in my hands, the E6 is slightly thicker and heavier than the E72 but the length and height of each device are pretty similar. The batteries are identical and the CPU is only marginally quicker in the E6. 

The Touch Revolution hits E Series

I found that having the E6 touch screen made navigation of websites and filling in forms much easier as it was easier to tap the fields that I needed to edit and use my finger to scroll through a website. However, the touch screen does take some getting used to as it is easy to accidentally launch things or call people by holding on to your phone. 

I think that the Nokia experiment to mix the QWERTY with a touch screen was largely a success however I think with some parts of the phone requiring touching and others pressing (for example the Home, Message, Calendar and Address Book buttons) had me a little confused at times but nothing one could not get used to. I wouldn't give away the buttons as the two-step shortcuts that they provide are a lifehacker's dream of quick multitasking. 

Tapping and holding reveals various context menus when running the E6. For example, in the browser, you can tap and hold down a link and the options will appear for you to COPY or OPEN IN NEW WINDOW. 

Proximity sensors  

The proximity sensor for the phone helps the touch screen to disable when you put the phone next to your ear but I have found in various instances that I accidentally muted the call or put someone on hold by putting the phone to my ear. The hardware is quite similar to the E72 but the lock slider definitely helps quick locking of the phone.

Noise cancellation
When you are using the phone without a headset or loudspeaker, the phone utilizes a noise cancelling feature that helps the person on the other end hear you even when you are in a noisy environment. Also, although I find it not that much of a practical feature, the phone has a forward facing camera which allows you to make video calls. 

What about Anna?

I think the E6 hasn't yet been polished up enough to show the true possibilities that Symbian Anna is capable of unleashing so I will reserve judgment about the operating system suffice to say that there is still much to be done to differentiate from earlier Symbian versions. 

Pinch and Zoom

The thrill of pinching and zooming was quickly shortlived when I discovered that the in built browser does not allow you to pinch and zoom but other software like Nokia Maps had no problems with this feature.  

The Software Package

It was great to see Joikuspot making it into the E6 to accompany the office lifesaver QuickOffice and Microsoft Communicator as stock standard offerings with the E6. 

E6 - what its missing 

HDMI - Ever since the E7 and the Nokia N8 teased us with the HDMI connectivity, it's been hard to look at new devices that do not have this feature. One may think it is gimmicky but it sure is an impressive functionality missing in the E6 which could stop the laughter in the boardroom when you run a powerpoint from your phone. 

USB ON THE GO - Again, blame the N8 for showing us that it is possible to connect your USB full of goodies to your phone before you get home. Whilst the E6 CAN support USB on the go, the required cable to do so is not included with the phone. Why save a few bucks, Nokia? Just include it!

CAMERA - We want to hammer this one home because in such a crucial time as this, Nokia ought to be throwing all their hardware muscle into every device that they release and so the E6 is not forgiven for downgrading from the autofocus camera that the E72 had. 

MULTISCANNER - By implication the phone is also missing the scanner feature that the E72 boasted against all other competitors. 

Well there is another look at the E6 from our perspective. Hope you found this useful. Comments and complaints below.