NOKIA X6

The Nokia X6 is a 3.2-inch smartphone that uses the S60 5th Edition OS to its best advantage. It also happens to be the first device in Nokia’s new X Series. Find out how we got on with it with our Nokia X6 review…

The Nokia X6 is the first handset in the newly launched X Series of music phones, a range created to simplify the XpressMusic offerings from Nokia. It’s also a Comes With Music – Nokia’s all-you-can-eat music download service – where it’s available, which helps explain the price tag of the device.
In terms of style, there are a lot of similarities between the Nokia 5800 and the Nokia X6. They share the same screen size, have pretty much the same key layout. However, the Nokia X6 is a more angular phone with sharper edges. The build quality is great but the plastic backing takes a little getting used to.
A little annoying is the rather small keyguard on the Nokia X6, which lies a little too flush with the body of the phone. This means it ca be a little fiddly getting to access the screen. We’re sure there is a knack to it, we just haven’t sussed it yet.
The biggest change with the Nokia X6 is that Nokia has chosen to use a capacitive screen rather than a resistive one, such as you’ll find on the likes of the Nokia 5800 or Nokia N97 Mini. It may not seem like a big change but in many respects it alters the way you interact with the screen. Gone is the need for a stylus, as you can tap away with impunity.
In fact, we’ve found the screen of the Nokia X6 to be incredibly responsive, with it hardly ever – if at all – missing a beat. This means that tapping out a text message or working your way through a full email is easier than you’ll find on other handsets.
The general usability of the Nokia X6 isn’t too bad. The Homescreen is the same one as we’ve seen used on the Nokia 5530 XpressMusic, so you can load up to 20 Contacts and thanks to the new screen, scrolling through them is nice and easy.
Getting access to apps is also a whole lot easier on the Nokia X6. The icons are big and easy to tap. Sure, the Homescreen still suffers from lack of true personalisation and the interface can still take too many taps to get to the most obvious of apps but it feels a lot smoother than on the Nokia 5800, for example.
Getting the most from music is easy, with 32GB of storage, you’ll be able to store your entire music collection on the Nokia X6 with ease. We like that the music player embeds itself on the Homescreen as soon as you start it up. Once you’ve set up your CWM account you can either copy music directly from your laptop or use the Nokia Store app on the phone to get hold of tracks.
When it comes to sound quality, the Nokia X6 delivers some serious bass, with a loud and meaty sound to music. The addition of a 3.5mm audio jack means you can use the supplied headphones, which aren’t too bad, or add your favourites.
The 5-Megapixel camera is very much in keeping with the current crop of recent Nokia handsets and while we’ll cover that in more depth in a separate review, it works well enough to be more than acceptable.
Battery life on the Nokia X6 has proven to be reasonable, as we’ve found that you’ll get a good day on the go, accessing email and making the most of the web browser, as well as phone calls. That is also using it as Nokia intended, as you Audio Player too.
So, does the Nokia X6 live up to expectations. We’re enjoying using the music phone, as the sound quality is excellent and getting the most out of CWM is always a pleasure. However, the real star here is the screen as it’s such a genuine pleasure to use.