Nokia 6210 Navigator - First Impressions

Posted on August 28, 2008
Filed Under 6210 Navigator, S60, nokia |

25082008029I’ve done it!

I have finally managed to convert my girlfriend to S60.

Her S60 weapon of choice?

The (relatively) new 6210 Navigator.

Now, it wasn’t the easiest of conversions.  In no small part, down to the product’s marketing.

Here’s why I say that……..

Upon walking into the Vodafone store, Laura immediately made a bee-line for the best of the Sony Ericsson range, the C902 I think it was.  Having been a SE owner for the last couple of years, it made obvious sense (to her) to upgrade to the latest model.

I, on the other hand, had other idea’s.

“How about the Nokia N78?”  Said I.

“Eww, look at them funny buttons”  Said she.

“Ok, how about the 6210 Navigator?”

“I don’t need sat-nav” came the reply.

There is my case in point.  All the marketing for the 6210 is solely focussed on the fact that it has ’sat-nav’ built in.

She had instantly dismissed the 6210 because, by looking at all the advertising surrounding it, the device was a sat-nav first, mobile phone second.

This just seems all wrong to me.  About the only difference in the GPS functionality of my N82 and the 6120 Navigator is the fact that the N82 comes with 3 months free voice guided navigation, compared to the 6210’s 6 months.

I just think Nokia are trying to steer the 6210 into a niche market which doesn’t really exist.  Potentially alienating potential customers that may have bought the 6210, if it had been advertised as a ‘phone’ first, navigator second.

So after I showed Laura that the 6210 was indeed a very well specced ‘phone’ she started to warm to it.

She likes sliders, but thought the N95 8GB was a tad large, so the 6210 seemed to fit the bill.

So the 6210 was plumped for, and whilst we wait for the new contract to activate, I managed to get a couple of hours ‘playtime’ with the new device, and these are my initial impressions.

The build quality is just fantastic.  A lot of thought, and time has been put into it, and believe me, it has paid off.  Open the memory card cover on an N82, and then open it on the 6210 and you will instantly know what I mean.  Quality exudes all over the place.

The slider is smooth, and wonderfully weighted.  With a nice spring to it, and satisfying clunk/thud when you close it.  Satisfying, like a soft-close door on the latest kitchen units from Ikea.

The screen is almost unbelieveably bright and clear.  Almost too bright in fact.  Open the phone at night, to check the time, and you might think you are under the interrogation lamp at MI5.

The rear battery cover is laden with a lovely textured, sort of velvety paint, a little bit rougher thatn the N95, but still damn nice, and gives an extra bit of grip in the hand, to hopefully stop the 6210 from having a messy meeting with the pavement.

Unfortunately, there has to be a couple of negatives, but thankfully nothing major…. not yet, anyway.

2.5mm headphone jack.  Nokia, what is that all about?  Get with the program, please.

The camera seems to take forever to focus.  Like 2 or 3 seconds, forever.

That’s all for the moment.  Shockingly as it may be, that I have only managed to find two negative points with the 6210, should prove testament to just how good this phone is.

You should know me by now, that if I don’t like something, I’ll say it.

Did I mention the piss poor marketing?………..

Comments

One Response to “Nokia 6210 Navigator - First Impressions”

  1. ARJWright on August 29th, 2008 3:00 pm

    I think its good that this is being pushed as a sat-nav device that just happens to be a phone. Let Nokia push the other phones as phones that do sat-nav.

    The electric compass feature of this I really would like to try out. Makes way too much sense IMO.

    We don’t get this in the US (yet, I hope); but definitely good getting a convert :)

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