[Ben]

Nokia 6680: A review by Ben Fitter of Talk3G.co.uk
© 2005

For the purposes of this review, a SIM-Free Nokia 6680 of German origin was tested on the Orange and Vodafone UK 3G networks.

Handset Highlights:
WCDMA 2100, GSM 900/1800/1900
Weight 133g
Dimensions 108.4 x 55.2 x 20.5 mm – 104cc
1.3 megapixel rear camera (1.23 megapixel effective resolution) 1280x960
6x digital smooth zoom
VGA front camera 640x480
Flash (operating range stated as 1.5m)
Active Matrix 262,144-colour display with 176x208 pixels
Email polling & attachment support: jpeg, 3gp, mp3, ppt, doc, xls, pdf
USB 2.0 Pop-Port
WAP 2.0 XHTML/HTML multimode browser – supports frames and some javascript
Offline mode – keep your phone on in radio-sensitive areas
Push to Talk with dedicated key

Box contains:
Nokia 6680 ‘imaging’ smartphone
64mb DV RS-MMC card, 24mb of programs, 40mb free for user
RS-MMC to MMC adapter
HDS-3 standard stereo headset (yuck?)
Nokia BL-5C battery
Charger ACP-12
USB Cable DKU-2
CD-ROM
Guide literature

First look:
On opening the box, the first thing you see is the stunning Nokia 6680. It is housed in a depression of the plastic container that fills the entire cardboard box. This container opens up something like an Easter egg, containing the various other bits inside. Still, the important thing is the phone – and at this stage is where you’ll utter your first ‘Wow!’

The rest of the box is nothing particularly special, other than the reassuring “Made in Finland” sticker which has all too often been lost to ‘cheaper’ countries in the recent past. Slightly less reassuring is the not-too-solid rear camera cover, but I can’t see it falling off any time soon.

[jman]

I have a 6630 which looks nice, the 6680 in comparison looks very bland, but yet has generated so much interest. The specs are of a high standard, the only problem being the DV RS-MMC which when I last looked maxed out at 126MB but there was talk of a 256MB card coming soon, the 6630 has the same problem, maybe its sorted now.

[Ben]

Hi,

The 256mb card is available - I have mine installed in the phone. It should meet my requirements until a larger card becomes available.

The 6630 is indeed a very nice phone, but the keypad, shape and forward facing camera on the Nokia 6680, along with the higher spec screen, is probably what is generating the interest. The chrome detailing also brings the thing up to a superb quality - I wish I could send everyone who reads this review one to hold so they can get an idea for themselves! ;)

[alvinsue]

what I really hope is that when I get mine 6680, it is also made in Finland...

[Ben]

Unfortunately the charger isn't! It's one of the new Nokia crop (like my 6230's) that screeches/makes weird electronic sounds while it's plugged in. These become especially loud if you try and use the phone while it's on the charger. In a daytime situation you don't notice it, but at night time when you're trying to get to sleep it can be a right pain. It's not just Nokia's that do this now; most phone chargers make a noise and I'd imagine it's due to changes in battery technology more than anything. The only reason it annoys me is that Nokia chargers always used to be silent.

[@NickyColman]

My good god! i thought it was me who could hear that!! I swore blind my charge was "squeeling" !! it drove me insane! thankgod its not just me! :D

Good pics tho! The phone is rapidly ascending my Wish List! :D

[Hands0n]

I received my "new" Nokia 6680 locked to the 3 network today. Bought of a nice chap on eBay it is an unwanted upgrade and as far as I can tell, the only thing he is likely to have done is to part-charge the battery and play around with it for a few moments. It really is spanking clean with no evidence whatsoever of being used in any kind of meaningful manner.

I took the plunge and decided to buy one on 3 ahead of my Orange upgrade date (October 2005) and the 3 renewal/abandonment in January 2006. In any event, I will get it de-branded and unlocked at the turn of the year if the unlockers manufacturers have the kit out on the market.

First impressions are favourable - there is a certain feeling of de ja vous with my N-Gage which shares the same operating system. Finding my way around the 6680 was consequently a doddle. The buttons are not exactly the same so some initial experimentation was made but the feel of the UI is very similar and easy to adjust to - I'll dig out the manual later and do a proper RTFM.

I get the ususal solid 3G signal that I have come to expect of my other 3 3G handsets (the incumbent being my A1000). It'll be more of a test when I drive over to one of the marginal areas that I know of around here.

Voice quality is outstanding - very crisp and clear. I didn't notice any significant lag when calling my daughter's O2 phone and we talked in the same room. No more lag than I'd expect on a regular 2G-to-2G call (this was 3G-to-2G).

Text messaging is exactly like it is on the N-Gage - the UI is identical in this respect and so texting was very straightforward. I'd imagine that anyone who is familiar with Nokia texting will get on fine with the 6680. The intelligent texting works very well with the dictionary finding all the kind of words that I normally use :) It also seems to remember which choice you took last time and offers it to you the next time which is very handy.

Web browsing - well lets not stretch the concept too far - on 3's walled garden content site is quick enough. Initially it took a while to fetch all the images, but once cached future gets were very quick. Quality of the content is on a par with that of the Motorola E1000 and A1000, which is nice.

Videocalling - I've not tried this yet, but a while back did hold a long videocall with a friend who was on his Orange-supplied 6680. It was as good as one would expect or want.

Camera - Wow! I know it's not a huge megapixel camera but the main one does a excellent job of capturing images. The LED flash actually works unlike any I've seen to date - it actually illuminates the subject adequately to take a reasonable photograph. Incandescent light and failing daylight were not a disappointment - the 6680 handled these with ease.

I have not tried any of the connectivity yet - that is next on the list as I do want to install a few utilities into the handset.

Am I happy? Yes, in a word. Very happy, in two.

[3GScottishUser]

I am tempted to try a 6680 on a tenner a month 3 deal but I just dont imagine I'll get much use from it other than as an evaluation thing for fun.

My Samsung Z500 on Vodafone provides seamless transfer from good old relaible GSM to UMTS and with 'Stop the Clock' it's hard to use all of the 200 inclusive minutes (I work during the day). Add Passport, free videocallls and the 250 inclusive texts and the convienience of the size and you have to begin to understand why Vodafone have me hooked just now.

A 6680 for a tenner a month is attractive but it would be a 'toy' and with it costing £120 and a PSP coating £180 there is a big conflict, especially when I have a great phone on a great tariff on a 1st class network.

[Hands0n]

Having read the above comments about squealing chargers I was quite relieved to find that my new 6680 came with one that didn't. To be absolutely sure I charged it up in the bedroom which is quiet. Not a sound could be heard except for the mosquito that had been plaguing me all evening.

Today I did something rather silly with it, which subsequently required a complete factory reset (I put the details of how to do this in the 6680 section of the forum). I loaded and ran Nokia's automatic configuration utility. It went and generated an additional APN (called it "3 WAP") which seemed to thoroughly confuse the 6680 when trying to access 3's streaming news content. I really wasn't sure if that was all that it had done and rather than perform open heart surgery on the handset I opted for the "cold start" option, which worked nicely although I lost all incumbent content!

So, a word of warning - if your 6680 is working properly then don't run the Nokia utility.

One lives and learns :)