Nokia 6630

THE rate at which new mobile phones are being dished out is beginning to get me dizzy.

With an abundance of varying technologies and features, I wouldn’t be surprised to find a certain portion of consumers, like me, at a loss deciding on one particular model to purchase.

Even after going through all the nitty-gritty details and finally deciding on one that suits your needs, you’ll find that it would become obsolete within less than a year.

If you’re looking to future-proof your mobile phone investment, not many can outdo Nokia’s 6630 at the moment.

It supports 3G (third-generation) mobile networks and has just about everything you’ll ever need in terms of all the latest connectivity options.

Design 6630
The 6630 is a candybar-shaped phone. However, like most recent Nokia designs, this one has bumps and curves that make it look unique. It looks like a pear, if you ask me.

Although it’s quite usable, I personally found it rather bulky and slightly heavy.

Then again, I suppose that’s a matter of preference, as I know of at least one person who likes the phone purely for its form factor.

The good news is that the 6630 comes with a generously proportioned and gorgeous-looking 65,536 colour screen that has a resolution of 176 x 208pixels.

However, I did find the 6630’s smallish keypad going against the general “big” theme of the phone and it took me some getting used to. Nonetheless, that’s just a minor gripe.

Looking inside
The phone’s specifications list is pretty impressive (see specs box).

It is also Bluetooth-enabled and comes bundled with a 64MB RS-MMC card to supplement its 10MB built-in memory.

Its RS-MMC slot is on the side of the phone, which allows for easy access without requiring users to open their phone covers just to replace their memory card. Big thumbs up here.

As with most new phones, the 6630 comes with an integrated camera.

This one is a 1.3-megapixel camera and I’m glad to report that it really does offer some pretty decent quality pictures and videos.

For those looking for the rich multimedia experience smartphones can offer, the 6630 is packed with an abundance of tools and applications including RealNetworks’ RealPlayer, a video editor as well as a photo editor.

Although their features are rather limited, these applications do add a little bit of spice to otherwise dull pictures and videos.

Also bundled is Kodak Express, an application that lets you print pictures from your phone at certain photo shops (there is a list of participating shops provided within the application itself).

As far as productivity tools are concerned, the phone comes with a calendar, calculator, currency converter and a to-do list.

If that’s not enough, the 6630 also has Quickoffice, a set of tools comprising Quickword, Quicksheet and Quickpoint, which allows users to view and edit text documents, spreadsheets and slideshows respectively.

Shortcomings
For all its wealth of features, I was surprised to find that the 6630 doesn’t come with an infrared (IR) port.

Although I’m quite sure that Bluetooth will eventually replace IR because of the latter’s inherent drawbacks such the need for line of sight as well as data transfer rates, presently IR-equipped devices still outnumber their Bluetooth counterparts.

By omitting IR connectivity, Nokia has cut off at least one medium for connecting, for example, one’s slightly aged, non-Bluetooth notebook computer to the 6630.

I also found the 6630’s light sensor rather annoying – apparently its function is to change the screen’s brightness and contrast as well as switch on or off the keypad’s backlight based on ambient lighting conditions, presumably to conserve battery life.

However, it kept going mental on me and chose to switch the keypad lights on and off almost at random and I couldn’t find a way to stop it from doing that. Perhaps I just got a buggy unit.

What also strikes me as odd is the fact that the 6630 doesn’t come with an auto keylock feature.

Personally, I find auto keylock to be a crucial feature that should come standard with every mobile phone.

At the very least, mobile phone makers should include a third party tool that offers this feature rather than expect users to do it themselves, especially after having shelled out quite a bit of dough for the phone in the first place.