| Mini-Review of the Nokia 6620 |
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The Nokia 6620 is a direct descendant of the 3650, about which I wrote a rave review. The 6620 is a more traditional-looking phone with all of the same screen and powerful features as the 3650. Virtually everything I said about the 3650 applies to the 6620, with a few minor exceptions that I’ll cover in this mini-review. Last Updated: 16-Sep-2004 |
Before reading this review, please read Some Thoughts on Phone Reviewing.
General
The big problem for many people with the 3650 (and its sister phone the 3600)
was that they couldn’t stomach the round keypad. While most users of the
3600/3650 have reported that you get used to it over time, the keypad has proven
to be a big turn-off for many potential buyers. The good news about the 6620 is
that it sports a traditional keypad layout that shouldn’t scare away anyone.
Unfortunately the phone does possess the other aspect that put people off of the
3650, and that is its size and weight. However, for a phone with such a powerful
operating system and the ability to do so much, the size and weight are really
not all bad. The phone is markedly smaller and lighter than a typical PDA-based
phone, and if you’re in the market for that sort of hardware, then the 6620
should be a pleasant surprise.
Perhaps the biggest advantage to the 6620 over the 3600 and 3650 is that it
supports EDGE. This allows you to take advantage of the faster data services
offered via EDGE vs GPRS. I did some limited web surfing by going to THIS
web page and downloading some of my large site maps. The speed of EDGE certainly
seemed impressive.
The 6620 sports an excellent color display with the same resolution as the 3650
(208 pixels tall by 176 pixels wide). Color clarity and pixel sharpness are both
really great, and the display is quite visible in direct sunlight. It’s a bit
difficult to see in bright light without the backlight on, but it’s among the
better color displays in this regard.
The phone comes with 12 MB of internal memory, and it also has an included 32 MB
MMC expansion card. I’m told that you can add up to 512 MB of MMC memory, which
is an incredible amount of storage for what is essentially a cellphone.
I won’t go into any details concerning the features of the phone, since you can
do pretty much anything you can get software for. Suffice it to say that gadget
geeks will have hours of fun with this phone.
I wasn’t really pleased with the ringer volume, however. The phone’s owner and I
searched through all of the provided ring tones for one that was the loud, but
we just couldn’t find any. I remembered the 3650 having at least a decently-loud
ringer, and so the performance of the 6620 in this matter was both surprising,
and disappointing. Fortunately the phone does have a fairly strong vibrator,
which should make up for its feeble ringer in many situations.
RF
Performance and Audio Quality
What interested me the most was how well the 6620 stood up against other GSM
phones on the market these days, and against the excellent 3650. I didn’t have a
3650 with me to make comparisons, but I did have my pleasant memories of my
friend’s phone, which I’d see and played with countless times before.
To test the RF capabilities of this phone I
pitted against my unlocked Siemens A56. I
couldn’t really use the 6310i as a reference
phone, as the 6310i doesn’t support 850 MHz, while the 6620 does. From the lower
level of Sears at Square One (an excellent place to test 850 MHz on Rogers) the
6620 was marginally better than the A56. That’s a good thing though, as the A56
is an excellent RF performer. The Hall of Shame near the food court was used to
test 1900 MHz, and the 6620 performed similarly against the A56.
When it came to incoming audio quality, I was
expecting to be blown away by the 6620, just as I had with the 3650. I was
therefore rather surprised when I heard a distinct background hiss on the 6620
that I just couldn’t remember hearing on the 3650. The hiss isn’t so bad as to
be super-annoying, and you may learn to live with it. However, I found its
presence a bit disconcerting. I was also surprised to find that audio
reproduction on the 6620 wasn’t quite as crisp and concise as the A56. It wasn’t
bad mind you, but it wasn’t as super-terrific as I’d been expecting.
Maximum audio volume in quiet environments was barely greater than the A56. The
A56 isn’t exactly known for its volume levels, and that didn’t bode well for the
6620. However, to its credit the 6620 is endowed with Nokia’s Audio Booth
feature that jacks up the audio level when it senses background noise. With the
boost kicked in the 6620 was plenty loud, even on Rogers.
Outgoing audio quality is quite nice, but it’s really only mid-pack in quality.
However, the phone does do a very credible job of masking background noise
without damaging the quality of the outgoing audio.
So in conclusion then, the 6620 is a great alternative to the 3650 for those
that just can’t imagine themselves using a round keypad, or for those who want
the added speed of EDGE. There seems to be a few weaknesses compared to the
3650, but otherwise the 6620 is just as worthy of your consideration.
I apply the same warning to the 6620 as I do to the 3650 however. If you buy one
of these phones, be prepared to spend a lot of money on packet data services.
This phone really comes alive when it’s hooked up to the Internet, and only an
unlimited usage package will do.
