Nokia 6810

...first half of 2004, and Nokia marketed the 6810, it's predecessor the 6800, and its successor the 6820 as the 'Nokia 68*0 Messaging Device'. This pitch centers on the phones QWERTY keyboard, which although better than you might expect is something of a gimmick. I find I'm just as quick texting with the predictive text input on the normal numeric keypad as on the full keyboard. Where the keyboard does come into its own is in including non-alpha characters ...
...can use it with the Nokia HS-1C camera, but this is an add on extra.

I'm not going through all the menu options, there are loads and it would be even more tedious than the techy spec below, but there are a few nice 'extras' that you get with this phone.

Not all Nokias come with a built in FM radio for example, although reception on this was at best patchy. Triband capability is also handy if you're thinking of travelling ... more

15 years ago (back in the days of yore, when flares were not fashionable again and phones had wires) this would have been a reasonable spec PC. No really it would. It has 3.5Mb of RAM, internet connectivity, a reasonable colour screen, can send and receive e-mail, and it has a full QWERTY keyboard that folds out from the body of the phone. It has a built in notepad, calendar function, calculator, voice recorder, games, it even has a joystick with which to play those games!

However PCs 15 years ago weren't this good. They didn't have predictive text input, bluetooth wireless connectivity, they wouldn't automatically connect to the network if you carried them to a different continent, and they absolutely definitely would not fit in your pocket.

That last point is a little closer run than it might be for the 6810, it is a very large phone by today's standards. It's a little uncomfortable fitting into pockets itself, certainly not being happy in trousers and not that keen on shirts either. What it really needs is a jacket pocket, but even then the weight (122g) is noticeable. It's not in house brick territory, but I doubt there are that many larger phones on the market now.

THE SPIN

The 6810 was released in the first half of 2004, and Nokia marketed the 6810, it's predecessor the 6800, and its successor the 6820 as the 'Nokia 68*0 Messaging Device'. This pitch centers on the phones QWERTY keyboard, which although better than you might expect is something of a gimmick. I find I'm just as quick texting with the predictive text input on the normal numeric keypad as on the full keyboard. Where the keyboard does come into its own is in including non-alpha characters or symbols, these are easily accessed in the same way as a normal keyboard, there is even a shift key either side of the keypad. It's also useful words not in the predictive text dictionary, names for example. I did find that once I'd got used to the keyboard I did occasionally enter texts that way, but not often.

The 6810 has support for multimedia messaging, odd with no built in camera, this limits the use of this capability. You can use it with the Nokia HS-1C camera, but this is an add on extra.

I'm not going through all the menu options, there are loads and it would be even more tedious than the techy spec below, but there are a few nice 'extras' that you get with this phone.

Not all Nokias come with a built in FM radio for example, although reception on this was at best patchy. Triband capability is also handy if you're thinking of travelling to the US. The capacity to synchronise the calendar with your Outlook calendar is also useful, although I never managed to get this to work as well as it could. Some people get excited about the phone having Bluetooth, I've never really missed it on phones without as I don't like using the wireless headsets.

APPEARANCE

Apart from the size the phone looks quite good in a 1980s Japanese car kind of way. The case is silver (grey) and bronzey gold coloured, and no, you can't change this. The screen is large-ish and bright, and the keypad is also quite nice apart from the joystick which isn't at all. The fold out keyboard has a nifty key pad light which illuminates the letters within the keys white, the keys themselves are bronze coloured.
The backgrounds on the screen were changeable, but the screen saver (a digital clock) was not.
This lack of any personalisation capability beyond ringtone and background image was quite an annoying feature of the phone. The 6810 is bought as a company standard phone at my work, and all of them are identical! It can be very confusing at times to say the least, particularly as they are too big to keep in pockets.

LIKES

The reception and clarity on the phone was always good, often the 6810 would have a signal when others on the same network would not.

The hands free capability also works well. Obviously its best from a quiet office, but even in a car it was useful to let the driver in on a conversation .

However the best feature of the phone for me is the power management. With a charge time of just one and a half hours the phone just seems to run and run when on standby. Two weeks is easily possible if the phone is not used much. A big improvement over other phones I've owned.

DISLIKES

The biggest problem I had with the 6810 was reliability. I went through 6 in six months, all exchanged by Vodafone through my corporate contract. I would have hated being on a PAYG deal with this!

On two the screen just died for no apparent reason. Another one ended up with a cracked screen from being inside a briefcase, while the outer case was undamaged. Two more developed software problems, and would crash randomly so badly the only way to get them back to life was to remove and replace the battery, even the power switch was dead. The last one died whilst switched off in a suitcase, presumably zapped somehow by the airport X Ray machine. The joystick on all of them was worn or wobbly, it seemed to be made of a particularly cheap piece of plastic.

After six had died in my possession someone somewhere decided enough was enough, and I lost the last replacement (or it legged it, whichever)! I ended up getting a replacement SIM and buying my own phone.
You could blame all those problems on me, but the 3410 that I had previously lasted 18 months with no problems at all.

The only other niggle I'd raise was the charger. On a triband phone I wouldn't have thought it too much to ask to have a voltage switching charger, but the one that comes with the Nokia is 240V only. For trips to the US I had to buy a 110V Nokia travel charger ($29.99).

PRICING

The 6810 has now been superceded by the 6820 in the Nokia range, but there are still a few companies selling new ones on contract.
I've not seen this phone offered on a PAYG deal in the High Street, a web search found it new for sale at £179.99. Secondhand on ebay the phones fetch in the region of £50-£65. They are relatively rare for a Nokia phone, perhaps due to their frailty.

SUMMARY

I liked many of the features of the phone, but it seemed not quite fully developed, almost like a prototype. The reliability really let it (and me) down a few times too often, something I just don't expect from any consumer electronic device these days. I won't be buying another one, but may consider the later 6820. This has the keyboard, a camera, and hopefully the benefit of a finished development cycle.

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FULL SPECIFICATION
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SIZE

Weight: 122 g
Volume: 105 cc (closed)
Length: 119 mm (closed)
Width: 55 mm
Thickness: 23 mm

DISPLAY AND USER INTERFACE

High-resolution, passive-matrix colour display
Supports 4096 colours within 128 x 128 pixels
Full messaging keyboard with flip-open design
Display rotates 90 degrees when keyboard is opened
5-way joystick navigation
Voice dialling
Voice commands
Voice recorder
Integrated handsfree speaker
AMR voice codec enabling voice clips

MESSAGING

Mobile email:
Email client for connecting to private and business email
Supports BlackBerry connectivity for corporate email
Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) for receiving, editing and sending messages with text, audio files, voice clips, video clips and images
Text messaging: with concatenated SMS, send and receive messages containing up to 459 characters
Predictive text input: support for all major languages in Europe and Asia-Pacific
Support for Instant Messaging (Chat) and Presence-enhanced contacts service

MEMORY FUNCTIONS

3.5 MB internal shared memory for contacts, text messages, multimedia messages, emails, ringing tones, images, video clips, calendar notes, to-do list, and applications

CONNECTIVITY

Tri-Band Operation: EGSM 900 / GSM 1800 / GSM 1900
Automatic switching between bands
Bluetooth wireless technology
Infrared
Nokia Connectivity Adapter cable
Local synchronisation of contacts, calendar, to-do items, and notes to a compatible PC using PC Suite
Remote over-the-air synchronisation (OMA data synchronisation)
Send and receive images, video clips, notes, and business cards
EDGE high-speed data transfer

SOFTWARE

XHTML browser
Wallet: Convenient online use and storage of your numbers and passwords
Calendar, contacts, notes, and to-do list
PIM data can be synchronised with a compatible PC
Downloadable Java applications
Integrated stereo FM radio

CALL MANAGEMENT

Contacts: Advanced contacts database with support for multiple phone and email details per entry
Conference call
Multitasking: Perform other functions - such as checking your calendar or taking a picture - while on a call using the integrated loudspeaker
Speed dialling
Logs: Keeps lists of your dialled, received, and missed calls
Automatic redial
Automatic answer (works with compatible headset or car kit only)
Supports Fixed Dialling Number, which allows calls only to predefined numbers

DIGITAL SERVICES

Software applications available from Nokia Software Market
Graphics, icons, animations, logos
Games: possibility to download new games
Ringing tones: polyphonic tones

POWER MANAGEMENT

Battery BLC-2, 1000 mAh Li-Ion Up to 3-6 hours talk time, up to 15 days standby.
Charging time 1 h 30 min with charger ACP-12

 

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