Nokia X6

I obtained the Nokia X6 as a free upgrade when I renewed my mobile phone contract and felt somewhat 'forced' into selecting it as it was the best available option at the time.

I have never been keen on the idea of touchscreen phones, however the X6 has gone some way to winning me over. It is a decent sized handset (not too big or too small) and the touch screen itself is very responsive when it works. However, I have had several glitches where the screen has locked or frozen and I've had to restart the phone.

It took me a little while to get used to the idea of having no buttons and therefore, learning what all of the touch-prompts were for, but once that has been learned it is very quick and easy to navigate around the phone.

The X6 has a great range of features and apps (many of which I've no call to use but they are funky all the same!) and the screen size means that you get a decent mobile web-browsing experience too, whether the site is optimized for mobile viewing or in it's original form.

Due to the features available on the phone, it does not take long to drain the battery and this is one of the handsets downsides. Half an hour of internet browsing will see the battery life drop a couple of bars and it seems to run down quickly from there.

It is a nice looking phone that sits comfortably in the hand, however I've always felt as though I have to be particularly careful with it, as though it is not particularly robust. I should indeed have been more careful, as I have unfortunately dropped the phone and caused the screen to crack. I have been advised by my phone operator that it will cost £100 to repair, however it has not impaired the phone's functionality in any way and therefore this is a cost I'm not prepared to undertake.

I mainly use the phone for calls, texts, internet browsing and photographs and for these purposes, I have found the X6 to be more than capable. The camera takes decent still and video shots, and there is a secondary camera for video calling (a function which, again, I have not used). There is a tendency with still photography for the camera to take a moment before the shutter activates, which can be frustrating when your subject is not one that sits still (my 7 month old son for example!).

Overall, I like the phone but had I have been required to pay for it, or there had been more options available when making my selection I would have chosen differently.