Nokia E6: First Impressions

Nokia has announced the E6 in India by rolling out pre-orders, with a price tag of Rs 16,999 on the Nokia India website. The E6 as on today is Nokia's latest flagship QWERTY business phone (in the candy bar category) which seems to be taking a direct shot at the premium QWERTY segment, challenging the Blackberry market by offering class leading features. So, what makes the E6 so special? Let find out ...


Higher pixel density than the iPhone 4 Retina Display

With a 2.46-inch TFT touchscreen display, the E6 isn’t competing in terms of sheer size but it is the resolution of the screen that puts it ahead of the iPhone 4. With a 640x480 pixels resolution, the E6 boasts of a 328ppi (pixels per inch) pixel density as opposed to the 326ppi for the iPhone4. And if you haven’t realized, this is a first Nokia candy bar phone with a touchscreen plus a full QWERTY hardware (physical) keypad. Th E6 is now comparable to the upcoming Blackberry Bold 9900 which is the first Blackberry to offer the combination of touchscreen and full QWERTY hardware keypad.

Hardware specs that match the Nokia E7

Not that the Nokia E7 is a beast of a phone in the hardware department, but to almost have the same hardware specs of a phone that costs almost double is certainly no mean feat. With 8GB of internal storage, 1GB of ROM and 600MHz processor, the E6 is expected to a very nimble device, especially with a modest load of rendering on a 2.46-inch screen.

Imaging engine has been upgraded

With an 8MP fixed focus camera and HD (720p) video recording at 25fps, the E6 again has the same imaging engine as its elder brother E7. Also, the inclusion of a dual-LED flash and a secondary front facing VGA camera makes it ready for 3G video calling. What would have made the E6 a killer device is the inclusion of the Nokia N8 imaging hardware, but maybe that would have pushed the pricing, or is it the Nokia is saving its best imaging hardware for its next big N-series launch?
Gorilla glass, proximity sensor and 2D/3D graphic acceleration adds to the already long list of features that make the Nokia E6 a considerable step-up from the Nokia E72.

The Nokia E6 trump card: It’s pricing

For a pre-order pricing of Rs 17,999, the Nokia E6 signals the most aggressive pricing strategy adopted by Nokia for a new premium E-series device. With its pricing similar to the Blackberry Curve 9300, the E6 looks miles ahead in terms of technology and features that it offers for its price.

The question mark: Symbian Anna OS

The E6 ships with the Symbian Anna OS, the latest update to the Symbian platform.The Symbian Anna OS cannot really match the likes of the Android 2.3, Apple iOS5 and the Windows Phone 7, these are far more evolved, especially for the touchscreen segment. But, for the Nokia E6, a QWERTY business phone with a touch screen offering, we hope that the Anna brings some bit of freshness and finesse to the UI, to ensure a reasonable experience. We are forced to have very modest expectations from the Anna update, hoping that the minimum is met.