The Nokia 6120 Classic reviewed - the smallest and lightest smartphone in the world!

davekolmer wrote:Thanks for a super review...every since I saw the 6120 Classic previewed on Engadget Mobile, I've been anxiously awaiting a good thorough review, and as usual, All About Symbian is first to the punch. I have been fascinated with the N95, but somehow I just can't manage to cough up the $745 it costs here in the US. The 6120 is likely what I'll buy instead, as it appears to have a lot of the same functionality as the N95 (even bluetooth stereo) and is a lovely size. Size does matter, as they say, and I have long awaited a smartphone that is also lightweight and small yet still highly functional and AFFORDABLE. This phone looks like the one I've been waiting for. There's no doubt the N95 would be my first choice, but this is a close second.

The 6120 has the added advantage of having a 3G frequency supported by at least one phone company in the US. The N95 doesn't support any US 3G networks.

"I have been fascinated with the N95, but somehow I just can't manage to cough up the $745 it costs here in the US. The 6120 is likely what I'll buy instead, as it appears to have a lot of the same functionality as the N95 (even bluetooth stereo) and is a lovely size."

I think most of the additional cost of the N95 seems to come from the hardware features such as the 5mp camera, DVD-quality camcorder, built-in GPS, 3D graphics chip, wifi and TV output, and from having to fit them all into a very small mobile package along with a smartphone.

The 6120's launch price shows that the actual smartphone itself doesn't actually cost that much, probably because of new production processes that use fewer chips in each phone.

"The 6120 has the added advantage of having a 3G frequency supported by at least one phone company in the US. The N95 doesn't support any US 3G networks."

Yes, I was surprised by the dualband 3G, it's a very nice bonus. And if the 3G frequencies of the 6120 don't suit you, there's also the 6121 with a different set of 3G frequencies but otherwise identical hardware.

What material is the case made out of, plastic or metal?

"What material is the case made out of, plastic or metal?"

The grey bits of the case are steel, the black bits are plastic.

Is this phone already available in the UK (as in simlock-free, not tied to a provider)?
Because I see that Three is advertising it already on their website. So I assume it must be in the shops fairly soon.

Unregistered wrote:Is this phone already available in the UK (as in simlock-free, not tied to a provider)?
Because I see that Three is advertising it already on their website. So I assume it must be in the shops fairly soon.

I don't know, Expansys don't seem to have it yet, but it's been in the shops (sim-free) here in Finland for a couple of weeks now so it should be in Britain soon.

I'm in love with this phone, but I'm worried that 3G won't work on the Cingular (AT&T) network here in the states, which is 850/1900. Do I need a phone that supports both frequencies? Or will having only 850 (recommended above for T-Mobile) work on this network?

I'm having a lot of trouble figuring out what is really deployed here, and it's very difficult to determine what phones will work. So far the only symbian phone I could find that seems certain to work with this network is the N75. I would really prefer the 6120 classic, since it looks much more attractive and supports hsdpa.

Thanks!

Thornhill wrote:I'm in love with this phone, but I'm worried that 3G won't work on the Cingular (AT&T) network here in the states, which is 850/1900. Do I need a phone that supports both frequencies? Or will having only 850 (recommended above for T-Mobile) work on this network? I'm having a lot of trouble figuring out what is really deployed here

Your best bet would probably be to contact the network themselves, they should know which frequencies are required in which places by their network.

Hopefully triband and quadband 3G phones will start appearing and take the guesswork out of using 3G. The 6120 is one of the first dualband 3G phones, so they're clearly moving in that direction.

So far the only symbian phone I could find that seems certain to work with this network is the N75.

That's not surprising as the N75 is a US-only release, Europe and Asia are getting the N76 instead.

Krisse, you wrote that the 6120 Classic has already been available in Finland for a few weeks which would indicate that the phone is relatively free of flaws in the software. However, the (Danish) shop at which I ordered the phone just put new info up on their site stating that it will be delayed by 6 weeks! When I asked them, they said that they had already asked the distributor about it, but were informed that Nokia had not given any reason whatsoever, indicating the finding of a quite serious flaw. Do you have any info on this - are the phones being recalled in Finland, or are they issueing emergency software updates?

Thanks,
Andreas

AndyK wrote:Krisse, you wrote that the 6120 Classic has already been available in Finland for a few weeks which would indicate that the phone is relatively free of flaws in the software.

I didn't find any flaws at all. It has worked without any problems for the several weeks that I've had it (I've used it as my main personal phone for that entire time).

The 5700 had some worrying firmware flaws (see my review for details), but the 6120 has behaved absolutely perfectly. The 6120 which I used was a retail edition (we actually bought it from a shop here in Finland) and it didn't do anything unusual or strange.

However, the (Danish) shop at which I ordered the phone just put new info up on their site stating that it will be delayed by 6 weeks! When I asked them, they said that they had already asked the distributor about it, but were informed that Nokia had not given any reason whatsoever, indicating the finding of a quite serious flaw.

I wouldn't assume too much just because one distributor has been kept in the dark by Nokia, especially when there's no evidence of any problems, just evidence of delays.

If it was the actual phone, I'd expect to see it removed from sale in Finland, but that just isn't happening. As far as I can tell Finnish retailers are getting new batches all the time. Every shop I've checked has them in stock.

If it isn't the phone, it could be any number of other things such as problems with distributors, operators, factories etc. Whatever it is, I wouldn't jump to conclusions just because one distributor has delayed the launch.

Do you have any info on this - are the phones being recalled in Finland, or are they issueing emergency software updates?

No recall at all, quite the reverse. Here's the latest batches received by Verkkokauppa.com (a Finnish online electronics shop). Their next batch is due on Wednesday:

http://www.verkkokauppa.com/popups/prodinfo.php?id=7533

20 kpl, 28.06.2007 15:04
20 kpl, 26.06.2007 20:02
10 kpl, 26.06.2007 12:11
yli 25 kpl, 19.06.2007 18:14

(kpl means units, yli means over)

The white version of the 6120 still hasn't been released though. Was that the version you ordered?

I don't find wifi necessary. It eats batetry, logging on into the hotspots is cumbersome and the tariffs of flat rate data packets will come down. I don't miss wifi in a phone.

Thank you for the very detailed answer.

krisse wrote:The white version of the 6120 still hasn't been released though. Was that the version you ordered?

It was the black version I ordered, I like my phone discreet 😊

It's a real shame with this delay - but I guess it could just be manufacturing problems or something else - this phone probably isn't as highly prioritized as the more hyped N-series. A colleague told my something about roughly 10% of Nokias profit at the moment being generated by the N95. I find it quite amazing if this is true, especially because so few people are willing to cash out for it.

The 6120 Classic is now listed on the Orange web site as a 'coming soon phone'. 😊

hi
does anyone have information on when will the 6121 come out

Great Review - I LOVE AEMs - a breath of fresh air in an area which is easy to become dull in..

If you live in the UK and text a lot (Oh, look; I come under both categories =P), three are offering a GREAT deal at threestore.three.co.uk/offerdetails.aspx?offercode=18OL67D046&phoneDesc=Nokia_6120&phoneCode=NO61203DSL&tariffid=0

PLUS, Three have become markedly better in terms of coverage.

Thus, I believe I'm going to get it =)

Steeve xXX.

(By the way, it's always nice to see ACTUAL English in forums based on writings; too many are host to plagues of "u"s and "video's"!)

Unregistered wrote:
(By the way, it's always nice to see ACTUAL English in forums based on writings; too many are host to plagues of "u"s and "video's"!)

Although.. It should be a "quotation"; not a "quote".. Sort your nouns out, Admin!

AndyK wrote:It's a real shame with this delay - but I guess it could just be manufacturing problems or something else - this phone probably isn't as highly prioritized as the more hyped N-series. A colleague told my something about roughly 10% of Nokias profit at the moment being generated by the N95. I find it quite amazing if this is true, especially because so few people are willing to cash out for it.

I wouldn't be at all surprised by either of those things.

Possibly the best-value S60 at the moment is the 6290, but Nokia seem to have buried it, I certainly haven't seen any hype or publicity about it. When AAS tried to get one to review it took a lot of doing as Nokia had distributed hardly any at launch, not even demo models for shops. It's a better phone than the N76, and costs about 30% less, yet it's the N76 that gets all the attention. I wouldn't be surprised if the 6120 gets a similarly low key treatment because it's not an Nseries model. This has its advantages though, it means you can get a really good brand new S60 for a pretty low price 😊 .

Hopefully this discrimination between the marketing of Nseries and non-Nseries models will end now that Nokia have merged the Multimedia and Mobile Phone divisions.

On the N95, they've been selling like hotcakes at least here in Finland, and the N95 seems to have been more of a global success than other models, which tend to be regional hits. The American media actually knows what the N95 is, which is astonishing for a Symbian phone, and hopefully Motorola's models will continue this trend.

czeto wrote:hi
does anyone have information on when will the 6121 come out

No firm information, but the press release says it's due out in the third quarter, which is July/August/September.

Unregistered wrote:Although.. It should be a "quotation"; not a "quote".. Sort your nouns out, Admin!

I believe "quote" is the verb and "quotation" is the noun, although so many people nowadays just use "quote" for both... 😡

The button gets away with "quote" because it's an action so it can use the verb.

Krisse,

I like the phone for its weight and size and obvious powers. My current theory is that the lighter the phone the less damage can be done when it is dropped.

Since this phone is targeted at phlebians like me :tongue: does it have the usual series 40 apps; stopwatch, count down, memo pad etc?

Also how is the ring volume and vibration?

thanks.

Krisse, plz make the test:

Here is the example of XLS-file. Its weight is 1.3 mbytes.

Check plz, how fast Nokia 6120 will open it. And then, how fast it will calculate after the change of one parameter (Article. &#8470😉. That file is samething like a complex price-list, it contains 10 000 positions. I often use similar documents on my Nokia E61.

Here are the result of Nokia E61:
Open time - 1:15 minutes, edit time - 1:25 minutes.
Test was made with Office Suite 4.0.

Thanx in advance!

sovind, I can't remember whether it had those apps, but the ring volume was fine and the vibration seemed fine too.

6670th, I'd love help you but the 6120 has gone to AAS headquarters in the UK, I no longer have it. Hopefully Steve or Rafe might help.

Hi

Does anyone know if this phone is compatible with Tom Tom Mobile ?

I dont mind which version on Tom Tom as long as its compatible!

Thanks

Hi, a few questions and a funny tidbit you guys probably don't know about.

First question: Sound quality. Have you compared the 6120 classic to the 5700 for bluetooth stereo audio quality with the same pair of wireless headphones? If so, same, better, worse?

Second question: buttons. They look small like the (gasp!) N70's frightful mini buttons...are they bigger than the N70's?

Third question: It looks like it is well designed for the hand. If one didn't care about the 3.5G would you prefer the 6290 over the 6120 Classic? 6290 doesn't have stereo bluetooth though, right?

And now the funny tidbit. I am an expat living in Taiwan and the 6120 Classic will be nicknamed the "6120C" here (hasn't started selling yet), since most people here can't say the word "Classic" off the cuff...I wonder what other non-English speaking countries will do now that Nokia is "naming" its phones in "English"...(Of course Nokia Taiwan will still box it in a 6120 Classic box, but the locals will just call it 6120C)

Is 3.5mm jack compatible for tv output cable? Mini usb is fast enough for transferring large files compared to N95?

Is 3.5mm jack compatible for tv output cable? Mini usb is fast enough for transferring large files compared to N95?

There is no 3.5mm jack, the 6120 has a 2.5mm jack. And no, there's no TV Out on the 6120.

The USB is faster than bluetooth, but I don't know what you mean by "fast enough". It was certainly fast enough for me.

First question: Sound quality. Have you compared the 6120 classic to the 5700 for bluetooth stereo audio quality with the same pair of wireless headphones? If so, same, better, worse?

I'd say the same. IMHO the choice of third party headphones affected the sound quality far more than the choice of phone. For some reason the bundled headphones are much quieter than third party ones, perhaps because of EU safety regulations.

Whatever phone you buy, get a 3.5mm adaptor (they're about £5 in electrical shops, don't have to be Nokia brand) and some third party headphones, it will make it sound much much better.

Second question: buttons. They look small like the (gasp!) N70's frightful mini buttons...are they bigger than the N70's?

I haven't used an N70, but as I said in the review the buttons are a bit small. I managed fine with them, but if you like your buttons to be big then I'd recommend something like the 6290 (you can compare their buttons in the photo in the review).

Third question: It looks like it is well designed for the hand. If one didn't care about the 3.5G would you prefer the 6290 over the 6120 Classic? 6290 doesn't have stereo bluetooth though, right?

I honestly think this is a question of personal taste. I like both but in different ways.

The 6120 was just so compact, it really did feel like a normal phone and not a smartphone. The small size did make the phone much more fun to carry and use.

The 6290 on the other hand has much bigger buttons and a slightly bigger screen. The 6290's screen is possibly the nicest of any smartphone I've used, it's flat against the glass and bright. But the 6290 doesn't have A2DP (bluetooth stereo) so that's a mark against it.

If you can, try these out in a shop, because you have to feel them in your hand before you can judge which one is suitable for you. They're both good, but they're different.

I am an expat living in Taiwan and the 6120 Classic will be nicknamed the "6120C" here (hasn't started selling yet), since most people here can't say the word "Classic" off the cuff...I wonder what other non-English speaking countries will do now that Nokia is "naming" its phones in "English"...(Of course Nokia Taiwan will still box it in a 6120 Classic box, but the locals will just call it 6120C)

The 6120 in Europe is technically called the 6120c, if you look at the nameplate under the battery it says "6120c".

If you want to get really nerdy, there's a number of other models that had letters after their name for some inexplicable reason, for example the 5500 is technically called the 5500d. I don't know what the reason for this is, perhaps it makes it easier and quicker to write shorter names when doing inventories and repairs etc?

Does anyone know if this phone is compatible with Tom Tom Mobile ?

I dont mind which version on Tom Tom as long as its compatible!

If you can find a version of TomTom for Symbian S60 3rd Edition, it should work with the 6110 Navigator.

krisse wrote:If you can find a version of TomTom for Symbian S60 3rd Edition, it should work with the 6110 Navigator.

Thats great but if i like the 6121 can i get a mobile version of Tom Tom to work on it ?

Thanks

I got my 6120 today. �15 a month (250 mins & 50 texts) free phone from 3g store and they gave me a free 512 mb memory card. :icon14:

Having just got my 6120 I have a question.

In Outlook I have attached notes to many of my contacts.

I have synchronised these to my phone, but I can't view them in the phone unless I open them in the edit mode and this does not seem a good idea as then could be deleted.

Can anyone suggest what I have missed and how I can view the notes in contact without using edit?

Thank you.

moonshot wrote:I got my 6120 today. £15 a month (250 mins & 50 texts) free phone from 3g store and they gave me a free 512 mb memory card. :icon14:

Damn I'm envious! In Denmark and Sweden it looks like it won't be released until mid August - Nokia probably can't supply enough phones and decided to launch in the big markets first.

Krisse: It has been written that the N95 now supports SDHC. Do you know if the same is true for the 6120 Classic? I ordered the phone together with a 2GB memory card, but if it supports a 4 GB one, I will definitely change the order. As I know you have shipped the test phone to AAS headquaters, could you please ask them?

Thanks
Andreas

krisse or anyone who has a Nokia smartphone..............can you advise.

I have my 6120 classic and I am very pleased with it.

This is my first Nokia, previously had a SE m600i.

A few applications I am use to with my previous phone are missing from the 6120, can anyone advise why and is this the same with all Nokia's?

The applications missing are..........In calendar there does not seem to be a way of entering reoccurring entries.

Also there is no 'FIND' feature in calendar. Both these features I use a lot. :hmmmm:

Unregistered wrote:Thats great but if i like the 6121 can i get a mobile version of Tom Tom to work on it ?

Thanks

Just to be absolutely clear, TomTom works fine on this, I've got one and I've been using TomTom fine.

edit. obviously you need a bluetooth gps receiver though since there's no built in gps but you can pick these up from various places or on ebay for around £35