I'm not sure if a lot of people will be interested in reading a review on the QD over a year after it's released, but I think they can look this as a long term review :)
I bought the QD within the first week it was released in India last year.
I'd seen a lot of people with the original N-gage hanging around and had been drooling over the thought of playing games on the palms of my hand all day (yeah, yeah, I'm a game addict).
I'm probably among a few people who will admit that the size of the phone doesn't bother me....once you've seen the size of my hands, you'll understand why ;)
Yet, I did find myself wishing at times that the phone had been a little bit more thinner, especially when I put it in my pocket....people tend to mistake it for the wrong bulge ;) (I'm not going to elaborate on that)
The lack of a screen protector was felt within the first week of ownership when you notice that scratches fall easily on the phone screen. A bit discerning but you learn to live with it. If you really can’t stand it, then you can get a separate cover off the shelf of many cell shops and then apply a screen protector film over it to protect it. The rubber beading around the phone does provide a certain level of protection, especially when it falls from your hand. It’s happened to me a couple of times, but never had to bother about anything. But the beading itself is of a poorer quality, and repeated use of the ON/OFF switch located on the right side tends to loosen the beading off the phone. Since I was under warranty, the Nokia showroom replaced the beading, but I wonder how much it would cost me the next time this happens.
The usage of the keypads and scroll keys are designed for gaming, so unless you grew up with a joystick in your hand, you will take a bit of time to “acclimatize” yourself to the layout. Once you’ve got the hang of it, you’ll find no problems in using all the regular functions of the phone like SMS, MMS, etc.
One good thing about the phone is that you don’t have to hold the phone sideways like the original version (thereby making you look like a retard to people around you), and complies with the classic format of speaking through the QD.
The built-in speaker is also pretty loud and clear, and I never had any trouble using it in crowded or noisy areas. Also, despite the lack of an external antenna, the QD always managed a good reception (this can also be attributed to the HUTCH service I’ve been using all this while)
The battery life of Nokia phones have generally been known to last a long time, but the one on the QD (model BL-6C) as been fantastic! I’ve gone 2 whole days of gaming, speaking, surfing and much more without having to re-charge. Although the company states a longer life, in reality it’s shorter, but you will definitely not complain about that.
The screen only has 4096 colors and this is a major gripe for me. Now that you have many phones with 65K colors as standard, this feels a step down the techno-ladder. But you wont’ notice this when you’re playing games, only when you’re viewing pictures and videos.
The phone has only 2 connectivity options, Bluetooth and GPRS. No infrared or even cable connectivity. This may be a problem for some people, but you can get around this by either buying a Bluetooth dongle or a MMC reader separately.
The QD’s internal memory capacity is 4MB and the expandable memory slot is taken care of by a Multi-Media Card (MMC). I bought a 128MB MMC shortly after I bought the QD and it’s proven to be a mistake. You need to use at least a 256MB card if you want to use all the various third party software out in the market and, most importantly, to play the games designed for this phone.
The phone runs on Symbian Operating System v6. This version is older than the one on all the other Symbian based phones by Nokia like the 6600, which uses “v7”. There isn’t much of a difference between these, except that v7 has themes and other additional software capability. You won’t miss it, except for the fact that you can’t use the new “Videotone” function launched by Nokia on your QD due to this.
There is hundreds of software available that you can incorporate on your phone. My personal favorite is the “Call Cheater”. This program plays various sounds in the background, like traffic or heavy rain, during your call making the other person on the line think you’re stuck somewhere. A huge boon for that unwanted call that’s been bothering you all day.
I’ve saved the best feature about the phone for last….the GAMES!!!!! And I’m not talking about the Java based games, but the actual games designed for the QD.
The titles that have been released by Nokia are absolutely fantastic! Almost all the games are released with a 3D format so that you can experience a very high level gaming.
Games like Pathway to Glory (and it sequel, Ikusa Islands), Asphalt (1 & 2), Operation Shadow, One, etc. are among the best games titles released recently. No doubt your social life will be completely ruined if you are a gaming freak There’s a game for every genre, strategy, fights, racing, etc.
Now you maybe wondering on how much it costs to buy each of these games, only to play it once and put them away. I’ll let you in on a little secret. I didn’t buy a single game title released for the N-gage. Everything was available off the net!! That’s right, you can download all the titles and copy-paste them on to your MMC and enjoy for as long as you want. I know it’s illegal, but I’ll be damned if you tell me that no other N-gage owner does the same thing ;)
Nokia has truly pushed this phone and titles, but I hear that they may be looking at pulling the plug. The reason being that they haven’t received the kind of sales they initially expected. I surely hope they don’t do that because with each game release they’re pushing the limits and I’ve already got my sights on the next N-gage phone.
All in all, this phone is specifically designed for the young at heart….no make that the gamer in all of us. I guarantee that you won’t be disappointed.
Hell I bought a Sony-Ericsson S710a during my last trip to the US and I still have my QD!
