Nokia C6-01 review

Nokia C6-01 review: Interface

The interface seen on previous Symbian 60 Version 5 devices can be recognised in the Nokia C6-01's Symbian^3, which provides a familiar feel for existing Nokia users, although Android and Apple users may see this as old and out-dated.

The statement from Nokia has been that although the user interface appears similar to older devices, the new devices have greatly improved functionality beneath the surface.

Some of these improvements include three user configurable Home screens, long-press interaction, kinetic scrolling and improved swiping, and capacitive screens.

The relatively small screen size of the Nokia C6-01 is implemented very well – the difference only becomes apparent when it is viewed alongside a larger-screen device, such as the Nokia C7 and Nokia N8.

Even then the only real difference is a fractional reduction in icon and text size to fit the standard Symbian^3 interface to fit the smaller screen.

One negative is that the reduced GUI does result in a slight reduction in the size of the on-screen keyboard, which could cause issues for the larger fingered.

Although we had no issues with the font size, any worries can be mitigated by the inclusion of Font Magnifier in the Tools folder although a one-off data connection is required to obtain a free lifetime licence. Once the licence is enabled, font size can be increased/reduced as required.

Although this application sits a few levels down in the phone folder structure, it is correctly located in the phone settings. However, we've no idea why this isn't automatically included in the software - something Nokia often seems unwilling to offer out of the box.

Another improvement over Nokia's older S60v5 phones in Symbian^3 is that the Nokia C6-01 has three user-customisable Home screens which you can move between with either a sideways swipe on the screen or tapping the icons at the bottom of the display, which shows three spots to identify which Home screen you are currently on.

When you enter the main menu you will see the customisable folder structure that Nokia devices have incorporated for many years - some will like this, but many will see it as outdated and in need of an upgrade; it just depends on your perspective.

One other nice feature of the Symbian^3 OS is the graphical Task Manager, which enables you to quickly switch between open apps or to close one or all apps depending on if you tap or long press the 'X' on an app view. This is all accessible with a long press of the Menu button.