Diaries of a Nokia Fan Boy

So today is the big day of the Nokia World 09 show. And it appears that Nokia officially unveiled the Xseries with two new models: the X3 and the X6. The series is an obvious replacement of the XpressMusic moniker, and the X6 appears to be replacing the 5800 XpressMusic. In an odd move, Nokia went for the single-digit model numbers for the new Xseries, however I expect that will change after a couple more releases.

Nokia X6: the touch
The replacement to the 5800 XM improves on the old model in a number of ways:

• The X6 is slimmer: 13.8mm vs. 15.5mm
• Uses a capacitive touch screen vs. resistive
• Sports 32GB internal storage vs. 81MB
• Upgrades to a 5MP shooter from a 3.15MP
• And adds on a second LED for dual LED flash
• Adds support for geotagging
• Includes Ovi Maps 3.0 vs. Nokia Maps 2.0
• Uses the updated S60 5th UI

On the downside, the phone weighs 13g more (122g), however that’s not too much of an issue. What I did find impressive, however, is that Nokia managed to get virtually identical battery life despite using a capacitive touch screen, which tends to be a little power hungry. The phone does, sadly, lose the microSD card slot, which would have been nice to have on occasion.

Overall, however, the phone looks pretty impressive and I’m sure it will be lots of fun to play with. By the looks of it, the S60 5th UI is the same one as on the cheap-o 5230, so I think I will still go for that as my next phone. Especially considering the X6 is expected to be shipped out at 459 Euros ($725 CAD), which is more than what the N97 is currently worth!

Nokia X3: the slider
The Nokia X3 looks to be replacing the 5610 XM, and the specifications are fairly similar. The phone actually looks to be even a bit of a downgrade from its XM-branded ancestor. The Nokia X3:

• Loses 3G
• Loses the vibrant 16M color screen for a 256K color screen
• Downgrades to a 860mAh battery from 900mAh
• Loses autofocus on the 3.2MP snapper for an enhanced fixed focus
• Is only able to record QCIF@15fps video vs. VGA@15fps

On the upside, the phone

• Sheds 8g for a 103g weight
• And slims down to 14.1mm thickness from 17mm

Besides that the phones are virtually identical. It is interesting to compare the two bodies, as the Xseries line-up seems to bring a complete redesign of the phone’s exterior. Although to be honest, I’m not entirely sure if I like the X3’s look vs. 5610 XM’s; however the X6 does look much better than the 5800 XM. The pricing of the X3 is much more radical however, shipping out at 115 Euros (or $181 CAD).

So what do you guys think? Do you like the new redesigns? And would you get either phone for yourself?

-Nokia FanBoy

via: GSMArena (see X6 and X3)
and: Engadget (read 1 and 2)