| NEC N600i |
| General |
| Network | Umts / Gsm 900 / Gsm 1800 / Gsm 1900 |
| Announced | 2005, 3q |
| Status | Available |
| Size |
| Dimensions | 94.4 X 47.5 X 24.5 Mm |
| Weight | 113 G |
| Display |
| Type | Tft, 65k Colors |
| Size | 240 X 320 Pixels, 30 X 40 Mm |
| | - Second External B/w Stn Display (30 X 120 Pixels)
- Incoming Led Indicator
- Downloadable Pictures |
| Ringtones |
| Type | Polyphonic (72 Channels) |
| Customization | Download |
| Vibration | Yes |
| Memory |
| Phonebook | 500 Entries, Photocall |
| Call Records | 20 Dialed, 20 Received, 20 Missed Calls |
| Card Slot | Microsd (transflash), Up To 128 Mb, |
| | - 20 Mb Internal Memory |
| Data |
| Gprs | Class 10 (4+1/3+2 Slots), 32 - 48 Kbps |
| Hscsd | No |
| Edge | No |
| 3g | Yes, 384 Kbps |
| Wlan | No |
| Bluetooth | Yes, V1.1 |
| Infrared Port | No |
| Usb | Yes |
| Features |
| Messaging | Sms, Ems, Mms, Email |
| Browser | I-mode |
| Games | Yes + Downloadable, |
| Colors | Silver |
| Camera | 1.3 Mp, 1280 X 1024 Pixels, Video, Flash; Secondary Vga Video Call Camera |
| | - Java Doja 2.5
- Mp3 Player
- T9
- Schedule
- Calculator
- Currency Convertor
- Integrated Handsfree |
| Battery |
| | Standard Battery, Li-ion 1000 Mah |
| Stand-by | Up To 200 H |
| Talk Time | Up To 3 H 20 Min |
|
NEC - N600iNEC N600i – First 3G i-mode handset
Major features
3G W-CDMA 2100MHz, Tri-band GSM 900/1800/1900MHz network support
2” 65,536 colour TFT 240x320 pixel QVGA display
Monochrome 30 x 120 pixel sub-display
1.3 megapixel CMOS external camera, 5 digital zoom
0.1 megapixel CMOS internal camera (for video calls)
72 tone polyphonic ringtones with MP3, AAC and WMA support
20MB internal memory, microSD/TransFlash memory card slot
USB and Bluetooth wireless connectivity
3G i-mode compatible, video streaming compatible
SMS, MMS and i-mode e-mail messaging
cHTML/xHTML compatible browser over GPRS
DoJa™ 2.5 Java™ games and applications
PIM and organiser functions
Problems/Issues?
Extremely slow menu system
Video streaming problems/bitrate
Games run slowly… very slowly
Battery gets hot when in use
No memory card hotswap
Sales package (should contain):
NEC N600i handset
Lithium-ion battery, 1000mAh
Travel charger
User manual
Portable handsfree earpiece
USB cable
32MB TransFlash memory card
microSD/TransFlash to SD card adapter
Introduction
Telstra have now launched their new 3G network, and the only new handset to support both the new network and the i-mode content service is the NEC N600i. The N600i is a clamshell handset with full support for all of Telstra’s new 3G related services, including video calls and video messagebank, as well as i-mode support with new video streaming services. The hardware feature list is good too, with 1.3 megapixel camera, QVGA screen, microSD/TransFlash expandable memory and Bluetooth. As the first 3G i-mode phone for Telstra, and having used 3G i-mode services in Japan before on NTT DoCoMo’s network (the inventor of i-mode), I had high expectations of this device. Did it deliver? Read on for the review!
New/outstanding features
Telstra 3G has finally arrived, and the i-mode service currently offered has been upgraded to work with the new network. News websites such as ABC News, Sky News and National Nine News now all have some form of news clip video streaming available, and YourTime is offering video trailers streamed to the handset. Many of the services already available through the GSM network have been made available for 3G as they are, although some have not been moved across just yet. The ones that have been moved across load up even quicker than before, and i-mode pages already loaded quite quickly. When the network is in a good mood, pages can load up in just two seconds in some cases. It’s that quick. However, on a bad day, they may not load up at all. More on that in the Problems section.
In terms of the handset, if you were to compare it to NEC’s high end GSM i-mode handset line (such as the N410i and N411i), the N600i hasn’t changed that much hardware-wise, but the software and user interface are completely different. Unfortunately the new interface is more difficult to use and is extremely slow to respond to any user input. There is much more in common with NEC’s other 3G phones made for operator Three, such as the e616v, than there is with NEC’s GSM i-mode phones.
While the hardware hasn’t changed much, what is already here is very good. You have a 1.3 megapixel camera, QVGA resolution main LCD, microSD memory and 72 tone polyphonics.
Physical aspects
The N600i isn’t that much bigger than the N411i, and for a 3G clamshell that isn’t bad at all. It’s plastic throughout in a dark grey colour, unfortunately with an external antenna stub on top. It measures 94.5 x 45 x 24.5 millimetres and weighs 115 grams.
The external LCD, main camera, i-mode logo and small indicator LED are mounted on the front of the flip. The LCD is mounted vertically and can display the clock in big font vertically or more information such as phone status and date/clock horizontally. Information such as received messages, caller ID and missed calls will display on the external screen, as well as information for music currently playing.
Volume keys are on the left and flat headset connector is on the right, protected by an attached rubber cover. The charger connector is on the bottom of the phone, also protected by a rubber cover that is attached and won’t fall off. Unlike the N411i, the covers are very easy to remove and easily lock back into place when closed. Now you might be wondering, if there’s memory card support, then where is the memory card? Unfortunately NEC seems to have followed the early practices of European manufacturers and stuck the slot next to the SIM card slot, underneath the battery and back cover. This is a real shame, considering that their Japan market handsets always have hot swap memory card slots.
Opening the flip and clicking into place, you are presented with the main LCD, the well hidden internal camera and the keypad. The keypad arrangement is similar to those in NEC 3G phones and different to those in GSM i-mode phones. The four directional arrow-pad provides shortcuts to functions in standby: the left and right keys access received and missed calls respectively, the up key accesses phone profiles and the down key opens the phonebook. The arrow-pad is surrounded by a sub-menu key on top, two soft keys and two function keys for accessing the menu and i-mode. Below that is a row of keys containing dial, delete and hang-up keys, and further below is the grid of number keys.
The buttons are small and recessed into their sockets, making pushing them fairly difficult. You’ll need your nails to use the buttons properly, and even then they can still be difficult to press. Raising the keys higher would have helped solve that problem.
User Interface & display
Take a closer look!
Take a closer look!
NEC have used a 65,536 colour, 240x320 pixel TFT LCD for the main screen, and at a size of two inches the clarity of the screen is excellent. Brightness can be adjusted, but the screen will fade in bright sunlight and be difficult to see. Pictures appear crystal clear and text is reasonably sized, displaying up to eight lines when showing menus and other screens. Font size can be adjusted between small, medium and large when displaying mail or MMS.
As mentioned earlier the external display is a two line monochrome STN LCD, and displays status information of the phone (reception, battery, calls, messages, date and clock). It can be adjusted to display the clock only in a large font, and will also show caller ID during a call and music playback information when playing a music file. In similar fashion to the N411i, there is only one backlight that lights up both internal and external LCDs, which means the external LCD will be lit up brightly when the flip is open (so you can admire the NEC logo that appears there), but when the phone is closed battery power is likely wasted when lighting the screen up.
A grid of nine icons adorns the main menu of the display, accessible by the dedicated Menu key in the keypad. The number buttons can be used to jump directly to an option in each menu, with a number assigned to each icon or menu option. The menu icons are (from the top left and going to the right): SIM Toolkit, Messsages, File Manager, Java, Contacts, Multimedia Centre, External Connections, Settings, Toolbox. Unfortunately, menu navigation is very slow and painful – more in the Problems section.
I should note that in GSM i-mode phones, you could go back and forward through the menu levels by using the left and right keys respectively, but this isn’t possible with the N600i. You’ll need to use the centre button and clear key to go back and forward here. Also, you can display the clock at all times in between the two soft-key labels on screen, and on the standby screen you can also display an additional date and time of a different time zone.
Making and receiving calls
On the 3G W-CDMA network shared by Three and Telstra, reception was very good in many different locations, and throughout all the areas I tested the phone in, only once did call quality drop to the point that incoming sound vanished, and it only did for one second. Otherwise, call quality was perfect. The sound was clear, the caller could hear me clearly, and I had no problems whatsoever with voice calls. On Telstra’s GSM 900 network I didn’t experience any problems either, although audio quality was noticeably lower.
The phone comes bundled with a handsfree earpiece, and through testing it worked very well. My caller reported hearing my voice clearly, and I could hear him too. There is also a 3.5mm stereo headset adapter with included stereo headset available as an accessory for the N600i, which was included in my test kit. Testing this set yielded no problems either and very clear call audio came streaming through both earphones in this case.
The N600i supports Bluetooth, and I was able to pair my Motorola HS801 headset as well as a Mitsubishi 380 GT’s inbuilt Bluetooth car kit without a hitch. On both, call quality was clear on both sides, with nothing bad to report here. The N600i performed flawlessly in the section of voice calls.
Being a 3G phone, video calls are also supported and generally worked without a problem. There were some cases where the N600i would connect to another caller, sit for 15 seconds while waiting for the incoming video stream and then just disconnect altogether, but when the call did connect the video call proceeded smoothly. When video calling you have a few options available – you can switch cameras, zoom in and out, change contrast and activate night mode too. If you don’t want to show yourself to your caller you can send a still picture instead.
There are multiple preset ringtones included with the phone, including various melodies, tones and alert jingles. Each tone can be set to sound when receiving a voice call, video call, SMS, MMS/i-mode mail, and for an alarm. More ringtones and music tunes can be downloaded from i-mode websites.
500 entries can be stored in the internal address book, with each entry able to store up to four phone numbers and three email addresses, as well as a picture and website address. Each contact can be sent as a vCard object over Bluetooth or through i-
mode mail.
Messaging
When you want to send messages you have the option of using SMS, MMS or i-mode email (known here as iMail). In all three T9 predictive text is included and works reasonably well. When typing a word it will highlight in yellow, and pressing the up/down keys allow you to scroll through all word candidates. The highlight will turn green when you run out of word options. At this point you can add a custom word to the dictionary by pushing the soft-key under the ‘Spell’ option, spell the word, and the word gets added.
Let’s start with SMS. There is support for multiple linked SMS messages, allowing you to send a very long SMS to other phone that support it (which should be most phones these days). One thing I like about composing an SMS here is that the composition screen displays the person you are sending the SMS to above the body of the message. You can also create up to 10 folders for sorting and saving SMS in the phone.
MMS and iMail are available from the same screen (as opposed to SMS, which has its own menu), and are presented in the phone with similar composition menus. Using MMS you can create multiple slides to attach text, pictures, sound and video up to a limit of 300 kilobytes to send to another phone, while with iMail you can create a text message and then attach up to 10 files with a total limit of 300 kilobytes to send to another phone with i-mode mail support or a computer.
Message composition in any messaging mode is very slow, and this is related to the slow loading menus of the N600i. Letters will appear about a second after you push a button, and if you push buttons very quickly the phone will choke and not display anything until you stop pushing them (although it usually remembers what you pushed and displays everything when you stop). In addition the buttons are recessed and difficult to push, so to sum things up fast texters will be very disappointed with the N600i.
Connectivity
The N600i has multiple methods of communication. It connects to 3G W-CDMA networks in the 2100MHz band, as well as GSM networks in the 900, 1800 and 1900MHz bands. This means the phone will connect to networks virtually anywhere around the world including Japan and South Korea, countries without GSM networks and previously accessible only with CDMA phones. When accessing the internet you can download at up to 48 kbps on a GPRS connection, or up to 384kbps when on 3G. The ACCESS i-mode browser installed in the phone is WAP 2.0 compliant, supporting xHTML and WML webpages as well as the i-mode standard, cHTML.
Locally the phone can connect to other devices through USB and Bluetooth only. While previous NEC phones have always seen infra-red included, it’s been omitted in the N600i. Nonetheless, USB and Bluetooth can be used to perform different functions. A USB cable (included in the package) can be connected between the phone and PC to transfer data, save your phonebook, backup all data from the phone and synchronise PIM information, using the included NEC Mobile Suite software. Bluetooth allows you to connect headsets, send the phonebook or use the phone as a modem for another device. I attempted to do the last two operations with my PC using a Bluetooth adapter, but I could not get the phone to pair with my PC properly, so I wasn’t able to do either.
Build quality
The NEC N600i is a reasonably durable phone. There is the slightest bit of creaking if you try to stress the phone, but the plastic is firm and the phone’s flip barrel is fairly solid too. The flip itself is of the type that clicks into place, and will hold whatever angle you place it in. The back battery cover is locked firmly into the phone when closed and doesn’t slide around. All in all the phone holds together and passes the build quality test.
Battery life
The battery life is what you’d expect from a 3G phone: not that good. Official figures for the N600i are two hours talk time for video calls, three hours for voice calls, and five days 14 hours standby time. However, with about two hours total of mixed usage of all the phone’s functions, including voice calls, i-mode usage, video streaming and messaging, the phone typically lasts one day only. Yes, if you’re going to use the i-mode service actively be prepared to recharge this phone every night.
Major features...
3G W-CDMA 2100MHz, Tri-band GSM 900/1800/1900MHz network support
In addition to tri-band GSM support, the N600i will connect to 3G W-CDMA networks around the world, making it a phone that will connect almost anywhere in the world, and connect at fast speeds too.
2” 65,536 colour TFT 240x320 pixel QVGA display
The N600i’s main screen is a bright one, with high resolution and high colour output. It fades in sunlight, but most LCDs do that anyway. The brightness of the screen can be adjusted, and the resolution allows for it to display up to eight large lines of text, or 14 small lines when reading mail.
Monochrome 30 x 120 pixel sub-display
The external LCD can display two lines of text, and can be set in two different modes: one where the clock is displayed in large digits vertically, or a more informative mode that shows reception, battery, date and clock and other status related icons. The screen will also show caller ID during a call, and music information when playing music.
1.3 megapixel CMOS external camera, 5x digital zoom
The main camera in the N600i is capable of both pictures and video. In picture mode it can capture up to 1280x1024, while in video mode the maximum resolution is 176x144. Quality levels can be specified from Economy to Standard to High, and digital zoom of up to 5x can be used. Exposure control, automatic white balance detection with manual customisation and a delay timer are also included. Both pictures and video can be saved to the internal memory and memory card, and video can be unlimited or restricted to the message size limit of 300 kilobytes.
0.1 megapixel CMOS internal camera (for video calls)
With video calling comes the need of a user-facing camera, and NEC have included one just above the main screen. It’s a CIF camera and besides being used for video calls, can capture pictures up to 352x288 and video at 176x144. Its customisation options are the same as the ones for the outer camera.
72 tone polyphonic ringtones with MP3, AAC and WMA support
With 72 tones, the sounds preset on the phone sound clear and loud. Preset ringtones and other sound files downloaded to the phone can be set to sound when a voice or video call, SMS or mail/MMS is received, or when an alarm goes off. There is also a basic music player for playing back MP3, AAC or WMA music files.
20MB internal memory, microSD/TransFlash memory card slot
NEC have finally fixed a problem that I have been complaining about for some time now: they have added external memory support! As well as the 20 megabytes of internal memory, a microSD (or TransFlash) memory card slot is installed next to the SIM card slot, and a 32 megabyte card is included in the package.
USB and Bluetooth wireless connectivity
Both USB and Bluetooth are provided for different purposes. An included USB cable allows you to hook up the N600i to a PC to copy data, save and edit the contact list, do a full backup of the phone and synchronise PIM information (calendar, ToDo list and contacts) with Microsoft Outlook. The included NEC Mobile Suite software performs all of these tasks. You can also set your phone to act as a USB Mass Storage device when connected via the USB cable.
Bluetooth allows you to connect wireless headsets, transmit your contacts to another device or use the N600i as a modem for the other device. In my testing I was not able to get my PC to receive contacts or connect to the internet using the phone, although that may be related to my Bluetooth adapter and not the phone.
3G i-mode compatible, video streaming compatible
I-mode has evolved, now being available through the 3G network. I-mode mail of 300 kilobytes in size can now be sent and received. In addition, many content sites in the i-mode portal now have some form of video streaming, with ABC, Sky News and Channel Nine all providing video news clips, YourTime providing movie trailers and more. The N600i has basic Shockwave Flash support (called Flash Lite), and some websites are taking advantage of it, providing short flash animation that looks really good on the phone. All i-mode webpages load much faster too, with some of them able to load within two seconds in some cases.
Not all i-mode content sites on the GSM network have made the jump to 3G just yet, but more than 100 sites have so there’s still plenty of content to access.
SMS, MMS and i-mode e-mail messaging
All forms of messaging are included in the N600i. Multiple SMS linked together can be sent and received, and T9 predictive text is supported and works well. Custom words can be added to the dictionary, and unlike the N411i for example, the N600i prompts you to add a new word to the dictionary when it runs out of candidates to choose from. MMS is supported with slides and text, pictures, sound and videos can all be attached to a message, up to a limit of 300 kilobytes. I-mode email works much the same way, with such messages able to be sent to PCs and other i-mode handsets. Again, you can attach up to 300 kilobytes worth of files with a 10 file limit.
cHTML/xHTML compatible browser over GPRS
The standard ACCESS browser included in all i-mode handsets and the N600i in this case is able to browse cHTML, xHTML and WML webpages. Connecting through GPRS at 48kbps or 3G at 384kbps, this browser loads pages up very quickly. With i-mode webpages you’ll find that a lot of links have numerical shortcuts, allowing you to push a certain number button to access a link. It’s a handy feature and I wish all operators would follow this practice.
DoJa™ 2.5 Java™ games and applications
With the move to 3G the i-mode Java specification has been updated to 2.5, bringing with it better graphics and bigger storage size for applications. Java games can be downloaded from multiple i-mode websites, but MIDP applications are not supported at all. No Java applications are included in the phone.
PIM and organiser functions
NEC always includes its ‘Toolbox’ with their phones, and they haven’t failed here with the N600i. There is a calendar included that allows you to save up to 200 different entries in four different formats (appointment, multiday event, special occasion and days off), and it can be synchronised with Microsoft Outlook. There’s also a calculator, to do list, alarm clock and notepad.
Problems/Issues?
Extremely slow menu system
This is the biggest problem with the N600i, and it’s very serious. No matter what you do with this phone, every operation you make takes at least one second for the phone to react and perform it. Sometimes it takes two seconds. This may not sound like much, but when you count one or two seconds out you’ll realise just how long it feels like when you press a button on the phone. Every single menu screen suffers from this, so I suspect the firmware hasn’t been optimised well for the phone’s hardware. With the phone sometimes choking on a random operation for several seconds at a time, the firmware really needs to be improved to be practical for use.
Video streaming problems/bitrate
Video streaming is a new feature thanks to the introduction of i-mode on 3G, but when I actually used it I noticed that its quality level is much lower, compared to what’s on offer from Three and Vodafone 3G. The reason is that streaming is realised through video calls, not through packet data access. What this means is that video streams are restricted to a bitrate of 64kbps, and compared to the 115kbps quality that Three offers for example, i-mode video streams lose out. I guess video streaming over packet data simply isn’t supported, so the N600i has to resort to video calls instead.
In addition, video streaming over video calls does not always work. Many times the connection to a video call for video streaming would just not work. For example I would try to watch a Sky News video clip, and after having the video call connected for 15 seconds and waiting for the clip to come through, the call just dropped out with an error message and returned me to their website. On one occasion this just kept happening over and over.
Games run slowly… very slowly
I mentioned that the i-mode Java specification had been upgraded in an earlier section, however it doesn’t appear that the hardware has been upgraded to match it. I downloaded a few games from i-mode content sites to try, and within ten minutes I stopped playing each one. Each game ran so horribly slow (try one or two frames per second) that it just took away from the enjoyment of playing a game.
I think NEC needs to improve the hardware, or optimise the firmware in future 3G phones, because the N600i is a very slow phone, unfortunately.
Battery gets hot when in use
Whenever using battery consuming functions such as video calls, streaming or even general internet use, the battery tends to heat up substantially. It doesn’t get to the point that you can’t hold the phone anymore, but it does get very uncomfortable.
No memory card hotswap
While you may have noticed my excitement with the fact that NEC added a memory card slot, unfortunately they decided to put it next to the SIM card slot instead of the side of the phone. With all manufacturers now doing it properly and putting the slot outside, why did NEC put it inside? What’s even more puzzling is that with all their Japan market handsets, NEC puts the memory card slot on the side of the phone, yet with the N600i it’s under the battery.
In any case, a memory card slot that is difficult to reach is better than no memory card slot at all, so hopefully NEC will put the slot outside in the future.
In Summary
This phone is the first 3G i-mode phone available for Telstra, and it is a respectable phone with a respectable feature set. The new i-mode content available is also another reason to upgrade to 3G i-mode. However despite all of the good points and features that the N600i has, they are all overshadowed by the menu response time problem, because no matter what you attempt to do with this phone, each operation takes too long to process, to the point that I wanted to tear my hair out on more than one occasion. The problem is so bad that I can’t recommend the N600i to anyone at this stage. There are simply better phones out there with the same feature set and with much more robust firmware, although obviously without 3G i-mode support.
For the moment, if you are intent on having i-mode on 3G right now, your only choice is the N600i. It is available now from Telstra shops outright for $768, or for $0 on a $60/month plan. Telstra are also offering 3G capped plans with the N600i, with $49/month for $250 credit or $79/month for $550 credit plans available. |
| Common misspellings on this brand: nesc |
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