Nokia 6086 (T-Mobile)
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"This phone is AWESOME !" on by peytonel
Pros: Free calling 24 hrs a day via Wi-Fi, 2GB storage, plays 3GP movies, MP3s (can use them as ringtones), FM radio, web-browsing via Wi-Fi and 3G/GSM, inexpensive
Cons: Not the prettiest looking phone in the world but who cares?
Summary: I'm going to keep this short and sweet since my summary says it all. ( BTW, I'd like to point out that I'm a firm user of CNET-Reviews and utilize the user opinions in the tech buying decision process.) I bought the 6086 the day after launch (Jun. 28th) and this is simply the best phone I have ever owned. The Wi-Fi calling feature works extremely well. It works best if you have the T-Mobile provided router (since the firmware is pre-programmed to give QoS priority for voice packets). T-mobile gives it away and it's a sweet way to extend the network in your home. If you've got a bluetoth enabled PC or Palm, you can transfer MP3 files to the phone and use them as ring-tones (no need to buy tones anymore), or bettey yet, just get a micro-SD, uploaded them via your PC, and slap the card in the phone. The Nokia OS includes a Java Media player. Since I have a 2GB card, I used my PC to convert episodes of "Sanford and Son" (my favorite sit-com) from DVD video to 3GP (which the phone plays) and copied them to my card. This proves you don't need iTunes or an iPhone to have similar features. It terms of value to the end-user, this phone simply can't be beat. T-mobile is the only carrier in the U.S. that offers this service. Because of the number of minutes I'm saving while at home and at hot-spots, I've been able to cut my minute plan in half (from 2000 to 1000). So there you have it, for $50, you'll have a phone that can do what no other phone in the world can do (not to mention save you money). BTW, I wouldn't trade this phone for 10 iPhones either.
Updated
UPDATE: I was amazed to find out that the browser in this sweet little phone supports dialing phone numbers straight from Google. Before dialing, it even asks if you would like to maintain your internet connection to during the call in case you want to look up another number from Google. I'm sure this is a function of the browser and not just the phone itself. However, I must admit that when I saw Steve Jobs perform this feat when showing off the iPhone in the Spring, I was amazed. The fact that the 6086 can do the exact same thing at a fraction of the cost is amazing in itself. As a result, I will never have to use "4-1-1" directory assistance again. So there you have it, Wi-Fi calling, Google Dialing, MP3s, 3GP movies, 2GB of removable storage, FM radio, bluetooth, and a camera. Bottom-line, there isn't another phone on the face of the earth that can offer all of these features today. Hats off to Nokia and T-mobile for such compelling technology. -
"WiFi calling works worldwide" on by Muntdrop
Pros: Seamless WiFi -GSM integration, Good WiFi and Cell Reception
Cons: The look is somewhat Retro
Summary: I purchased this phone a few weeks ago as I live in an area with poor cell coverage. On occasion I would have to walk out of the house to find the network! So when I was told about this new service and phone from T Mobile to make and receive calls via my high speed internet connection, I did not wait a minute to sign up for the service.
The amazing capability of this phone & service combination is the fact that you can walk out of WiFi range and be transferred to the cell network (and from cell back to WiFi) without losing the call. All I have noticed (and only when it is quiet around me) is a small blip. Having spend many years in telecommunications technology business, I know how difficult the programming must have been to reach this level of unobtrusiveness moving a call in process between networks as diverse as the public internet and the proprietary cell network.
This technology is the wave of the future and it is quite interesting to see that T Mobile has given little publicity to this. This may have to do with capacity issues, as I have on occasion noticed that calling another party on the WiFi network on the other coast yields an "all circuits busy" message. Also I have seen occasions where an incoming call does not ring, but the "Missed Call" notification appears.
But the biggest thrill of all is the use of this technology internationally. It so happens that I spend a considerable amount of time overseas. I speculated that the WiFi capability should allow me to make and receive calls while in WiFi mode in my offices and apartments in Asia. And sure enough, it works flawlessly, independent of the make or type of WiFi router. The voice quality has been superb so far. And as T Mobile gives you unlimited calling to any phone in the US from any WiFi connection under their $10 a month HotSpot@home subscription, I can now make and receive unlimited calls to and from the US at no (additional) charge from any of my locations overseas, including many airports that have open WiFi networks. A sweet deal, especially as the parties that call me from the US on the regular phone network only pay for a local or domestic call.
In short, I am a happy camper. -
"Would have been perfect, except for one thing..." on by jeanettee
Pros: Nice & comfortable design, big buttons, FM radio is great, other great features
Cons: It won't allow me to send a text message (or other message) to an email address, and earphone jack is kind of a pain
Summary: Overall, this is a nice phone. The only reason I bought it was because I wanted a nice Nokia flip phone, I don't even need the WiFi feature. I love the radio and mp3 player features, the big buttons make it easy to dial, the bluetooth feature works great, the speakerphone is cool, and I really don't think the screen is that bad at all like the cnet review says.
My only big complaint about this phone is the fact that I can't send messages to an email address! For the price of a text message, my old Nokia 6010 had that capability - I was always able to send text messages (or multimedia messages) to any email address, but this 6086 does not even give me the option! So let's suppose I want to send my grandma a plain ol' text email, since she doesn't have a cell phone...CAN'T DO IT. Also suppose I take a picture with its mediocre camera and want to email it to a friend real quick who'd like to print it from her computer...CAN'T DO IT. I guess my only options are to just take the extra steps and save my pictures to the micro SD card, wait until I get home to transfer them to my computer with the micro SD card, and then email them that way. OR I could just use Tmobile's My Album web page to share photos from my camera, which isn't all that user friendly either in my opinion, plus I can't even send more than one photo at the same time to that site -- I have to send one photo at a time. So why even bother using this phone's camera at all when I can't simply email the photos as attachments the way other phones do? This may be a deal breaker for me and I might start shopping around for another phone with the email capability that I want.
The other thing that kind of annoys me is the headphone jack because it's one of those other types, I don't know what they're called...But it's the jack with the teeth and it's close to an inch wide. Anyway sometimes it's hard to plug in the earphone, as well as hard to unplug it, you have to wiggle it in and out just right. I guess that's no biggie, but sometimes I think I might break it.
Other minor quirks about this phone are: the automatic voice tag assignments are kinda weird, because instead of using your own voice to create voice tags as on other Nokia phones, the phone creates them for you with funny male robot voice! Also the outer screen is tiny and I do have to hold the phone up a little closer to read it! I got used to these two things though.
I might keep it for the year I am committed to, at least until Nokia makes another nice flip phone with that email feature I miss from my other phone. Otherwise, it really is a good flip phone with lots of great features.Updated
I had written before (Dec. 19) that this phone does not allow you to send text messages or photos to email addresses, but I finally found my way around it!! You have to create a separate contact entry in the phonebook SOLELY with an email address. For example, you already have "Jessica" in your contacts with all her info, even her email, but that won't work. So you must create a second separate entry for Jessica with her email address: after clicking Add New Contact from the phonebook, type in Jessica's name plus a #2 or "email"(or something else to distinguish the two), then click OPTIONS, then ADD DETAIL, then EMAIL ADDRESS. After entering her email address, click SAVE, and that's it --- Do NOT add any phone numbers to this entry. Now when you want to send a text or picture to her EMAIL address, you just scroll to her second entry, "Jessica #2", and it will automatically fill in the email address and send it with no problems! I tested it several times with text as well as photos and it works (Yaaaay!). So now I can probably live with this phone for a LOT longer and actually enjoy using the camera! -
"Good, boring phone, but constantly drops the wireless router" on by supertron
Pros: Good reception on the regular T-mobile network, pretty rugged
Cons: Constantly drops the signal from my HotSpot@Home router, SIM card issues, boring design with bad screen and few features besides WiFi.
Summary: I actually called T-Mobile to cancel my service because the service was so bad in my home. Instead, they ended up selling me on the HotSpot@Home wireless router service... basically they guaranteed great service at home, plus the added bonus of a 9.95 a month plan that gave me unlimited minutes on my existing plan if I was on the router, or even at a Starbucks or other place that uses T-Mobile WiFi.
That sounded great. The next step in getting me set up with this plan was choosing a WiFi compatible phone. Basically the choices were a Nokia or a Samsung flip, both very basic phones, or two "bell and whistle" PDA phones that were expensive and looked obsolete.
I have an iPod touch, so the PDA phone option was kind of pointless... I wasn't about to go back to wack-ass mobile browsing after I'd gotten a taste of true internet on a handheld device- I'd rather carry two things. So I flipped a coin between the two cheap flip options, and bought the Nokia.
While I wish T-Mobile had included a nice mid-range phone between the PDA's and the cheapo flips, this 6086 is a decent little phone- good reception on the regular T-Mobile network, which Nokia is known for. Pretty rugged, does well in my backpack pocket, floating around with keys and stuff. Standard for a phone at this price-point is a sub-par screen, few features, boring unsexy design, etc. etc.
On to what I bought this phone for- better reception in my home and a cheaper bill. The reception on the HotSpots Wifi is perfect- when it picks it up. This phone tends to drop it a lot... which can lead to some very aggravating situations- my personal favorite is when you're on a call, and the phone drops the WiFi. Of course, you lose the call too. Now you're trying to re-connect the WiFi (which takes around 20 seconds, if it works) while the person is calling you back... so you end up taking the call and using up minutes you should be getting for free.
Additionally, sometimes the 6086 won't pick the WiFi signal for hours at a time- no matter power off the phone, remove the battery, whatever. It gives you an error message, and that's it for the day. Of course, this is usually when you have a bunch of calls to make... more minutes that should be free down the drain.
Last but not least, it has an odd issue with the SIM card occasionally- not recognizing it, etc. This may be my fault- I've had the same sim card for like 4-5 years, and it's been swapped in and out of a dozen phones... maybe it's degrading.
All in all, I would say the Nokia 6086 phone by itself is nothing special- a decent lower-end phone that happens to have WiFi capabilities. Highlight is the good standard reception, and for some, that makes it a great phone. Lowlight is the dropping of the WiFi reception, which for me makes it a very frustrating phone- albeit the best solution available to me at the moment.
Hopefully, a solution may come from Apple sometime in 2008. T-Mobile in Germany has the iPhone, and that's usually a good indicator of "when, not if" for the US T-Mobile market. My bet is that the iPhone 2 will be available for T-Mobile users... and with it's standard WiFi, it's a perfect candidate for the HotSpot WiFi program.
Here's hoping. -
"still testing the waters, so far pretty good" on by marathon girl
Pros: really like changing the font size and ring tones
Cons: no dedicated speakerphone button
Summary: Just started using this phone yesterday...easy to program and the manual is not too confusing. It immediately detected the WiFi in my home. I did NOT sign up for TMobile Home wifi but the phone will still pick up a signal in wifi if the cell tower signal is weak. In my home all previous phones had weak signals downstairs, better signals upstairs. This phone has great signals everywhere. Still need to work on my music library and download, haven't tried music player or radio yet. Oh yes, it has an FM radio but you have to wear the ear piece to get the radio signal because the radio antenna is in the earpiece wire..
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