I hadn’t had a Nokia in years, but I remembered being very happy with my old Nokias so I was thrilled when I saw a Nokia available that met the specs I wanted.
My first look at the Nokia 6750 Mural was positive. All the specs matched what I was looking for (3G, nice camera, good sized screen, flip phone, memory slot, standard(-ish) 2.5mm headphone jack). When I tried it in the store I was still impressed. The browser was good, decently rendered even full HTML pages, a nice media player, standard menu set, cellular video feature, etc.
Unfortunately with this phone, the more I use it, the more disappointed I’ve become. The top level features are good, but the lack of attention to user interface details is frustrating and unforgivable. It started with realizing that I couldn’t rearrange my own bookmarks for the browser. There is simply no “organize” command like there are for other things. You can (usually) “move” bookmarks to different folders, but not reorganize within a folder. Why not? Why can’t I put my most recently used bookmarks up top?
Second, I’m not sure what the media player uses to organize songs, but its not alphabetical order nor anything normal. For instance, I have 10 podcasts by the same ‘artist’ labeled 01 to 10. What order does the phone put them in? 06 to 10 and then 01 to 05. Why? Who knows. And again, I can’t rearrange them.
The silly UI oversights don’t end there. Another annoyance is the fact that I can’t go to speakerphone while the phone is ringing after making a call. I have to wait for an answer on the other end and then hit ’speakerphone’. What if I want to use speakerphone while I’m driving for hands-free use, I can’t actually switch to it until after the person answers. Not only very inconvenient, but actually illegal in a number of states.
I can go on… when you’re in the browser, you cannot write a text message without quitting the browser and losing your place. The short cuts you can put on the home menu are highly constrained and don’t include useful options, etc, etc.
Physically, the design is not much better. The battery door is held in by a sliding clip on the back. But after a handful of uses, it gets loose, has a tendency to slide, and then the battery door falls off. It also often slides open by putting it in or taking it out of your pocket. Drop the phone and its almost certain the batter will end up several feet away.
The buttons on the outside are too easily pressed. Several times I’ve had the MP3 player being playing when taking it in and out of my pocket. The solution is to lock it, but, I just don’t always remember to do so.
Speaking of the outside buttons, the volume up/down button has no spacing between that and the ‘push to talk’ button. Its physically connected. So trying to press volume up very often ends up with a push-to-talk dialog coming up. Frustrating and yet another example of a not thinking through the design.
Just when I was resigned to putting up with all the shortcomings, the phone stops responding to all button presses. I’ve only had it a few months. Great job Nokia. I used to think of you as a designer of solid, quality phones, but now I can see why you’ve fallen as far as you have. Their lack of attention to detail is extremely frustrating and not a company that values their customers. My experiences with their customer support regarding accessories has also been pitiful. It takes 3 calls to figure out which headset works with my phone. I’ll get my phone replaced, put up with it until my next upgrade, and then be done with Nokia permanently. Add a flare of self-expression with the Nokia Mural 6750 flip phone from AT&T, which offers an array of illuminating cover colors with your choice of . continue reading.
