Well I say new, I got it in June.

I used to have an iPhone, but had to give it back when I changed jobs. I was in the market for a smartphone and had to decide between android, iPhone and the oddly mainstream outsider, Symbian.

I quickly discounted the iphone as overpriced and overrated, having used one for over a year I was left frustrated by apple’s random restrictions (want to change the text message sound? Too bad).

Android was a contender, but the confusion over different app stores and the dodgy music player put me off. That and the gamble of whether or not your chosen handset will be blessed with OS updates.

I have a soft spot for symbian having had a nokia ngage a few years ago. It was by far my device of choice for a long time. People knock the sidetalker, but look past that and it was a very functional phone with some cool games. The nokia x6 which I finally plumped for sits between android and iPhone, offering centralised app repository but the freedom of running any app you want outside the closed system. It also has built in, no extra cost tethering via bluetooth or USB. The camera is superb, the music player is easy to use and spits out good quality sound through a standard 3.5mm jack or the included bluetooth headphones. There may not be as many apps as for the other platforms, but that is starting to change now that nokia are standardising on QT for app development, rather than the old and apparently tricky C++ environment. The other massive plus point is that the x6 can be used comfortably with one hand, unlike the ever so slightly too wide iphone.

Full marks to nokia. I just wish the heartless bastards hadn’t just released the n8 ;-)

(written entirely on my x6 using the new wordpress app)