Review of the Nokia 1680

The Nokia 1680 is the newest low-end phone from 7-11 Speakout Wireless. It sells for more than the previously-reviewed Nokia 1208, but in my opinion (as you will soon discover) I don’t think it is worthy of this position in the lineup. I had no problem with this aspect of the phone. It seems that Nokia has finally figured out how to squeeze excellent RF sensitivity out of all of their recent models, regardless of its position in the hierarchy.


It’s almost got to the point where doing this test on a Nokia phone has become redundant, but that’s the direction we should be headed with cell phones by now. Even though RF performance has become a non-issue with phones of late, audio certainly hasn’t. No matter how much experience the company has making phones, many with excellent audio performance, Nokia still seems capable of producing ones that sound like they were tested by tone-deaf technicians.


The 1680 sounds like a cheap plastic toy that is totally put to shame by the audio quality of the less-expensive 1208. However, the poor tonal balance is only the fault of the native earpiece. The phone actually sounds half-decent through a good-quality earbud or headset. Despite that, its failing mark in this category stands, since many people will use it as-is (without an earbud).


The 1680 is a big disappointment all around, with the exception of its RF performance, which it shares with all of the recent Nokias I’ve tested. Beyond that it’s an entry level phone that can’t even compete with its supposedly-lesser kin the Nokia 1208. If I had to choose between the 1680 and the 1208, EVEN IF they gave me the 1680 for free, I’d choose the 1208 every time. With the possible exception of its size and styling, I can’t see why 7-11 even bothers to sell this model.