We get down to business and take a closer look at the Nokia E75 smartphone.
THE Nokia E75 is many things wrapped up in one device. You can use it to retrieve your e-mail, surf the Web, check for directions on a map, listen to music, take pictures and, if you want to, make calls. Announced in March, the E75 is the latest in the Nokia’s line of business-centric phones hungry for a piece of the smartphone pie.
The good news is that if there ever was a phone designed for the text message and e-mail obsessed user, this would be it. The E75 sports a rather unique design in that it is a slider phone that slides out from the side, much like the T-Mobile Sidekick available in the United States. The phone comes in two colours: Red and black. We got a red unit for review and while it looks good, it is rather too striking for a business phone. If you want to be more conservative, the black should fit you fine.
Working our way from the front, the E75 has a decent size 2.4in screen (320 x 240pixels) that provides more than enough room to view your text messages and e-mail messages. The phone’s keypad holds an array of closely placed keys. Crammed together with the regular number pad are three shortcut keys that serve to give you easy access to the main menu, calendar and your inbox.
While it makes the phone more aesthetically pleasing, I personally found the placement of the buttons a little cramped and it was easy to accidentally hit the wrong key. For example, I mistakenly pressed the e-mail button by accident many times when I actually wanted to press the red hang-up button.
Another problem is the hang-up button serves as a shortcut for the phone’s various profile modes which also houses the phone’s switch-off option. This means that if you’re impatiently hitting the hang up button to exit an application, you could accidentally cause the phone to switch itself off.
I must say the phone’s metallic backlid is also difficult to remove. Even worse, it was excruciatingly difficult to remove my SIM card which was stuck firmly within the phone.
For typing
What makes the E75 unique is the option to easily swap between using the regular keypad and a full Qwerty keyboard. I have always found using the keypad sufficient for my typing needs though I must say the option to type with a full keyboard is also useful especially for long messages or words that don’t usually turn up in the dictionary.
SILVER BACK: The E75's got a nice metallic back plate to complete its high-end business phone look. The Qwerty keyboard slides out horizontally and screen automatically reorientates itself into landscape mode. Messaging on the E75 in this mode feels comfortable although the keys are on the small side and are relatively flat.
Although I still can’t touch type on the keyboard as well as I can on a regular alphanumeric keypad, the keyboard does make things easier. Since I have small fingers I didn’t have problems typing though a person with larger fingers may require more precision.
On the flipside (pun intended) typing on the keypad proved to be just as easy and smooth. One noticeable change is the T9 dictionary, which behaves differently now. Instead of constantly pressing the star key to run through all possible words, now it displays words in a drop now menu similar to Sony Ericsson phones.
Having tried the new T9 dictionary I found it difficult going back to the old method. It’s a much appreciated improvement and the auto complete function also occasionally helps fill in long words.
Functionality
As a mobile phone, the E75 does a decent job at performing regular phone functions. Call quality is clear though the small ear piece requires you to align it your ear directly. As mentioned above, text messaging is a joy on the E75. Disappointingly though, the speakerphone is pretty soft — while you can hear it clearly in a car, it is inaudible when taken out in a noisy area.
Since the E75 runs on a Symbian operating system, you can install your own applications on it. The phone also comes bundled with a couple of business-centric applications like Quickoffice and a PDF reader. You can also customise your home screen for both work and play, switching between the two whenever you want.
In terms of battery life, the E75 can certainly hold a lot of power — you’re looking at nearly three days of continuous use on a single charge which is pretty impressive by my book. It will definitely come in handy for business users who are constantly on the go or don’t have time to wait for their phone to charge.
Features
There’s no shortage of connectivity options on the E75 as you can connect online either via a WiFi or over a 3G network. This of course, allows you to do a number of things from checking your e-mail, browsing the Web to watching YouTube videos. You can browse the Web either in straight-up portrait view or turn it on its side for a landscape view.
FREEDOM TO TYPE: The E75 has a full Qwerty keyboard you can use both for text messaging and surfing the web. I found browsing the Web on the E75 enjoyable thanks to the Qwerty keyboard which made filling in forms, writing e-mail messages or entering search terms in Google much easier. However, if surfing on the small screen just isn’t your thing, the E75 also serves up as a very capable modem for your notebook PC.
We tried connecting the phone to a Netbook PC and the entire process was relatively simple with the phone automatically installing the necessary drivers and software before establishing an Internet connection. While the phone does come with an onboard GPS and the Nokia Maps application, the screen is still too small to be seen while driving. Still, the E75 can be used to help you navigate your way around while you are walking.
The E75 does all the basic multimedia stuff you would expect it to do like play music, videos and takes pictures. Music playback was clear and crisp although it isn’t very loud. The phone’s 3.2-megapixel camera a very average camera at best. It performs decently when there’s plenty of light but shows considerable noise and grain whenever you try capturing things in the dark.
You need not worry about running out of room to store your files as the phone comes bundled with a 4GB MicroSD card and has 50MB of internal storage to boot.
Conclusion
All in all, the Nokia E75 is an impressive business phone that’s both good looking and practical to use. I was impressed with several of the phone’s features including the option to choose between using the regular keypad and Qwerty keyboard.
Not limited to typing messages, the keyboard also comes in handy while surfing the Web. However, the E75 isn’t a strong multimedia phone, the small speakers aren’t particularly loud and the camera is only good for outdoor shots. Still, given its positioning as business phone, the E75 is a serious contender that you can count on.
Pros: Has a keypad and Qwerty keyboard; smooth web browsing; long battery life.
Cons: Small speakers, Qwerty keyboard keys might be too small for some.
E75
(Nokia)
Business phone
Camera: 3.2megapixels
Display: 2.4in QVGA LCD (320 x 240pixels)
Messaging: SMS, MMS, e-mail
Connectivity: GSM 900/1800/1900, GPRS, EDGE, Bluetooth, USB 2.0, WiFi 802.11b/g
Internal memory: 50MB
Expansion slot: microSD (up to 16GB)
Standby/ talk time: 280 hours/ 5 hours 20 minutes
Operating system: Symbian OS 9.3
Other features: Music player, organiser, stopwatch, calendar, voice recorder, Adobe PDF reader, Quickoffice, two customisable home screens, integrated A-GPS
Weight: 139g
Dimensions (w x d x h): 111.8 x 50 x 14.4mm
Price: RM1,850
Review unit courtesy of Nokia Malaysia, 1-300-88-1600.
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