The consumer-focussed sister phone to the successful Nokia E75 has now appeared and we tracked one down to explore what's different, what's good and what's bad. Is the 5730 really a case of 'fashion over functionality'? Or is it one of the most feature packed, and yet relatively cheap smartphones in the world?
Comparisons with the E75
The very first thing you should know about the Nokia 5730 XpressMusic is that 98% of it is identical to the Nokia E75, the side sliding business smartphone that debuted in Spring 2009 and which has been reviewed extensively here on All About Symbian (reviews part one, two and three + long term review) - it's tempting to simply think of the 5730 as the 'consumer' version of the E75 and, indeed, it's fairly easy to summarise the differences between the two: see the table below listing the 'advantages' of each, relative to the other. However, there's more to it than this, as we shall see.
All of which does seem like quite a list, and indeed there's a lot to discuss below, but don't let the table above kid you into thinking that these aren't, at heart, the same phone. If you look at the positioning of all the ports and side keys, if you look at the qwerty keyboard layout and spacing, if you compare audio and multimedia results, if you look at the recesses for ribbons and mechanism on the underside of the main keyboard, you'll quickly deduce that the E75 and 5730 are twins, separated at birth and led down slightly different life paths.
It's slightly odd that the 5730 XpressMusic has appeared so much later than the E75, and galling considering that there's nothing cutting edge in its firmware that might provide a clue for this timing - after all the 5730 still has Nokia Maps v2 and the 'old' version of S60 Web. There's not even an Ovi Store link. Clearly, the 5730 was designed and specified concurrently with the E75, but the timescales for either production or marketing slipped and then the summer break got in the way. Well, that's my theory anyway. (One compensation for the wait is that a digital compass got added to the GPS chip in the meantime, of which more later.)
But almost all potential buyers won't have seen an E75 in the flesh, so for the bulk of this review I'm going to treat the 5730 standalone, as a smartphone in its own right. For the guy or gal picking this up on a modest monthly contract in the High Street, what are they going to love and what are they going to hate (if anything)? I will put in some E75 comparison quips where needed, but I'll try not to let these dominate!
The Nokia 5730 XpressMusic
Essentially, the 5730 is a candy bar S60 smartphone with a hidden side-sliding qwerty keyboard. Such side-sliders aren't totally new to the High Street, with devices like the budget LG KS360 leading the way, bringing full qwerty to the masses. But the 5730's keyboard is in a different league. It's got four rows of characters, meaning that most symbols don't need shifting, and the key spacing is large for a phone. In fact, it's just about the perfect mobile keyboard for typing while standing up, using both thumbs, and it's lot faster than that in a typical Blackberry.
And it's the keyboard (and the main keypad) where the styling of the 5730 starts to hit home, both in a good and a bad way. The key legends are all printed in a 1980's-esque dot matrix font, adding a unique character to the phone. In bright light, readability's not too bad, but in murky conditions (say, a badly lit office) it can be hard to see which key is which. Compared to the striking clear white key legends on the E75, it's tempting to dismiss the 5730 XpressMusic out of hand, but doing that misses half the point of the phone.
This is aimed at the 15 to 25s market, targetting those with enough money to afford the 5730 and to also be able to afford the time and money (pre-raising a family) to have a night life. And it's at night that the 5730 XpressMusic shines. Almost literally. The dot matrix font, when backlit in a dark pub or club, looks extremely cool and is about the right visibility for bashing out texts, instant messages or social network status updates. In addition, the media control keys glow attractively and the translucent red strip around the 5730's frame catches spot lights and also glows, rather warmly. So, while it's tempting to lambast the design team for producing something with style over function, you can at least see how it might work in a typical user's (night) life.
Staying with the Nokia 5730 XpressMusic's keys, there are several aspects of note (other than the already mentioned opinion-polarising font):
* The number pad has discrete keys, which is good (the E75 has plastic strips, each with three 'keys'). And they're all domed for easy finger location. But, as with the E75, cramming the keys into such a small area does make for cramped input. Luckily, the presence of the qwerty keyboard means that such a restriction is easily forgiven.
* The d-pad has the lightest 'feel' of any that I've ever used. Which either makes it a delight (I'm in this camp) or a right royal pain (Rita el-Khoury's in this camp), with some finding that a direction gets pressed when you simply mash down on the centre. It all depends on the size of your fingers and whether you're using the pad of your thumb or the thumbnail - yet another personal choice for this polarising phone!
# The function keys (left and right) are at a level of at least 1mm below the surface of the screen, meaning that each appears somewhat sunken. As a result, you again have to approach them with the thumbnail rather than the pad of the thumb if you don't want the surrounding keys to get activated.
# The music control keys are large enough to hit accurately when you're looking at the phone, but they take some getting used to for controlling music playback 'unseen', e.g. when the phone's in your pocket. A degree of physical demarcation would have helped here - maybe a slight doming of each key, or perhaps a raised dot in the centre of each?
The gaming keys, on a plastic rocker above the screen, are quite firm to press - for sensitive gaming, they're a little too 'hard' in their feel. The keys (circle=A, square=B) only light up and respond when you're in an official N-Gage game, but it's quite cool when they do - with the 5730 held in landscape mode, with the d-pad on the left, the gaming keys are perfectly placed for traditional gaming, e.g. Fire/Jump/Strike.
The main qwerty keys are ever so slightly textured, giving good grip when needed.
The main display is the same as that on the E75 - limited to 2.4" diagonal by the form factor and the need to fit in a numeric keypad on the front of the phone. Visibility is good though, with the transflective backing making it easy to read even in direct sunlight. The resolution's the 2007/2008 standard QVGA and, while this looks a little small compared to some of the smartphones being released, it's fine for a 2.4" screen and it'll be fine for the target market here.
On the 5730's left are flush-covered ports for microUSB (for connection to a desktop, for filling with music, principally) and microSD, an improvement on the weird covers on the E75, which stick out awkwardly. Also good to see is the inclusion of a 8GB card to get new users started. Indeed, for many casual users, 8GB may be enough for all their needs. On the downside, extracting the microSD is quite tricky, harder than on the E75 because of the extra 1mm width of the plastic casing - the card is just that little bit further inside the hatch and is hard to grab hold of.
On the 5730's top is a 4-way (i.e. smartphone) 3.5mm audio jack. Supplied in the box are a great set of stereo, in-ear (complete with spare rubber seals) headphones with hands-free microphone pod a third of the way down the main cable. Perfect. Sound quality is very good through these headphones (though E75 owners should note that this device sounds identical through the same headset, more evidence that the internal electronics are the same.)
On the device's right are a volume up/down rocker (which also works in Photos, to zoom in and out) and a functional two-stage camera shutter button.
As with the E75, there's the (fairly unique) option to charge in two completely different ways. Either via the supplied 2mm mains charger, or via microUSB, from either a data cable or (indeed) a microUSB mains charger. You can even plug in both at the same time, though the 5730 doesn't actually charge twice as fast! It's good to have this dual charger compatibility and a very flexible arrangement.
Bringing up the rear - oh dear
Turning the 5730 XpressMusic over brings several more points of note, most of them bad. Most obvious is the one piece plastic back of the phone, which hooks into the right side of the device and then clicks into place in 'landscape' fashion - don't worry if that sounds tricky, as Nokia helpfully attach a sticker to every new phone, with a diagram! On the plus side, the matt plastic is immune to greasy fingerprints and it's also very light. On the minus side, presumably in order to keep enough tension in it to keep the cover in place, Nokia has bowed it slightly, meaning that the 5730 is at least 1mm thicker than it needs to be - in fact, there's enough space inside the bowed cover that the battery physically rattles if you shake the phone. I've stuck a folded Post-It note in there to pad out the battery a bit.
Also reeking of 'designed this on a Friday afternoon' is the way the 5730's loudspeaker is muffled by the cover. The device's speaker has a pretty good raw frequency response, as can be heard in the E75, which positions a nice little metal grille over the right spot, with plenty of tinkly cymbals in music and crisp voice overtones in podcasts. The 5730 XpressMusic's solid plastic back cover has no such openings, other than a little sound leakage through the extreme top right corner, completely ruining the frequency output from the speaker. There's a simple fix, of course, more DIY(!), and (risking Rafe's wrath) I'm going to be taking my drill and making my own 'grille' of holes - watch this space for photo proof 8-)
Last, but by no means least, on the Nokia 5730 XpressMusic's rear is the camera, identical in specification to that of the E75 and more than its equal in terms of quality. Which is saying something, since the E75 has just about the best 3 megapixel camera I've ever seen in a phone. The 5730 adds a Carl Zeiss-branded lens, bringing slightly sharper detail and slightly better colours. The difference is marginal, to be honest, but it can be seen. There'll be more on the 5730 XpressMusic's camera in part 2 of my review, but in the meantime, have a look at these blow-ups of the same sunny scene: the E75's photo is on the left, the 5730's on the right. Note how the red play equipment is redder, the green leaves are greener and the blue sky is bluer. The railings are also slightly sharper, if you look closely enough.
Although not quite capable of semi-pro photos and dubious for printed blowups of more than 7" x 5", 3 megapixels, combined with this lens and sensor, is certainly enough for good casual photography. As you might expect, the unit struggles in low light, but even here it performs a lot better than, for example, the camera in the Nokia 5800 (and sister devices) and miles better than the mountain of 3mp camera phones from many other manufacturers.
Wireless matters
The number of aerials in each phone that comes out these days just goes up and up. In the 5730 XpressMusic we have GPS (complete with an integrated magnetometer - i.e. a digital compass), an FM radio, Wi-Fi (b and g variants), quad-band GSM and tri-band 3G. Some people have reported network reception problems in the E75, but I've seen none in either that device nor this one - signal strength has been excellent.
I also had no problems with GPS lock, when taking Nokia Maps 2 out for a spin. Yes, version 2, a little disappointing, although plugging the 5730 into Nokia Maps Updater on a PC upgraded things to Ovi Maps 3.1 and brought me bang up to date for free. I'm guessing that an official Ovi Maps 3 update will slip into an upcoming firmware.
Sadly there's no FM Transmitter, something which I'd been starting to take for granted in recent S60 smartphone launches. Still, at the current £250 and at the predicted £200 price point, it's fair to say that something had to be left out. Having GPS and Wi-Fi and Carl Zeiss optics in the camera are already most welcome!
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Nokia 5730 express music - Review
Monday, August 24, 2009
Nokia 3G Netbook with a-GPS and 12 Hour Batt Life Time
Strictly speaking GSMArena.com is not the place to source information about netbooks or laptops in general. But when the world's leading mobile phone manufacturer decided to debut their own netbook product we just couldn't stay "hush".
The new Nokia 3G Booklet is Nokia's take at the oh-so-popular netbook segment. Since we're all part-time computer geeks (besides being cellphone know-it-all's) we can't really stay indifferent as Nokia unveil their first portable computer.
But without further ado, have a look at those shots and if you're impressed enough we'll just give you the key technical features.
The Nokia 3G Booklet is based on the well known Intel Atom platform, but it's also the first netbook of its kind to feature an HDMI HD video output. Not that we would bet on the little Atom fella playing serious HD stuff, but still having that output is a nice another step into turning them netbooks into media canter PCs.
With battery life of up to 12h it's surely one serious contender as your workday sidearm. As the name suggest, the Nokia 3G Booklet has an integrated 3G/HSDPA modem - Wi-Fi goes without saying. Another interesting feature is the built-in GPS receiver, which will successfully team up with the Nokia Maps application.
The Nokia 3G Booklet has got a 10-inch screen and measures only 20mm in thickness. It weighs 1.25kg and there's a front-facing video camera and Bluetooth.
The new Nokia 3G Booklet is Nokia's take at the oh-so-popular netbook segment. Since we're all part-time computer geeks (besides being cellphone know-it-all's) we can't really stay indifferent as Nokia unveil their first portable computer.
But without further ado, have a look at those shots and if you're impressed enough we'll just give you the key technical features.
The Nokia 3G Booklet is based on the well known Intel Atom platform, but it's also the first netbook of its kind to feature an HDMI HD video output. Not that we would bet on the little Atom fella playing serious HD stuff, but still having that output is a nice another step into turning them netbooks into media canter PCs.
With battery life of up to 12h it's surely one serious contender as your workday sidearm. As the name suggest, the Nokia 3G Booklet has an integrated 3G/HSDPA modem - Wi-Fi goes without saying. Another interesting feature is the built-in GPS receiver, which will successfully team up with the Nokia Maps application.
The Nokia 3G Booklet has got a 10-inch screen and measures only 20mm in thickness. It weighs 1.25kg and there's a front-facing video camera and Bluetooth.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Mugen Power 2000mAh battery for Nokia E75
One of the downsides of the Nokia E75 design is that the presence of the qwerty keyboard has meant that there's less 'thickness' available for its battery. As a result, Nokia have had to use the 1000mAh BL-4U, with a third less capacity than the 1500mAh BP-4L that normally powers most Eseries phones. Now, it's true that optimisations in S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2 mean that the E75 doesn't pull down as much power as, say, an E71 or E90, and that 1000mAh is easily enough to see you through a day of moderately heavy use (especially as you won't be watching much video on the smallish 2.4" screen), but you will have to charge it each night if you don't want to run out halfway through the next day.
If you spend a lot of time on the road or like to go hiking (or similar), away from charging power, then a new option to you is to fit the after-market Mugen 2000mAh battery, purpose built for the E75. As the capacity suggests, this should keep you going for twice as long, and over a week's testing I can verify that this is about right. I went from Wednesday to Saturday on a single charge, with my usual smartphone usage (texting/PIM/music/podcasts/camera/GPS), though I was careful not to waste power outright and didn't keep a data connection active the whole time, for example. I also use 'Offline' mode overnight.
So, with frugal use, I can see this battery giving the E75 a week of operation, which is quite impressive.
The downside, as you can see from the photos, is that the 2000mAh battery is larger. Over twice as thick as the original Nokia battery, which is curious:
Still, Mugen also supply a replacement metal back cover, which hooks into the standard cover latching points. A thicker phone means that you may need a new E75 case - or car cradle. And it means a heavier phone, which may be an issue for you (and the line of your jacket).
The other downside is the cosmetic angle. The replacement cover produces a huge 'bulge', plus the primitive finish isn't as eye-catching as the original textured cover. Now, it's important to emphasise that this is mainly a fashion thing: in the hand, the bulge actually helps use, since the fingers of your hand nestle around it - it makes gripping the E75 easier. But put the phone down or wave it around and the device will look a little 'odd'.
Straight out of the packet, the Mugen battery was fully charged, which is a nice touch. I did have an issue inserting it into the E75 at first, because the battery contacts were so 'new' and stiff. I loosened them slightly with a small screwdriver and then the battery slotted in fine. One other small hardware note was that the replacement back cover didn't fit perfectly - the latches were slightly oversized, meaning that the cover wasn't retained quite as tightly as it should have been. Not a huge problem, but, well, it's very obvious that the E75 has been accessorised!
Only you'll know whether the Mugen 2000mAh battery is right for you - it's a specialist item to be sure, but it does function as advertised and, on a camping trip (for example) might be an investment that saves the day.
If you spend a lot of time on the road or like to go hiking (or similar), away from charging power, then a new option to you is to fit the after-market Mugen 2000mAh battery, purpose built for the E75. As the capacity suggests, this should keep you going for twice as long, and over a week's testing I can verify that this is about right. I went from Wednesday to Saturday on a single charge, with my usual smartphone usage (texting/PIM/music/podcasts/camera/GPS), though I was careful not to waste power outright and didn't keep a data connection active the whole time, for example. I also use 'Offline' mode overnight.
So, with frugal use, I can see this battery giving the E75 a week of operation, which is quite impressive.
The downside, as you can see from the photos, is that the 2000mAh battery is larger. Over twice as thick as the original Nokia battery, which is curious:
Still, Mugen also supply a replacement metal back cover, which hooks into the standard cover latching points. A thicker phone means that you may need a new E75 case - or car cradle. And it means a heavier phone, which may be an issue for you (and the line of your jacket).
The other downside is the cosmetic angle. The replacement cover produces a huge 'bulge', plus the primitive finish isn't as eye-catching as the original textured cover. Now, it's important to emphasise that this is mainly a fashion thing: in the hand, the bulge actually helps use, since the fingers of your hand nestle around it - it makes gripping the E75 easier. But put the phone down or wave it around and the device will look a little 'odd'.
Straight out of the packet, the Mugen battery was fully charged, which is a nice touch. I did have an issue inserting it into the E75 at first, because the battery contacts were so 'new' and stiff. I loosened them slightly with a small screwdriver and then the battery slotted in fine. One other small hardware note was that the replacement back cover didn't fit perfectly - the latches were slightly oversized, meaning that the cover wasn't retained quite as tightly as it should have been. Not a huge problem, but, well, it's very obvious that the E75 has been accessorised!
Only you'll know whether the Mugen 2000mAh battery is right for you - it's a specialist item to be sure, but it does function as advertised and, on a camping trip (for example) might be an investment that saves the day.
Nokia N97 firmware updated to v12.0.024
A minor firmware update, version 12.0.024, has been released for the Nokia N97. The updates fixes a number of bugs and improves performance and stability. The firmware is being made available through both Nokia Software Updater (part of PC Suite) and OTA on the device. The firmware is currently available for SIM-free models; as usual the availability of the firmware will vary by market and device variant.
A bigger firmware update, which will add significant additional function to the device, is expected to be made available in September or October. For example, this may include the Skype software that was announced at Mobile World Congress this year. We may hear more details at the upcoming Nokia World conference at the begining of September.
Details
The N97 device manager software is most easily accessed by entering *#0000# into the phone's dialer. Choose Options > Check for updates and follow the on screen prompts.
As with any firmware update we would recommend backing up the device before applying the update. While user data is preserved during N97' firmware updates, it is better to be safe than sorry.
A bigger firmware update, which will add significant additional function to the device, is expected to be made available in September or October. For example, this may include the Skype software that was announced at Mobile World Congress this year. We may hear more details at the upcoming Nokia World conference at the begining of September.
Details
The N97 device manager software is most easily accessed by entering *#0000# into the phone's dialer. Choose Options > Check for updates and follow the on screen prompts.
As with any firmware update we would recommend backing up the device before applying the update. While user data is preserved during N97' firmware updates, it is better to be safe than sorry.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Facebook App on Symbian !
Symartic, developers of ExtGPS, have announced that they will soon be releasing Symabook, a Facebook client application, for S60 3rd Edition and S60 5th Edition. The application allows you to update your Facebook status and view your news feed, friend list and photos. Symabook has a custom UI which is designed to allow you to view photos more easily and make the best possible use of screen space.
Nokia E55 - Review
The E55 is the latest addition to the business-focussed Nokia Eseries line up, with a twin sister in the form of the Nokia E52. The only significant difference between them is the keyboard - the E52 has a standard 12 key numeric keypad, but the E55 offers a 'half-QWERTY' keyboard.
The E55 and E52 are now starting to become available in select markets - the E52 is now available in the UK at a price of £230 and the E55 will become available later this month at a cost of around £250. As usual, availability and pricing will vary from market to market. In general though, the E5x devices are competitive entries into the mid tier business market.
Both the E55 and E52 run on Nokia's latest Symbian hardware platform. This includes a combined GPS and compass (magnetometer) sensor, and updated cellular radios (quad band GSM and triband WCDMA). There's 128MB of RAM on board, with about 56MB free after boot up, which should be sufficient even for demanding users. The single CPU is clocked at a rate of 600MHz, but as we've mentioned before, looking at pure processor speed is something of a distraction. Nonetheless, in common with other recent Symbian devices, there are no speed concerns. Performance moving around the UI, opening applications and in general operation is very impressive.
Similarly, the software platform is a cutting edge release. The new 7.1 version of the S60 browser is present (previously seen on the N86), as are the usual Eseries tweaks (smart dialling, a business software bundle and updated Contact and Calendar applications) and the phone ships with the latest version of Nokia's Ovi services including Maps 3.0, N-Gage, and the latest version of Nokia's email software. There's some firsts for Eseries too, including Home media, Nokia's UPnP client/server software.
A first glance at the E55 draws the eye immediately to the keypad. This is the first Nokia device with a 'half-QWERTY' keyboard, which has 20 individual keys, with most letters sharing a key with another letter. This type of keyboard is not new, the 'SureType' keyboards of the Blackberry are the most obvious existing examples, but it is something of a departure for Nokia.
The advantage, over a full sized QWERTY keyboard, is of course that you can fit the keyboard into a smaller space. It is also much easier to use one handed; it is equally comfortable to use in thumb-keyboard or one-handed mode. In a design sense, it is a halfway house between a 12 key numeric keypad and a full QWERTY keyboard, but the overall performance, especially the speed of entry, is much closer to a full QWERTY keyboard than it is to a numeric keypad.
The keyboard can be used in either multi-tap mode or in predictive mode. In predictive mode you hit each key once and the prediction software works out which was the most likely intended letter. It works best if you type a full word as the software uses context (just like T9) to increase the accuracy of the 'guess'. I found that the vast majority of the time the prediction software was accurate, and, even when it's not, a correction is a single D-pad press away.
The keyboard itself has been very well designed. The individual keys are angled downwards from the bottom to the top (as on the E75's cover keypad). This means that the bottom of a key is always slightly higher then the top of the key below it. This helps prevent mis-hits and improves the overall accuracy.
Some will pick up the new style keypad quicker than others and there's obviously going to be a learning curve. Ultimately, whether you're comfortable with a half-QWERTY keyboard is a personal decision.
As a QWERTY device, messaging is a clearly a key focus of the E55. Nokia have, rightly, been criticised in the past for a poor email software experience on their Eseries devices. The main fault lay in the Messaging application UI, but there was also some missing functionality. However, in recent software releases, as first seen on the E75, Nokia have made very significant improvements. There's a whole new email client UI, an improved Microsoft Exchange client (includes sub-folder and HTML email support), and, through Nokia Messaging, the ability to get a virtual push-email service for any existing POP3 or IMAP account. The purchase prices of the E55 and E52 include a lifetime (of the device) subscription to Nokia Messaging.
Mail for Exchange and Nokia Messaging, together with the excellent email set up wizard, combine together to create a very powerful email solution for the E55. Just as the launch of the E71 saw Nokia improve the Contacts and Calendar software, so the launch of the next generation of Eseries devices - the E52, E55, E72 and E75 - sees a massive improvement in email capabilities.
The E55 is a svelte phone; the specifications will tell you that it is 54cc in volume and has dimensions of 116 x 49 x 9.9mm. This compares to the the E51's volume of 61cc and dimensions of 115 x 47 x 12mm (and bear in mind the E55 has a 0.2 inch bigger screen) and the E75's volume of 69cc and dimensions of 112 x 50 x 14.4mm. However, without seeing it in person, it's hard to really appreciate the size.
What's even more impressive is that Nokia have managed to fit in a 1500mAh battery into the E55. Once you take t he battery out, it is hard to see where Nokia have put all the hardware that's packed into this phone - it almost seems to defy the laws of physics. Clearly the secret is in the compromises - single speaker, EDOF-based camera, combined radio chipsets and so on, but nonetheless it is a truly impressive achievement.
Concluding thoughts
As I mentioned in our N86 review, the current hype around touch tends to obscure some great non-touch devices. The E55 (and its sister the E52) are good examples of this. A combination of skillful industrial design, comprehensive functionality and a price point that is half that of typical high end devices combine to offer a package that is excellent value for money. In the full review, we'll look at the device's capabilities in more detail, but in general the only real sacrifice, compared to high end devices, is around the camera and video capabilities, and even these are still reasonable.
Those looking at upgrading from an E51 or similar device will find much to like in the E55. The extra screen size (now 2.4"), smaller volume, thinner design, improved performance, upgraded software and additional multimedia functionality, offer plenty of reasons to upgrade. The choice between traditional keypad (E52) and half QWERTY (E55) is a welcome bonus.
The maturity and functionality of the software is worth highlighting. Symbian and S60 has come in for a lot of criticism recently, primarily as a result of S60 5th Edition. But such criticism tends to ignore S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2, which together with Nokia's service software, offers a best in class experience on non-touch phones. Non-touch phones may not have the same buzz around them as touch phones, but they do remain the dominant interaction mode for mobile phones.
While the Eseries do have a business focus, the lines between enterprise handsets and consumers handset are not as they once were. The addition of consumer orientated features across the Eseries range, most notably in the area of multimedia support, has helped to blur the lines. With a 'good enough' camera, basic video support, a 3.5mm AV jack and a comprehensive range of multimedia software, the E55 has much greater consumer appeal than the earlier Eseries devices. There has also been an increasing realisation that personal and business lives intermingle. Indicative of this is the 'switch mode' feature that was introduced in the E71 and is present in the E55.
The multiple colours and half-QWERTY keyboard of the E55 bring to mind the Blackberry Pearl, which was among the first enterprise phones to enjoy crossover success. In the last few years, QWERTY-equipped phones have become more popular amongst consumers, who appreciate their messaging abilities, not for corporate email, but for text messaging, instant messaging, social networking updates and the odd personal email. While the E55's software bundle remains business-dominated (Quickoffice editing version, Intranet, Advanced Connection Manager, Traveller, WiPresenter), it is notable that Nokia has also included both its own Ovi Contacts IM solution and a version of Microsoft's Messenger with the E55. Indeed, with the inclusion of software and services like N-Gage, Home media, Photos, Video center and Music store, it's almost as if the current Eseries approach to differentiation is to give its user everything that the consumers get, and then add in a couple of specifics. The effect of this is to re-inforce the impression of value for money, which we highlighted above.
In positioning terms, the Nokia E55 may find itself squeezed between its Eseries companions. For those looking for the entry level Eseries device, the E52, with its standard keypad, may be a better choice. Those looking for a cheap QWERTY might be tempted by the E63 or the E71 (especially after its price falls after the introduction of the E72). On the other hand, given that it has the latest software and hardware, the savvy consumer would do well to look carefully at the E55 (I suspect there may be many a techie eyeing up the E55 as a 'secondary' phone). Ultimately though, the E55 is about giving Nokia's Eseries customers more choice - it gives people a halfway house between the traditional phone-centric Eseries (E51, E52) and the higher end QWERTY-equipped devices (E63, E71, E75).
The E55 and E52 are now starting to become available in select markets - the E52 is now available in the UK at a price of £230 and the E55 will become available later this month at a cost of around £250. As usual, availability and pricing will vary from market to market. In general though, the E5x devices are competitive entries into the mid tier business market.
Both the E55 and E52 run on Nokia's latest Symbian hardware platform. This includes a combined GPS and compass (magnetometer) sensor, and updated cellular radios (quad band GSM and triband WCDMA). There's 128MB of RAM on board, with about 56MB free after boot up, which should be sufficient even for demanding users. The single CPU is clocked at a rate of 600MHz, but as we've mentioned before, looking at pure processor speed is something of a distraction. Nonetheless, in common with other recent Symbian devices, there are no speed concerns. Performance moving around the UI, opening applications and in general operation is very impressive.
Similarly, the software platform is a cutting edge release. The new 7.1 version of the S60 browser is present (previously seen on the N86), as are the usual Eseries tweaks (smart dialling, a business software bundle and updated Contact and Calendar applications) and the phone ships with the latest version of Nokia's Ovi services including Maps 3.0, N-Gage, and the latest version of Nokia's email software. There's some firsts for Eseries too, including Home media, Nokia's UPnP client/server software.
A first glance at the E55 draws the eye immediately to the keypad. This is the first Nokia device with a 'half-QWERTY' keyboard, which has 20 individual keys, with most letters sharing a key with another letter. This type of keyboard is not new, the 'SureType' keyboards of the Blackberry are the most obvious existing examples, but it is something of a departure for Nokia.
The advantage, over a full sized QWERTY keyboard, is of course that you can fit the keyboard into a smaller space. It is also much easier to use one handed; it is equally comfortable to use in thumb-keyboard or one-handed mode. In a design sense, it is a halfway house between a 12 key numeric keypad and a full QWERTY keyboard, but the overall performance, especially the speed of entry, is much closer to a full QWERTY keyboard than it is to a numeric keypad.
The keyboard can be used in either multi-tap mode or in predictive mode. In predictive mode you hit each key once and the prediction software works out which was the most likely intended letter. It works best if you type a full word as the software uses context (just like T9) to increase the accuracy of the 'guess'. I found that the vast majority of the time the prediction software was accurate, and, even when it's not, a correction is a single D-pad press away.
The keyboard itself has been very well designed. The individual keys are angled downwards from the bottom to the top (as on the E75's cover keypad). This means that the bottom of a key is always slightly higher then the top of the key below it. This helps prevent mis-hits and improves the overall accuracy.
Some will pick up the new style keypad quicker than others and there's obviously going to be a learning curve. Ultimately, whether you're comfortable with a half-QWERTY keyboard is a personal decision.
As a QWERTY device, messaging is a clearly a key focus of the E55. Nokia have, rightly, been criticised in the past for a poor email software experience on their Eseries devices. The main fault lay in the Messaging application UI, but there was also some missing functionality. However, in recent software releases, as first seen on the E75, Nokia have made very significant improvements. There's a whole new email client UI, an improved Microsoft Exchange client (includes sub-folder and HTML email support), and, through Nokia Messaging, the ability to get a virtual push-email service for any existing POP3 or IMAP account. The purchase prices of the E55 and E52 include a lifetime (of the device) subscription to Nokia Messaging.
Mail for Exchange and Nokia Messaging, together with the excellent email set up wizard, combine together to create a very powerful email solution for the E55. Just as the launch of the E71 saw Nokia improve the Contacts and Calendar software, so the launch of the next generation of Eseries devices - the E52, E55, E72 and E75 - sees a massive improvement in email capabilities.
The E55 is a svelte phone; the specifications will tell you that it is 54cc in volume and has dimensions of 116 x 49 x 9.9mm. This compares to the the E51's volume of 61cc and dimensions of 115 x 47 x 12mm (and bear in mind the E55 has a 0.2 inch bigger screen) and the E75's volume of 69cc and dimensions of 112 x 50 x 14.4mm. However, without seeing it in person, it's hard to really appreciate the size.
What's even more impressive is that Nokia have managed to fit in a 1500mAh battery into the E55. Once you take t he battery out, it is hard to see where Nokia have put all the hardware that's packed into this phone - it almost seems to defy the laws of physics. Clearly the secret is in the compromises - single speaker, EDOF-based camera, combined radio chipsets and so on, but nonetheless it is a truly impressive achievement.
Concluding thoughts
As I mentioned in our N86 review, the current hype around touch tends to obscure some great non-touch devices. The E55 (and its sister the E52) are good examples of this. A combination of skillful industrial design, comprehensive functionality and a price point that is half that of typical high end devices combine to offer a package that is excellent value for money. In the full review, we'll look at the device's capabilities in more detail, but in general the only real sacrifice, compared to high end devices, is around the camera and video capabilities, and even these are still reasonable.
Those looking at upgrading from an E51 or similar device will find much to like in the E55. The extra screen size (now 2.4"), smaller volume, thinner design, improved performance, upgraded software and additional multimedia functionality, offer plenty of reasons to upgrade. The choice between traditional keypad (E52) and half QWERTY (E55) is a welcome bonus.
The maturity and functionality of the software is worth highlighting. Symbian and S60 has come in for a lot of criticism recently, primarily as a result of S60 5th Edition. But such criticism tends to ignore S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2, which together with Nokia's service software, offers a best in class experience on non-touch phones. Non-touch phones may not have the same buzz around them as touch phones, but they do remain the dominant interaction mode for mobile phones.
While the Eseries do have a business focus, the lines between enterprise handsets and consumers handset are not as they once were. The addition of consumer orientated features across the Eseries range, most notably in the area of multimedia support, has helped to blur the lines. With a 'good enough' camera, basic video support, a 3.5mm AV jack and a comprehensive range of multimedia software, the E55 has much greater consumer appeal than the earlier Eseries devices. There has also been an increasing realisation that personal and business lives intermingle. Indicative of this is the 'switch mode' feature that was introduced in the E71 and is present in the E55.
The multiple colours and half-QWERTY keyboard of the E55 bring to mind the Blackberry Pearl, which was among the first enterprise phones to enjoy crossover success. In the last few years, QWERTY-equipped phones have become more popular amongst consumers, who appreciate their messaging abilities, not for corporate email, but for text messaging, instant messaging, social networking updates and the odd personal email. While the E55's software bundle remains business-dominated (Quickoffice editing version, Intranet, Advanced Connection Manager, Traveller, WiPresenter), it is notable that Nokia has also included both its own Ovi Contacts IM solution and a version of Microsoft's Messenger with the E55. Indeed, with the inclusion of software and services like N-Gage, Home media, Photos, Video center and Music store, it's almost as if the current Eseries approach to differentiation is to give its user everything that the consumers get, and then add in a couple of specifics. The effect of this is to re-inforce the impression of value for money, which we highlighted above.
In positioning terms, the Nokia E55 may find itself squeezed between its Eseries companions. For those looking for the entry level Eseries device, the E52, with its standard keypad, may be a better choice. Those looking for a cheap QWERTY might be tempted by the E63 or the E71 (especially after its price falls after the introduction of the E72). On the other hand, given that it has the latest software and hardware, the savvy consumer would do well to look carefully at the E55 (I suspect there may be many a techie eyeing up the E55 as a 'secondary' phone). Ultimately though, the E55 is about giving Nokia's Eseries customers more choice - it gives people a halfway house between the traditional phone-centric Eseries (E51, E52) and the higher end QWERTY-equipped devices (E63, E71, E75).
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