Nokia E75 review

The last device with a QWERTY keyboard I used was the original HTC TyTN. It seemed great at the time, but looking back, it was a bit of an unwieldy thing!

When it comes to Nokia’s apparently I’m the most qualified of the misfits that make up the tracyandmatt team! This seems to have been achieved by using a N95 for a while last year, but in truth, I am quite excited by a QWERTY Nokia. Can it live up to expectations?

The Nokia E75

What’s in the box?

• Nokia E75
• Battery (BL-4U)
• Mains Charger (AC-3)
• Software CD
• User Guide
• Stereo Headset (HS-45)
• Data Cable (CA-101)

Have a look at Matt’s Nokia E75 unboxing video for more details.

Device Description (Nokia.com):

The Nokia E75 is a GSM/WCDMA dual-mode business smartphone supporting WCDMA/HSDPA, EGSM, and WLAN. The device features a side slider QWERTY keyboard for optimal email experience. Enjoy videos, music, and graphics on the 2.4” QVGA display and orientation sensor. Find directions and locations with the integrated A-GPS and included maps. Take photos with a 3.2-megapixel autofocus camera. Additional features include USB charging with simultaneous data transfer, Bluetooth 2.0 +EDR, and USB 2.0 High-Speed. Supported WCDMA frequencies depend on the region where the device is available.

Nokia E75 Specification:

• Battery: 1000 mAh
• Display: 320 x 240 pixels
• Network: GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 (Quad-Band), WCDMA: 900/2100 (Dual-Band), HSDPA (3.6Mbps)
• Camera: 3.2 mega-pixels (auto-focus), Digital Zoom, LED Flash
• Video: Hi-Resolution VGA Video Recording, 30fps (QVGA), MP4, 3GP, H.264, Flash, H.263 & Real Player
• Music: MP3, AAC, eAAC+ & WMA, FM Stereo Radio, Nokia Music Store, Nokia Podcast Support, Nokia Music Manager Support, Windows Media Player Sync
• Ringtones: Monophonic, Polyphonic (64), MP3, AAC, Talking Ringtones, Video Ringtones
• Messaging: SMS, MMS (with video) – E-mail (POP3, SMTP, IMAP4, MS Exchange), Instant Messaging (MSN), Text-To-Speech Reader
• Memory: Phone Book (unlimited), Dialled Calls (30), Missed Calls (30), Received Calls (30), microSDHC (external)
• Call Features: Hands Free, Caller ID, Voice Dialling, VoIP Support
• Connectivity: microUSB, Nokia 3.5mm AV connector, Bluetooth (2.0), Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11g), GPRS Class 32
• Navigation: AGPS, Nokia Maps
• Security: Device Lock, Remote Lock, Device and memory card encryption, Mobile VPN support
• Features: Dual Home Screens (Work/Personal), Office Document Viewer (Word, Excel & PowerPoint), PDF Document Viewer, ZIP File Manager, Nokia Web Browser, Dual Keypad Design.

General

First impressions of the device were generally positive. As you’d expect from the E series it has a business look to it, and is quite slim considering what hides within it! For its size, it seems fairly heavy in comparison to other similar kit, but not to the point of annoyance or irritation.

The front of the device is gloss black, with the screen edges hardly visible in some lighting. The glossy finish extends around the front edges of the phone, finished with a classy chrome surround. The chrome effect is also found around the earpiece and the centre button, where it doubles as a direction pad.

Nokia E75 front view

Either side of the earpiece, you’ll find a front-facing camera to the right, and a light sensor to the left.

Around the direction pad, you’ll find the usual Call and End keys – the latter doubling as the power button, and the usual Nokia softkeys. Each of these four buttons has a second use – almost like rocker-switches – these are the home key, a back button, a slightly random calendar button, and a shortcut to the messaging application.

The keypad itself is cramped – and my fat fingers did have trouble speed texting. Of course in most situations you won’t be using the keypad for sending email or other text-based apps – you’ll use the full QWERTY keyboard.

Speaking of which, I was disappointed to find quite a bit of loose slider movement on our demo kit – not from side to side as we’ve seen on older HTC devices, but front-to-back, with the front of the phone pulling away from the back slightly. Having said that, the slider mechanism itself does feel sound, with the spring loaded push each way working very nicely.

The keyboard itself is compact, but very usable. It reminds me of the original HTC Tytn keyboard. All the keys are pushed against its neighbour, and there is a short, easy-going learning curve before you’ll get fully up to speed. The keyboard is backlit, although there are no hardware lamps to signify Caps lock or shift keys.

Nokia E75 keyboard

Beyond the chrome finish, the rest of the phone is finished in an almost gun-metal matt silver, and on the left hand side of the phone, we find the USB connector, and the micro-sd slot – both hidden behind rubber covers.

Nokia E75 left side

On the right hand side, there is a dedicated camera button, up and down switches, either side of a button with a dot on it! On closer inspection, it seems its a shortcut for the voice command software!

Nokia E75 right side

The top of the device is home to the now-almost-standard flat 3.5” headset/earphone socket. It’s a shame Nokia didn’t see fit to add a separate power button here – there seems to be plenty of space for it, at least externally.

Nokia E75 top view and bottom view

Moving to the back of the device then, where the camera cluster sits on the left side. This includes the 3.2mp autofocus lens, a proper flash, and an ever-pointless mirror. Opposite, there’s a small speaker grill for the speakerphone option, or playing music (badly). The battery cover, complete with Nokia E series logo, takes up most of the remaining space on the back panel. The cover itself is quite hard to work out at first (or maybe its just me!) – pushing the level towards the bottom of the phone seemed to do the trick in the end! The large battery slots in to keep the SIM card in place above it. Interesting to note that despite the weight concerns, the cover is proper stainless steel!

Nokia E75 back view

Throughout most of the device housing, its refreshing to find it built mainly of metal, rather than just looking a (little) bit like metal! While the weight won’t suit everyone, its been used wisely in building a device up to the task of surviving a busy office life.

Highlights:

• A Nokia QWERTY Device – a long time coming (unless you count the communicator… and I don’t!)
• Stable, well established operating system, ideal for business use, but starting to blur the edges of personal/enterprise use.
• A stylish look on a phone that appears to be able to withstand a fair bit of abuse!

Lowlights:

• Weight. Not a major issue, but it is a notably heavier device from Nokia. However, the weight has been used to make a well protected and well built device.
• A slightly aging operation system, without many stand out features when compared with the competition.
• Screen size – While the quality of the screen is not in doubt, the small size could be an issue for mobile internet users.

Nokia E75 keypad

Review

The E75 joined the rumour mill way back in September, thanks to some leaked images appearing on the net – but its taken until now to get it on the shelves. We’re not sure why, but its unfortunately thank the E75 has been lumbered with a slightly old skool 240×320 screen. It’s not a bad screen by any means – bright, clear and sharp, but the size itself is a bit of a let down in a market that has since moved on. It’s fine for day to day basic use, as you might expect, but browsing does suffer slightly.

Amazingly Nokia have (finally) seen fit to allow their new released to charge from the USB port. It’s incredible that its taken this long for the masses of user feedback on the issue, to work it’s way through to the decision makers. It’s all adds to the already decent connectivity on the device – WiFi is onboard, as is HSPDA 3G.

The S60 operating system which all high-end E and N series smartphones use has improved over the last few years, and while its still looks and feels a bit basic – especially when put against Android and iPhone – its now a very stable base for any device. The additional slider sensor on the E75 works well, flipping the screen quickly, into the S60 landscape mode.

The keyboard itself feels very well defined, and key-presses are consistent. The keys are not large, and with no gap between them, speedy typing will need practice. However, invest some time in it, and the keyboard covers all SMS and email use with ease. I liked the Nokia implementation of the keyboard in the main, although I wasn’t overly impressed with the decision to stick the shift key on the bottom row, second in. Beyond that though – it’s robust and usable. It’s very net friendly, with one-touch access to the most common symbols such as @. Back in September, I wonder if Nokia envisaged it being used more for email – or twitter!

Clearly its a business phone, so the great email functionality is a major plus – and out of the box you’ll find Nokia’s Push solution, exchange support and something by Lotus we’ve never heard of. All the basics such as pop3 are of course included – but don’t go looking for Blackberry support – you’ll be needing a third-party app.

While full QWERTY keyboard’s are great for business, more often than not it also means a very chunky phone. Not so with the E75 though. Nokia have managed to squeeze the whole package into a slim 50×14.4×111.8mm frame, and it really does look the part – both in the office and at home.

The E75 is perhaps the first phone to hint at a combination of the E and N ranges. All the enterprise gear is still there – but you’ll also find the top-down 3.5” earphone port, the decent Nokia music player, and even Ngage support. FM Radio is also on board, and the 3.2 megapixel camera ensures this is a phone which is at ease out and about, or in the home, as it is in the office.

I particularly liked Nokia’s ‘Dual Home’ screen. The system is really very simple, and just involves the ability to switch the phone from Work to Personal modes – each with a separate home screen and differing shortcuts. Fairly basic, but useful anyway.

Conclusion

Reviewing phones automatically means you take an interest in the market, and I’m always looking at what’s available next month/next quarter/next year. Perhaps that’s why I think the E75 has probably appeared a little too late. Had it been released last September, alongside the N96 and other 320×240 phones, maybe it would have had more of a chance.

That’s not to say its not a decent phone – and I’m convinced its got a decent chance of becoming a ‘goto’ phone for fleet upgrades and new additions in offices. It’s just a bit uninspiring really. A couple of years ago, I’d have loved this, but in today’s market, while it doesn’t do a lot wrong, it doesn’t stand out either. Needless to say, if there is a market for a smaller-screened device, you may as well put this to the top of your list – it does everything a Nokia phone should- and does it well.

It’s good to see Nokia trying new ideas, and even better that is has listened to what its customers have asked for – USB charging for example.

While the E75 is a very competent device, I’m not sure it has what it takes to gain mass appeal outside of the office environment. Still I enjoyed my couple of weeks using it, and friends and colleagues did seem to think it looked the part if nothing else!

Review by: Mark

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