NOKIA E75 REVIEW:

NOKIA E75 REVIEW:
"A KNIGHT IN THE E-SERIES KINGDOM"

BOX CONTENTS:





- Nokia E75
- Battery
- Mini Charger
- 4 GB Micro SD
- USB Cable
- Suede Case
- Wired Stereo Headset
- Manuals









DEVICE 720:





- TOP: 3.5 mm stereo jack.
- LEFT: USB Port, Micro SD slot.
- RIGHT: Volume Toggle, Camera Key.
- BOTTOM: Charging socket.
- BACK: Camera, Flash, Mirror, Speaker, Battery Door.

INTRODUCTION:

- First and foremost I would like to thank the staff over at WOMWORLD for their generosity in allowing me to trial a Nokia E75. I was advised to be as honest as possible in detailing my experience with the device because, “This insight is pivotal in helping shape future products, initiatives and approaches”.
- My initial interest in the device was sparked by a user over at HowardForums.com who claimed that the E75 was a successor to the E90. Immediately my expectations were raised as I was hoping to review a device which would depose the long reigning king of smart phones. Upon receiving the E75 and putting it through its paces I decided not to do a comparative review as the loaner Nokia is at best a capable knight in relation to the king. Instead we should look at the E75 as an E71 with an alternate form factor.


DESIGN:

- The Nokia E75 brings forth all of the attributes required to make a stunning handset. The front face of the device is outfitted with a steel bezel which has a robust shine due to the slick chrome finish. The back of the device has a matte gray- smoked steel battery door adorned with a laser engraved wave pattern that functions to enhance grip. The battery cover fits securely in its' metal guides thus eliminating any potential for dissonant creaks. All of this steel adds a nice weight to the device (139 grams), giving the impression of a durable and luxurious item. Hiding beneath the screen is a full QWERTY keyboard that glides down with an auto-finish apparatus. The mechanism of the slide is buttery smooth and never falters in operation. One can say with certainty that the slide apparatus would last the life time of the product. Given all that has been said about the quality of the E75, there is a minute flaw that takes away from the exceptional build of the device – the keys. The menu keys and D- pad on the device are atrocious. The menu buttons are angled and thus wobble when pressed. Even more annoying is the squeaking directional pad which I believe is just an aberration on my test model . On a positive note, the directional pad contains a white back light that breathes on and off under normal circumstances and doubles as a notification light (quick blink) when a message is received – very nice touch NOKIA. The alpha numeric keypad is optimal in design and was a joy to use.




- The backlit QWERTY keyboard is made of matte black plastic and is quite compact. The major upside is that the keys are nice and big with a decent amount of travel on press. The silky smooth surface of the keyboard allows your finger to glide from one letter to the next with ease. Unfortunately the keys are completely flat and sometimes indistinguishable. A great amount of concentration is definitely required when typing. Directly in the center, between the TGB/YHN letters, lays a thin metal strip which seems to be a part of the slider apparatus. This strip actually functioned quite nicely as a partition between the said keys and would have been an ingenious vertical separator if it were placed between all the keys – allowing for mistake free typing. Despite the un-staggered form factor of the QWERTY it does not take long to get accustomed to the E75 keyboard (35- 40 minutes). Over all I would have preferred a larger keyboard - lengthwise. Of course this would result in a larger device but the overall ergonomics would have improved and there would have been a larger display to match.
- Just above the directional pad is a beautiful 2.4 inch, 240x320 pixels, 16M-color TFT display. The screen is nice and bright with good legibility in all conditions including bright sunny days. Nokia did a great job with the viewing angle as this makes for comfortable usage in various positions. My only grievance is the screen size which takes away from the web browsing experience. In a perfect world the screen would extend from edge to edge – preferably touch screen, but maybe that is just the influence of the upcoming N97 talking.

S60 FP2/ MENUS:




- Glaring at the screen it isn’t hard to notice that the icons have received an upgrade in design from the E71. This can be attributed to the phone’s UI which is S60 3rd edition, FP2. The high resolution icons in combination with a snappy UI make for an enhanced user experience. There is absolutely no lag in functionality even with a great amount of stress applied to the system. For example, I can run the music player in the background and surf the internet (multiple windows open) with out any slow down or resets. For the most part S60 is intuitive which is nice but certain settings are hidden. One such setting is the accelerometer/ auto rotate setting. In order to turn auto rotation off you would think to just go to control panel > settings > personalization > general > display, but you would not find it there. Instead you must first flip the phone into landscape mode and then fallow the usual procedure – tah dah the setting magically appears.
As a business device the E75 excels with the normal compliment of E - commerce tools such as Quick Office. This utility allows you to view and edit common documents (WORD, EXCEL, POWERPOINT, and PDF files). We also get a very useful converter app which is great when traveling abroad. It allows you to convert between different units of measurement, currencies, power, etc… Of course businessmen also like to enjoy relaxing and the E75 provides a utility that allows you to switch between business and leisure modes. This transition not only changes your wallpaper from a professional theme to a more relaxed theme but also enables a full media player.

MULTIMEDIA:




- Nothing beats laying back and listening to some tunes after a long day’s work. Luckily, the E75 delivers a pleasurable sonic experience. There is no need to carry an extra mp3 player as the one provided is comparably equipped with various equalizer presets and bass boost to satisfy your temporal lobe. Even more pleasing is the inclusion of a 3.5mm headset jack that allows you to use the best pair of headphones money can buy. This miniscule feature is a godsend because no longer do you have to search for a decent converter or kick yourself in the head when forgetting to bring one along on a trip. Nokia was generous enough to include a 4 GB micro SD card (expandable up to 16 GB), eliminating any storage woes one may have when uploading a large library of music. The multimedia player is also decent for video playback but you will have to convert the files to an acceptable frame rate and resolution. Once you figure out these settings, videos play smoothly without any choppiness. The screen size takes away from the video experience; so long movies will probably take a toll on your eyes.
- The s60 web browser is a joy to use no matter the device. I love the effects when flipping between previous and next pages, the mini map view, and the inclusion of flash for YOUTUBE. Once again the display size is a limiting factor but for checking Gmail, Hotmail, short YOUTUBE clips, and news updates – the E75’s web browser is great. I also love how easy it is to connect to hotspots via WIFI and the overall capability of the antenna to pull in a strong signal.




- Much like the E71, the Camera seems to be an afterthought. There isn’t much to say besides the fact that the inclusion of a flash was a great idea. One can only guess why such a crappy camera was included – however a bad camera is better than no camera. You can judge for yourself, here is a picture taken at night of a store window display.




POWER/ USAGE:

- Another area in which the Nokia E75 excels is the usage time. Originally I was upset that Nokia decided to include a lower capacity battery than the E71, but the 1000 maph worth of power provided does a good job and lasted me two full days with moderate usage. My definition of moderate usage is 15-20 texts, 20 minutes of phone calls, 2 hours of music, and 30 minutes of web browsing on WIFI. Having said that, I would prefer that all NOKIA devices start shipping with a 1500 maph battery for a full 5 days of moderate usage. Analogously the phone is a powerhouse in the Rf department. I was receiving a maximum signal deep inside a hospital where most other phones experience a "dead zone". The call quality was natural sounding and the volume through the ear speaker was loud and sufficient in noisy environments.

CONCLUSION:

- Outfitted in a strong metal shielding one cant help but award this the device the honorable position of a knight in the E-series kingdom of mobiles. The Nokia E75 is a versatile phone with a plethora of features but is currently selling for $450.00 USD. This price point is absurd and will weigh heavily on the consumer, especially when the E71 has a comparable set of features (sans 3.5 mm jack and S60 3rd edition, FP2) and longer battery life with a cost of only $299.00 USD. Ultimately the Nokia E75 is the perfect phone at a lower price point and a worthy alternative to the E71.

NOTE: At the time of this posting, Nokia released a $50.00 mail in rebate - further reducing the MSRP of this device to $399.00 USD. This is a good start.

PROS:

- SLEEK METAL BUILD
- NICE WEIGHT - BALANCED
- FULL QWERTY
- 3.5 MM HEADSET JACK
- ENHANCED UI MENU ICONS
- SOLID SLIDE MECHANISM
- GOOD BATTERY
- SWISS ARMY KNIFE LIKE FEATURES

CONS:

- SQUEAKY DIRECTIONAL PAD
- DISPLAY SIZE
- PRICE