The Nokia E75 is a business phone with a lot to offer. The E75 is described by Nokia as a slide slide phone, meaning that it has a full QWERTY keyboard that slides out to the side. Surprisingly compact when the slide is closed, it's a very usable design, working as a normal phone when you want it to, and as a mini-laptop when required.
When the keyboard is closed, the Nokia E75 seems to be a perfectly normal phone, although certainly heavier than average at 139g. The numeric keypad is small but well laid out with dedicated one-touch keys for home, calendar and email. The display is quite large at 2.4 inches, and is very clear with 16 million colours and QVGA resolution (240 x 320 pixels). Two customisable home screens are available - one for business, one for personal use. When you need to use the full keyboard - for texting or emails - you just slide it out, turn the phone on its side, and you have a very comfortable QWERTY keyboard available for text entry. The display automatically rotates to landscape mode too.
Naturally, the E75 excels at mobile email. Most protocols are supported, including Mail for Exchange, and of course attachments can be viewed on the phone.
The E75 runs the latest version of Symbian (9.3) and the S60 3rd Edition user interface. There are quite a few apps installed - Quickoffice (Quickword, Quickpoint, Quicksheet), PDF Viewer, ZIP Manager, RealPlayer and Nokia Maps to name a few - and plenty more available to download. The contacts database is extensive and supports multiple number and e-mail details per contact and contacts with images. The phone is multi-tasking, so PIM data is available to view during calls. A-GPS is included, with Nokia maps and automatic geo-tagging of photos.
Recognising that users will want to store a lot of personal or business data on this kind of phone, Nokia have helpfully installed a high level of security on the E75. As well as locking the phone, the user can protect data on both the phone's internal memory and any microSD card by encryption. This means that if the phone falls into the wrong hands, it will be impossible to read any of the data on the device without knowing the encryption key. This is the kind of security that we normally see only on laptops. The WLAN connection is fully secure too.
The web browser is quite powerful, with support for CSS, JavaScript and Flash Lite 3.0. Browsing is fast with HSDPA enabling download speeds up to 3.6 Mbps. The screen is an acceptable size for web browsing, although it can't compare with some of the touchscreen smartphones.
The internal phone memory is quite limited at just 50 MB, but the phone does have the capability to accept microSD cards up to a massive 16GB. A 4GB card is included in the sales package.
Outside work, the E75 caters for all modern needs. The camera is surprisingly good, with a 3.2 megapixel resolution, flash and autofocus. The video camera is also high quality, and a secondary front camera enables video calling. The music player supports all common formats, and the phone has an FM radio too. A standard Nokia stereo headset is included in the sales package, and you can plug your own headphones into the 3.5mm AV jack. Bluetooth and USB connectivity are supported, in addition to WLAN.
The E75 is the kind of phone that cannot fail to impress. The road warrior is really not missing anything with this device, and the design makes it very easy to use - although obviously it's not the kind of phone to give to your Grandma! The combination of user-friendly design, slide-out keyboard, excellent email, security and general all-round capability make this an outstanding business device. Of course, there's always more that we'd like - more juice in the battery and a slightly larger screen perhaps, but that would make the phone bigger and heavier, and we think that Nokia have got the balance just right in this respect. Nokia are making very determined inroads into BlackBerry's home territory and with the E75 we think that they have created a real masterpiece.
Features of the Nokia E75 include:
Series 60 3.1, Symbian 9.3 SmartPhone
3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus, LED flash and 8x digital zoom
Video camera with digital video zoom and video light (640 x 480 pixels / up to 30 fps)
Secondary front camera for video calls (176 x 144 pixels / up to 15 fps)
Display: TFT, 16 million colours, 240 x 320 pixels (2.4 inches)
Music Player (MP3, WMA, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+ formats)
FM radio
MP3 ringtones / video ringtones
Speakerphone
Speaker dependent and speaker independent voice dialling
Messaging: SMS, MMS, email (IMAP4, Mail for Exchange, POP3 and SMTP protocols), Instant messaging with Presence-enhanced contacts
Attachment viewer for Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Excel
Symbian and Java™ MIDP 2.0 applications
Integrated A-GPS with Nokia Maps application
Internet: XHTML web browser, WAP, GPRS, EDGE, HSDPA 3.6 Mbps
Connectivity: WLAN 802.11b/g, Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR, USB 2.0, 3.5 mm headphone jack
Memory: 50 Mbytes plus support for microSD cards (up to 16 Gbytes)
Vibration alert
Quad-band EGSM 850/900/1800/1900, WCDMA 900/1900/2100
Size: 112 x 50 x 14 mm
Weight: 139g
Talktime: 4.3 hours (3G) - 5.3 hours (2G)
Battery standby: 270 hours (130 hours using WLAN)
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Nokia E75 Review
Monday, November 16, 2009Nokia 5130 XpressMusic Review
For a long time we thought that the 5130 wasn't going to be released in the UK. But finally it has been. So let's take a look to see what the UK has been missing for the past six months ...
The 5130 seems to be an updated version of the 5310 XpressMusic phone. But wait ... maybe that should read downgraded. Although the 5130 is a newer phone, it's a backward step. First the size - there's no other way to put this, but the 5130 is fat. It's longer and wider too, and heavier. Just bigger all over. But for no obvious purpose, as the battery life is no better and the screen is the same size as the 5310, at 2 inches across. And the screen shows only 256,000 colours, instead of 2 million on the 5310. The memory card slot supports smaller card sizes too - restricted to 2 GB.
Everything else is the same as the older 5130, so what exactly is the point of this phone? Also, you'll see from the user reviews below that the phone has a tendency to freeze. Thumbs down, I'm afraid.
Features of the Nokia 5130 XpressMusic include:
2 megapixel camera with 4x digital zoom
Video camera
Display: Active matrix LCD, 240 x 320 pixels, 256,000 colours, 2 inches
Music player (MP3, MP4, AAC, eAAC+, and WMA music files)
Stereo FM radio with RDS
Ringtones: Video ringtones, MP3 and MP4 tones, eAAC+ tones, AAC tones, WMA tones, 64-voice polyphonic MIDI, message alert tones, and alarm clock tones
Integrated handsfree speaker
Voice commands
Voice recorder
Messaging: SMS, MMS, email (SMTP, POP3 and IMAP 4) with attachments, Nokia Xpress audio messaging
Games: Downloadable Java applications
Animated screensavers, wallpaper, themes
Internet: Nokia Mobile Search, WAP 2.0, HSCSD, EDGE
Connectivity: Bluetooth 2.0, USB 2.0, modem, 3.5mm headphone jack
Memory: 30 Mbytes plus microSD card (up to 2 Gbytes)
Organiser: Alarm clock, calendar, to-do list, notes, calculator, stopwatch and countdown timer
Flight mode
Quadband
Size: 108 x 47 x 15 mm
Weight: 88g
Talktime: 6 hours
Battery standby: 288 hours
Music playback: up to 21 hours
Nokia 8800 Arte Review
The Nokia 8800 Arte is Nokia's latest in its premium range of phones. Following on from the 8800, 8800 Sirocco and 8600 Luna, it seems that the marketing guys at Nokia felt that £400 - £500 for a phone was no way nearly enough, so they have priced the 8800 Arte at close to double that. This is pushing prices towards Vertu levels (Nokia's ultra-exclusive brand), so the chances are you won't see many of these phones on the street.
The standard 8800 Arte comes in a black metal and glass finish, but there's also a Sapphire Arte version. The Sapphire Arte looks like bling gone badly wrong. It's a kind of sludge colour with a real leather finish and incorporates a real jewel into the navigation key. Gentle reader, we couldn't bring ourselves to include a photo of this hideous creation on our website, so you'll have to use your imagination.
The 8800 Arte is all about premium materials and subtle design details, especially in the way that the phone responds. For instance, if you tap the phone, the time appears on the display. If you want to silence a ring, you just turn the phone face down. The Arte features "living wallpaper" - wallpaper that changes depending on the time of day and the state of the phone, e.g. battery charge level, etc. As with the other premium range phones, the Arte comes with exclusive graphics, themes and ringtones. One of the problems with glossy black phones is that they act as fingerprint magnets, but Nokia have introduced a special anti-fingerprint coating for the Arte, which helps to keep the phone looking at its best.
Feature-wise its a 3G mobile with a 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus (no flash), a high quality display and a music player. Unlike the 8600 and Sirocco there isn't a radio - Nokia's market research probably revealed that a radio wasn't a big deal for the target market. There's no memory card, but it comes with 1 Gbyte of built-in memory, which will probably be enough for the kind of user Nokia has in mind. In other words it does enough but isn't all-singing and all-dancing.
It's quite a heavy phone at 150g, due mainly to the use of metal, and its slim but not ultra-slim. It's narrower than Samsung's slide phones, making it nice and easy to hold. The only thing that could be improved physically is the rather small keypad.
You get a lot of extras in the sales package (although when you remember the price, you can hardly describe this as "generous"), including a desk stand, a linen-lined pouch and a Bluetooth headset.
How to rate such a phone? We have to consider who the Arte is aimed at. Obviously someone with plenty of disposable income who is looking for design and exclusivity ahead of tech gadgets. Someone wanting to create an impression and willing to sacrifice some degree of usability. For this person, the Arte is the perfect phone, but there won't be many such people around. That's the point really. The 8800 Arte has now been joined by the even more exclusive Carbon Arte.
Features of the Nokia 8800 Arte include:
3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus
Video camera
Display: 16 million colours, 240 x 320 pixels
Music player
Polyphonic ringtones / MP3 ringtones
Speakerphone
Messaging: SMS, MMS, email
Java games
WAP, GPRS, EDGE, 3G
Web browser
Memory: 1 Gbyte
Connectivity: Bluetooth, USB
Triband
Size: 109 x 46 x 15 mm
Weight: 150g
Talktime: 3 hours
Battery standby: 300 hours
Nokia 1100 Review
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
The Nokia 1100 is an entry-level phone, designed with simplicity and reliability in mind. One nice feature of the 1100 is its silicon keypad - easy-to-use and non-slip. The sides of the phone are also made of a non-slip material, so overall the phone is nice to hold and physically easy to use.
The 1100 does come with a few gimmicky features, such as a torch, but Nokia has mostly stuck to basic features, so reliability and user-friendliness should follow. If you're looking for something exciting, look elsewhere, but if you want a basic phone with excellent battery life, the Nokia 1100 is a good choice. The new Nokia 1110 improves on the 1100 in a number of ways.
Features of the Nokia 1100 include:
Black & white display with selectable font size
Phonebook with up to 250 names on SIM card and up to 50 in internal memory
Distribution lists and concatenated text (SMS) messaging
Picture Messaging
Predictive text input for most European languages, Arabic, and Hebrew
Date and time screensavers
Built-in alarm and reminders
Stopwatch and countdown timer
Full-size animated screensavers
Two built-in games (Snake II and Space Impact+)
Automatic keyguard lock
Keyguard lock with security code
Flashlight
Mono ringtones with composer
Speed dialing for up to 9 names
Vibration alert
Dual band
Weight: 86 g
Size: 106 mm x 46 mm x 20 mm
Talktime: Up to 2 - 4.5 hours
Standby: Up to 100 - 400 hours
Nokia 1110 Review
The Nokia 1110 is an entry-level phone designed with simplicity and ease of use in mind. It replaces the Nokia 1100 and is a better phone in a number of ways: improved battery life, the addition of a handsfree speaker, changeable covers, and uprated ringtones and games.
The screen is small, but the inverted black & white display is easy to read. Menus and navigation are simple and easy to use, especially the icon-driven phonebook. The keypad is very nice, with a square design and good sized non-slip keys, and the 4-way scroll key is very easy to use. Everything about this phone speaks simplicity, and it's easy enough for a child (or her grandmother!) to use. It's also nice and lightweight, and the battery life is excellent. There are few features other than the basics, but it's an ideal first phone, or a good choice for people who just want to make occasional calls.
Features of the Nokia 1110 include:
Inverted black and white display with amber backlight (96 x 68 pixels)
Messaging: SMS, picture messaging, Instant Messaging
Storage for up to 60 text messages
Integrated handsfree speaker
20-voice polyphonic ringtones with MP3 grade sound
Three built-in games (Snake Xenzia, Dice Games, Pocket Carrom)
Changeable Xpress-on™ colour covers
Speaking alarm and clock
Icon-based phonebook (200 entries) with simplified menu navigation
Clock, stopwatch, ringtone composer
Dual band
Size: 104 x 44 x 17 mm
Weight: 80g
Talktime: up to 5 hours
Battery standby: up to 380 hours
Nokia 1200 Review
If you are looking for a really basic, cheap phone with outstanding battery life, then the Nokia 1200 could be the phone for you.
The display incorporates a bright green flashlight that can be used as a torch - a dedicated shortcut key activates the torch.
Not much else to say about this one - good as a child's first phone or as a spare.
Features of the Nokia 1200 include:
Black and white display with green backlight (96 x 68 pixels)
Messaging: SMS, picture messaging
Storage for up to 60 text messages
Integrated handsfree speaker
32-voice polyphonic ringtones with MP3 grade sound
Three built-in games
Multiple phonebooks (200 entries each)
Connectivity: 2.5 mm headset connection
Memory: 4 Mbytes
Dual band
Size: 102 x 44 x 18 mm
Weight: 77g
Talktime: up to 7 hours
Battery standby: up to 390 hours
Nokia 1600 Review
The Nokia 1600 is an entry-level phone. It looks smart with its chrome detailing and compact size. Its very lightweight too.
The keypad is reasonably easy to use, despite the numbers being split into two sections, and there's a nice 4-way scroll key. The user interface is graphical, simple to use, and makes good use of the small colour display.
A good first phone, or a phone for someone wanting just the basics, the Nokia 1600 has a similar spec to the Nokia 1110. The 1600 has the benefit of a colour screen, but lacks the changeable covers of the 1110. Battery life is excellent, but storage for phone numbers and SMS messages is limited. The phone has MP3 ringtones, but don't expect too much from these!
The 1600 has now been replaced by the Nokia 1650, which has a larger screen, plus a built-in torch and FM radio.
Features of the Nokia 1600 include:
Display: 65,536 colours, 96 x 68 pixels
Simplified menu and navigation
20-voice polyphonic ringtones with MP3 grade sound
Integrated handsfree speaker
Messaging: SMS, picture messaging, instant messaging
Wallpaper, themes and animated screensavers
Icon-based phone book (200 entries)
Speaking alarm/clock
3 games
Memory: up to 60 text messages
Dual band
Size: 104 x 45 x 17 mm
Weight: 80g
Talktime: 4 - 5 hours
Battery standby: 285 - 450 hours