Nokia E5 Review

Cheapest Business Phone in India

My Rating- 3/5

The QWERTY keypads always fascinate me. I am using Motorola EX115 for almost a year and wanted to replace it so am in search of another mobile that can satisfy my needs. Last week I got first hand experience of Nokia E5. Actually my cousin is using it so I went deep in details about its performance. So I am sharing my views on it.

Design

It is a QWERTY phone without touchscreen, having dimensions of 115 x 58.9 x 12.8 mm and weighs 126 g. The body is mix of plastic and metal. The metallic battery cover looks cool and gives it a feel of expensive phones. It is having 2.36-inch display with resolution of 320 x 240 pixels and 256K colors.

The phone is having dedicated keys for home, mailing and flashlight. The ‘*’ and ‘#’ keys are oddly placed adjacent to ‘3’ & ‘6’.

Hardware/ Software

It is backed with 600MHz processor, 256MB of RAM and 250MB of internal storage that can be expanded to 32GB. It uses Symbian v9.3 operating system (OS) and the S60 v3.2 user interface (UI).

Nokia E5 comes with premium QuickOffice premium suite that enables you to view, create or edit documents (Word, Excel and PowerPoint) on the go.  It also comes preinstalled with Adobe Reader to view PDF files.

Audio/ Video

It’s media player can playback MP4, H.264, H.263 and WMV videos and MP3, WMA, WAV and eAAC audio files. The screen is very small so you can’t expect great experience while watching videos. Audio playback is among the best in business phones with sound clarity and loudness. Music player is equipped with all the basic features common to other mobiles.

Messaging/ Mails

The keypad is well suited for typing long mails or messages. You can configure maximum 10 mail accounts on E5 and it also supports Microsoft Exchange.

Camera

It is equipped with 5MP camera with LED flash and 3x digital zoom. The image quality is just average. I have used N73 with 3.2MP camera and this phone camera is nowhere better than my N73 despite 5MP resolution. The flash works well in low light. It can record videos at 15fps.

Battery

It is powered with 1200mAh battery with rated 7hrs talk time and 600hrs standby time. Nokia is no doubt a leader in battery backups and this phone also delivers the best. You can easily get a backup of 2-3 days with normal usage of phone.

Connectivity

It provides 3G, GPS, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity. This phone supports Mail for Exchange and IBM Lotus Notes Traveler for faster Push Mail notifications.

Internet

It comes with default browser with flash support that delivers a faster and user-friendly browsing experience. Keyboard shortcuts and the D-Pad can be used to zoom in and out web pages. You can download Opera Mini on your mobile to get better, faster, cheaper and tabbed browsing experience.

Pros

1. Very good build quality and slim design

2. GPS, Wi-Fi & 3G support

3. Excellent sound and call quality

4. Good battery backup

5. Easy mail setup and pretty decent net speed, even on 2G

6. Easy to type QWERTY keypad with smooth keys

7. Multitasking capability

8. Office documents viewing and editing facility

Cons

1. Outdated Symbian OS (when compared to latest Symbian Belle) with no updates.

2. Limited number of applications

3. Average screen with low resolution

4. Average camera despite 5MP

Price

The phone is available in the range of Rs.9500. It is termed as the cheapest business mobile phone.

Conclusion

I have tried to mention all the possible pros and cons of this phone. If you are in search of a business phone or planning to buy Blackberry Curve 8520 (available in the range of 9k), you can think about this. You will get better processor, better camera and better battery backup in this phone as compared to Blackberry and you don’t even have to pay extra bucks to access RIM services.

The 600MHz processor is an added advantage of this phone which lets you to do easier and faster multitasking. You can easily browse multiple pages with music player running in the background.

It is quite different from the QWERTY phones market and has its own place- looks or features. It is highly recommended for Nokia lovers who are not comfortable with touchscreen and give a damn about the Android.

Those who want a phone for leisure, enjoyment, all new apps, gaming etc. then this phone is not for you.