NOKIA E70 and E61: Square tools for business

"Square" was the first word that came to mind when I got hold of the Nokia E70 and E61.

But when I got into the E70 and E61 I realized that there are really different phones for every user – with corresponding fashion preferences, too.

The E70 is a two-in-one device that runs on Symbian 9.1 operating system. The operating system adds more security and virus blocking. This is the first time Nokia has introduced the Symbian OS to the folding keyboard and it’s great.

The E70 is a business-oriented device, that’s what I was told and that is how it is sold. As such, it comes in a very straightforward, no-frills design, although it is larger than the N70. The keyboard is larger and more comfortable to use.

The screen looks very awkward compared to the previous folding keyboard devices from Nokia. This is a great device for those who text a lot, but this comes at the price of having a slightly bulkier unit.

It has a 260,000-color screen. The resolution of the user interface has increased to 352 x 416 pixels. This is double the resolution of the Nokia 6680, N70 and older serials 60, which all have a resolution of 176 x 208 pixels.

Since the resolution is an exact double, older applications still display well on the new screen by simply applying pixel-doubling to it. The screen is very clear, even in strong sunlight. The new screensaver appears to be larger and easier to read this time around.

The Nokia E70 is a smart-phone and claims an endurance time of two or three days on average usage. Heavy use of the Bluetooth and UMTS capabilities will cause one to recharge the handset on a daily basis.

Another cool feature of the E70 is its screen, which switches between portrait and landscape mode when the keyboard is closed and unfolded, respec-tively. Of course, it was even more fun when the music player plays on the homescreen when the keyboard is unfolded.

And like all Nokia phones, this one supports MMS, SMS, picture messaging and e-mail by means of POP3, SMTP and IMAP4 servers. Instant e-mail, too.

There is 75 MB of onboard memory in the E70, and this is more than enough for most users. The MiniSD memory card slot inside the device would likely make it possible to extend the capacity of the device to around 1GB worth of space.

The two-megapixel camera in the E70 is similar to the one in the Nokia N70. The E70 is the only one in the first batch of E-series devices that has a built-in camera. The camera is a reasonable one and it also stores files rather quickly. Photos are stored in JPG format just like in previous Symbian devices.

The Nokia E70 is a large handset compared to most cellphones available today because of the folding keyboard. This keyboard is not for everyone, but after getting used to it, one will wonder how you ever lived without it before.

The E61 is another square device. This one is truly square, calculator square, that is. But the fun part is the keyboard makes texting easy. No more need to press one button three times to reach the correct letter. Just one tap and you get it right.

But many have said that this is Nokia’s way of breaking into the Motion Blackberry devices or the Palm Treo. Perhaps. After all, with this phone, the smartphone stops becoming a phone; it’s now a PDA.

This is probably the widest Nokia phone ever.

But I enjoyed using the mobile e-mail function. I am not one to configure my phone for e-mail, but I did make the exception with the E61. And I was glad I did. The giant screen made it fun to read e-mail and even look at pictures. Just great. When you get to your mail, a dialog box appears asking if the E61 should use Wi-Fi, GPRS, 3G or whatever other mobile connections you have.

I loved the music player, too. Although it has 64 MB on-board memory, the E61 can take a standard miniSD card. Use a one GB card and you’ve got the equivalent of the smaller music device in your phone.

OK, OK. This phone has no camera. A turn-off for most people I know. But believe me, it can store really great pictures once it receives them. So I can live minus the camera. And as Nokia seems to have targeted the business people, maybe the brand believes that these guys need spreadsheets more than they need photos of their favorite pets.

The E61 is a strange smartphone. But what I did notice is that it seems to be the first of its kind. And the E70 is definitely the hope that there is more to come from Nokia in the business phones category. The E61 is just what a power-user of PDA is looking for – but it’s a smartphone, not a computer.

These two new E, as in Enterprise, series phones are great. But they are not for everyone. The choices one makes when looking for a cellphone these days are as varied as the people who use them.

If you like phones that can do more business-like stuff without much bling and kikay or pogi points, then maybe the E70 and E61 are it. But, hey, looks aren’t everything. And these two phones have so much to offer if you look beyond square.