Talking business and the Nokia E75

MANILA, Philippines – What is it about the QWERTY-keypad cellphones that make them so appealing to me, at least?

“Looks OK,” says my friend Ronnie when I showed him the Nokia E75. “But I’m not too fond of the QWERTY keypad though.”

I slide the keypad back into place, and the E75 becomes a candybar cellphone again.

“Better,” quips Ronnie. “When I am stuck in traffic I can’t be bothered by having to text with two hands, which I have to do on a QWERTY.”

Ronnie is one of these young businessmen always rushing off to some meeting here or there. He says that cellphones today need not look fancy, but have to get the job done — or he could lose a deal if he can’t stay connected 24/7.

“My computer is good when I have the luxury of a few hours and I can sit, have a cup of coffee and log on,” he adds. “But there are many times when I don’t have all the time in the world, and I need a cellphone that can keep me in the loop with my e-mail and YM, all the time.”

It was a Sunday and Ronnie and I had a few minutes to kill after working out in the gym, so I walked him through the many new discoveries I made on the Nokia E75.

“Let’s go hands-on with this one,” I say to Ronnie.

“I’m game,” he answers.

Slide and begin

After a few attempts at texting with the E75’s standard texting features, I show Ronnie the new things that make the Nokia E75 the next cellphone to beat.

“Staying in touch beyond texting is where the future of cellphones is heading,” William Hamilton Whyte, Nokia Philippines general manager, once said. “This is where Nokia cellphones are headed. More and more Nokia users will find that the newer cellphones will be able to let them stay in touch through e-mail, YM, Facebook and other social networking sites.”

The messaging feature in the Nokia E75 is a consumer messaging service that includes access to e-mail and instant messaging (IM). Nokia Messaging is available out-of-the-box with the Nokia E75.

I had configured the E75 by installing Nokia Messaging, which was easy because all I had to do was set up an existing e-mail account on the cellphone. Push technology enabled with key ISPs (Yahoo! Mail, Windows Live Hotmail, Gmail, among others) means that I get my e-mails as they come, just like text messages.

Of course, I am able to stay connected on YM (or whatever other social networks) with my friends who are abroad, no matter where I am, and I love that.

“It’s easy,” says Ronnie. “That’s what makes Nokia one of the best cellphones available today.”

Of course, Ronnie, like most cellphone users I know, prefers phones that can be set up the way they like them without having to take out the manual to do it.

The look

After showing Ronnie how easy it was to set up the e-mail and YM connectivity with the E-75, we had a few more minutes to scrutinize the looks and other features of the cellphone.

For starters, the Nokia E75 is a standard candybar smartphone with a numeric keypad positioned below the display. What makes it different is the slide-out QWERTY keyboard, which rotates the display to landscape orientation when slid open. The front of the phone is a high-gloss metallic flake, with a clear plastic coating. While this looks nice, it also grabs fingerprints like crazy, something that I didn’t like but didn’t seem to bother Ronnie one bit. The outer edges are chrome, as is the d-pad which makes it very professional looking.

I like that when the cellphone slides; it does so smoothly, with no wobble in either the open or closed position. The slide-out keyboard is spring-assisted which helps it to snap into place with a confident click.

The S60 navigational cluster is positioned just below the display, surrounding the chrome, square d-pad. The outer ring of the d-pad is raised slightly, and each direction is easy to press. There is a handful of shortcut keys surrounding the d-pad, two of which the user can configure to activate any application on the phone.

Now, a little about the front keypad. The font used on the keypad is in bold and in all capital letters. This makes it much easier to read. The keypad is made up of four solid strips, stretching from one side to the other as a single large button. Each of these strips has three numbers on it. I found them easy to use, and each button has a nice feel and makes a distinct click sound when pushed. The keypad backlight is also quite strong, and evenly lights up each key.

When you slide the Nokia E75 open, the display automatically rotates to landscape view. The QWERTY keyboard is easy to type on, with large keys and easy-to-read labels. Like the numeric keypad, the QWERTY keyboard’s backlight is bright. There is also some space between the top keys and the top half of the phone, so you shouldn’t have any trouble hitting these top keys.

Along the left edge of the Nokia E75 is where you’ll find the microSD card slot and micro-USB port, both covered by an attached plastic door. The micro-USB port can be used for both charging and data, which is certainly convenient. The only port at the top of the phone is a standard 3.5-mm audio port, a welcome rarity on Nokia’s Eseries smartphones. The right edge of the phone holds the volume keys, with a voice command button positioned between them. Directly below these is the dedicated camera button, which can be held to launch the camera application and is also used to autofocus and snap a photo. A 2-mm Nokia charging port is located on the bottom of the phone, and provides a second convenient method to charge the phone. The E75 is equipped with a 3.2-megapixel autofocus camera and LED flash, with a self-portrait mirror. The single loudspeaker is also located on the back of the phone.

The verdict

“The E75 is well built,” says Ronnie. “It is sturdy and looks like a phone a guy like me would carry.”

Ronnie pointed out that he is glad that the E75 has two options for texting because for him, texting on the fly makes all the difference.

We took a few nice shots with the E75. “But I don’t really use the camera of my phone,” adds Ronnie.

The battery lot of the E75 is good. It can go two days without recharging if you are a light user, meaning you can then use it more for texting and checking your e-mail. Talkers will find that they E75 has to be charged at least once a day.

Ronnie had to rush off to his next appointment, wherever that might be. But here’s what he had to say about the E75 before running off.

“Pretty cool,” he says. “Long battery life, easy to handle, text friendly, easy-to-set-up e-mail and best of all, since I have bigger fingers than you, I find the keypad easy to use. I might add that I also like its no-nonsense, business-look — good for serious guys like me.”

“I never met a pet I didn’t like. About people, I’m not so sure.”