Nokia’s E75 has a no-nonsense design that oozes respectability in the same way
as a pin-stripe suit (until the recent financial crash that is). It is clear
that Nokia is targeting the corporate BlackBerry-toting market with this new
handset.
As you would expect from a business-focused handset, the E75 supports POP3,
SMTP, IMAP4 and Microsoft Exchange (by software download) and set-up is
relatively straightforward. Reading really long emails on the E75’s small
2.4 inch screen can be a pain but if you only want to use your phone for
keeping up to date on the road rather than as a primary email reading and
writing device, you will be fine.
Business travellers will also welcome the inclusion of Quickoffice as a
preinstalled application, which encompasses word processor, spreadsheet and
presentation software. Quickoffice also lets you open up documents created
in corresponding Microsoft Office applications.
As with the E63 I reviewed recently, you can also use the E75 with Files on
Ovi. Files on Ovi is a Nokia system that lets you access files held on your
PC from your phone and offers a gigabyte of “cloud” storage on the internet.
You get a free year’s subscription to the service although it will be
interesting to see whether they actually introduce charges for this at a
later date given the way cloud storage is going.
Nokia’s Maps application is also preinstalled and these are free to use
although getting traffic information and turn-by-turn driving directions are
charged at a premium rate. Driving directions, for example, are charged at
70 euro a year.
The user interface seems quite cluttered on the screen. At the top, you get an
analogue clock, date and network information and below this a ribbon of
icons to access applications such as email, web browser and music player.
Below that comes a list of actions, such as turn on wi-fi or search.
The standard keypad includes quick access keys to email, calendar and contacts
and a central Navi key, which lets you select and scroll through menu items
quickly. The Navi key gives out a regular pulse of light – handy if it’s
dark in your hjotel room and you have mislaid it I suppose.
At 139g, the E75 is a bit of a porker for a ‘candybar’ form phone. Much of the
extra weight comes from a slideaway keyboard that hides behind the screen.
This gives a satisfying clunk when you slide it out. I found the keyboard
slightly too wide to be comfortable when using my thumbs to type although
using index fingers worked well for short emails and documents.
One interesting E75 feature is switching mode, which lets you set up different
profiles for business and personal (day/night) use and flick between them
with the touch of a button. For many business people, business and personal
lives are increasingly interchangeable but you can see the benefit of this
for some.
The spec
Dimensions: 111.8 x 50/80 x 14.4 mm. Weight: 139g. 4GB microSD card included,
supports up to 16 GB. 2.4" QVGA screen (320 x 240 pixels). Talk time: up to
5h 20min (on GSM). Standby time up to 280 hours (on GSM). Bluetooth 2.0+EDR.
802.11b/g wi-fi. 3,.2MP autofocus camera with 8x digital zoom and LED flash.
3.5 mm audio input.
The hype
They say: “Email easily on the go”
The reality
We say: The slideaway keyboard is a useful feature if you are planning to use
your phone to write long emails, although the candybar form of the phone
means this keyboard is a little cramped.
The bottom line
£379 SIM-free from the Nokia
shop
The verdict
The E75 is best suited for some one who wants to mix business with pleasure.
Features such as Quickoffice, Files on Ovi and wide email support will keep
you happy from the work standpoint while the 3.2 MP camera and media player
coupled with up to 16GB of card storage will keep you entertained.
The roadwarrior rating
7 out of 10
