Nokia E65 part one: first impressions

What exactly is required to put the ‘smart’ in smartphone? Myself and Neil discussed the relative merits of Windows Mobile and Symbian devices the other night (yes, we are highly interesting people:)) and it seemed that the differences between devices always centred on opposites. Here are some questions for you which may help to understand our discussion- 

Name a Windows Mobile device with a good camera.

Name a Windows Mobile device that does not have voice quality that sounds processed.

Name a Windows Mobile ‘Pocket PC’ phone that looks stylish.

Name a Symbian device that is easy to navigate.

Name a Symbian smart device that does not look stylish.

In my opinion I can’t find an answer for any of the above and it highlights the fact that between the two platforms they tend to be very good at some things and poor at others. For example Windows Mobile cameras tend to be poor compared to their Symbian competitiors and Windows Mobile voice quality rarely matches Symbian devices. In contrast the latest incarnations of Symbian can be tough to navigate and difficult to input data quickly.

In the case of the E65 Nokia have managed to squeeze in the following in a device that is tiny compared to almost every other fully OS’d smartphone on the market-

WLAN 802.11b and g, Quad Band, 3G, Bluetooth 1.2, IrDA, a QVGA display, 2 megapixel camera, VOIP, voice recorder, speaker phone, conference calling, remote synchronisation, voice commands, voice dialing, talking ringtones and speech codecs (more on that later).

All of that is housed in a device weighing 115g and measuring 105 x 49 x 15.5mm. It is a highly impressive feature list and matches my current device (v1605) in almost every way yet the v1605 is 50% heavier, 25% thicker and bigger in all other areas. The v1605 is smaller in two crucial areas though- screen and keyboard. Those are the crux of the matter in deciding if the E65 is a worthy smartphone contender- is it the quality of the features or the hardware they are housed in that ultimately decides which is the ‘smarter’ device? Let’s find out…

The E65 comes in a plain looking box and is not overly laden with extras. You get a synchronisation cable, AC charger, mono headset, CD software and a case. These are all standard but the whole packaging is a bit demure and is more understated than the usual Nokia effort.

It is a different story when you pick up the phone though. Mine is the mocca coloured version and from a design perspective it is a beauty. It does not shout out ‘look at me’ but it does quietly whisper ‘you like me don’t you, a lot.’ And yes I do like the design a lot- I would go as far as to say that it is one the nicest looking phone I have owned and the styling does not lean towards business or consumer, even if Nokia are indeed aiming it at the business market.

The front is dominated by shiny silver and the back by a brown leather type material which I have heard described as horrible in other reviews. Personally I love the retro feel of it and it adds something slightly different to this phone. The standard shiny silver Nokia design seen on many of their phone is becoming a little jaded in my opinion and starting to look distinctly unfashionable.

The buttons below the screen are plentiful and carefully laid out. I personally found no issues with any of them and found the outside ones particularly easy to use. Once again I have heard conflicting views on these buttons which goes to show that you cannot please everyone. The side buttons are sadly not as good and recessed to the point that they are difficult to use when you are on a call- the benefit is that the voice recording button is unlikely to be accidentally pressed which is an unfortunate trait on so many other smartphones and PDAs. The number pad is superb and one of the nicest I have seen- it looks very flat but in practice works well and I have made few errors even when typing out text messages as fast as a 36 year old can:)

The charging and sync ports are on the bottom of the device and of course including a standard headphone jack would be asking too much. Rounding up the outside the camera lens in dead centre on the back and compliments the overall look of the phone.

All in all this is a seriously smart looking phone which impresses greatly in the looks department.

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