Nokia E55 Review

Nokia have very defined markets for their phones. The Xpress Music range focuses on the late teen/early 20 market, whilst Nseries focuses the attention on multimedia powerhouse devices, with excellent cameras, music players and web browsing experience. Another division of the Nokia Empire that has a clear focus on its target market is the Eseries, or Enterprise range of phones.

Traditionally Eseries phones have been all work and no play, but recent handset releases show that Nokia have come to understand that whilst their customers may desire a strong, hard working phone, that is optimised for business use, there is no harm in having a bit of fun at the same time. We see this perfectly illustrated in the Nokia E55, an update to the very popular E51.

More and more people are coming to appreciate having mobile access to their email. And even more so, this is true of corporate customers. No longer tied to the desk, now there are many devices that allow easy mobile access to the important emails, so important messages can be read and replied to anywhere, at anytime. One of the problems many have with such devices is the size of the handset. They are just so wide. Understandable, I guess, after all the manufacturer needs to try and fit in a full QWERTY keyboard. Nokia’s solution to this problem on the E55 is to utilise a QW-ER-TY style keyboard, which uses a layout similar to the Suretype keypad found on the Blackberry Pearl. The keypad on the phone has one extra row of keys on each side of the traditional numeric keypad, offering a 4x5 key layout as opposed to the standard 4x3 layout. It doesn’t take long to get used to this, in fact if like me you are a fan of T9 then the process is the same – just hit the key that has the letter you want. The phone will do the rest. Thanks to this innovative design, the E55 measures in at a very suit-pocket friendly 116mm x 49mm x 9.9mm, making the E55 the slimmest smartphone on the market to date.

So, what else is new on the E55? Well, the camera has been given a nice boost, taking the ordinary point n shoot 2.0 megapixel offering on the E51, and giving the E55 a 3.2 megapixel camera, with enhanced fixed focus and an LED flash. Video recording is also included, up to VGA resolution, and there is a front facing camera for video calling. Another nice touch on the multimedia side of features is the inclusion of a standard 3.5mm audio output jack, so you can use your own favourite, comfortable headphones with the device, and not have to ‘make do’ with the manufacturer own phones that are supplied in the box – sound quality is rarely acceptable, and the ‘fit’ is usually off.

However, whatever the updates are, the focus of this phone remains squarely on the business user. Despite the compact size, the E55 is endowed with everything you need to keep in touch on the move. The E55 is a GSM quad band, HSDPA Tri Band phone, offering GSM connectivity on every GSM frequency, plus Tri Band variations of Mobile Broadband HSDPA. The HSDPA speeds possible with this handset are up to an amazing 10.2 Mbps, which is adequately complimented by the inclusion of HSUPA, offering upload speeds of up to 2Mbps. All the other standard data connection options are included, such as Class 10 GPRS and EDGE, as well as HSCSD. Naturally, WiFi is also included, with support for Universal Plug n Play, to optimise integration with your Home WLAN. Also included in this top notch connection spec list is Bluetooth 2.0, with A2DP support, for wireless audio connectivity.

The E55 is endowed with a GPS receiver, and supports aGPS network positioning. Support for Nokia Maps is available from the start, and the maps reproduce well on the 2.4 inch 16 million colour TFT display. Finally, on a device that promises so much, you need the power to back it all up. Nokia include a 1500 mAh lithium ion battery with the phone, which can deliver up to 672 hours of standby (432hrs 3G) and 8 hours talktime (6hrs 3G). Music playback is estimated at 18 hours.

Much like its predecessor, the Nokia E51, the E55 is receiving little attention, thanks to the headline grabbing E75. Yet I can see, much like the E51, the Nokia E55 is going to be a very popular phone. Release date expected around June, July 2009.

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