Since their introduction fours years ago, Nokia’s Eseries range has developed from business centric handsets into all-round ‘multimedia computers’. This shift was emphasised with the arrival of the Mobile Choice Phone of the Year, the E71, and its slider cousin, the E66, last October. Both phones boasted high production values, stylish designs and a new multimedia sheen that wouldn’t look out of place away from the boardroom. In fact, Nokia actively encouraged the crossover with its dual home screens for work and home.

From the looks of the Eseries’ latest prodigy, the E75, this double life continues, although mobile messaging remains at its core. It’s the first Nokia phone to sport a sliding QWERTY keyboard and the manufacturer’s new, BlackBerry-esque, Messenger push email service. While it could easily be Nokia’s slickest business device yet, the E75 also ups the multimedia ante, offering an integrated 3.5mm headphone jack and support for N-Gage gaming – a first for the Eseries.

 

Business as usual

 

Compared to the über slim E71 and the dapper E66 slider, the E75 definitely has a less stylish and more ‘business’ looking design; its curved corners closely resemble the straight-laced E51. Like its stable mates, the build quality is impressive with a metallic trim and a robust rear metal battery cover that contributes to its 139g weight. And yet, even with a sliding QWERTY keypad on board it still manages to keep its waistline relatively trim.

Generally, the E75 is a pleasure to use. The keypad is great for dialling and for quick texting, and the navigation pad is lucid to thumb. However, if we have one complaint, it’s the close proximity and lack of definition between the shortcut and call keys surrounding the joy pad. Averaged sized fingers probably won’t have a problem, but more chunky fingered users may find them fiddly to pick out.

It’s business as usual with the Symbian Series 60 operating system (OS), which is still highly customisable. The active home screen can be personalised with specific PIM features, although the jury is still out on the usefulness of the dual home screen that lets you swap between work and home set ups. The soft keys and dedicated calendar and messaging keys can also be assigned different features, with short and long presses to the latter activating different functions.

 

New Tricks

 

As previously mentioned, the E75 is the first Nokia handset to arrive with its new Messaging service as standard. Setting up your personal email client (it also supports business server set ups like Microsoft Mail for Exchange and IBM Lotus Notes Traveler) simply requires your email address and password and you can add up to 10 accounts. It’s intuitive to use, brilliantly mirrors desktop functionality and easily rivals BlackBerry in the push email stakes.

Typing emails is made easier by the sliding, four line QWERTY keyboard. The spring assisted skater action is incredibly sturdy, and the display instantly switches to landscape view when pushed opened. Getting accustomed to the keyboard’s spacious flatbed design will take practice, but the lie of the sizeable keys is great to thumb.

You’re spoilt for choice on the internet surfing front with Nokia’s MiniMap and Opera Mini browsers on board. Both prove very effective at rendering text and link-rich web pages for comfortable viewing on the E75’s smallish 2.4-inch screen, and offer a small navigation window to zoom into selected areas. Opera Mini is still our browser of choice though, compressing pages more efficiently and loading them quicker. And, of course, with snappy 7.2Mbps HSDPA speeds any built-in pages appear very quickly; move within a wireless hot spot range and built-in Wi-Fi will step up the pace considerably.

The E63, and now the E75, are the only Eseries models to offer an integrated 3.5mm headphone jack, but its certainly a feature we look for in all smartphones. To be able to plug in your own quality headphones without the need for an adapter and a tangle of wires is very welcome. Nokia’s built-in music players are usually great to use, sound dynamic and deliver a host of audio boosters. The E75’s player has an on-board, six-mode equaliser and doesn’t disappoint; we recommend activating the Bass Booster to crank up the low end. You can also hop onto Nokia’s comprehensive Music Store directly from the handset and download tracks via HSDPA or Wi-Fi.

 

No surprises

 

The E75’s 3.2-megapixel snapper seems to be standard issue for the Eseries. The camera menu interface is the same as all other Nokia Symbian Series 60 smartphones and is relatively straightforward to use, or there’s a dedicated shutter key located on the side of the handset. Despite having auto-focus, it’s still not the sharpest we’ve seen at this level. The LED flash is inconsistent at illuminating low lit areas, although if you take pictures in the right conditions you could probably get away with printing the occasional 6x4-inch photo. However, the E75 does deliver slick video footage with its VGA-quality (640x480 pixels) video recording as it shoots at 30fps compared with 22fps on the E71 and E66.

Despite only having an average sized 2.4-inch screen that limits in-car use, the E75 excelled at personal navigation. With A-GPS support, getting a satellite was super fast and Nokia’s own mapping software proved very accomplished at A to B navigation. You will have to pay extra for a voice navigation licence but the instructions come through loud and clear over the built-in speakers.

 

Verdict

 

It may look more like a business phone and major in mobile messaging, but like the recent Eseries models have indicated, the E75 has oodles of appeal beyond the work environment. A great smartphone geared for both business and pleasure.