Nokia E63 review

Nokia is soon to be releasing its 4th full Qwerty keyboard based handset with the E63; the previous versions in the lineage were the E61/E61i from a few years back and the E71. The latter came out mid 2008 and shares more than just the same year of announcement as the E63.

This new phone runs the same version of the operating system as the E71, known as the mouthful that is the S60 3rd Edition, second generation Feature Pack 1.

It also shares more or less the same design blueprint, where some could easily be mistaken for believing that it’s a revision of the E71.

How it stands out though is of interest, as it comes across much like an abridged version of its bigger brother and with a cost to match.

First of all the E71 has a metal casing; on the E63 Nokia has replaced this with a glossy plastic finish on the exposed areas of the frame, while the rear sports an almost mohair feel to the case.

This was apparently deliberately and purposefully designed by Nokia for comfort, with the materials used being easy to grip and hold. Even whilst in damp or moist conditions the phone won’t slip from your hand as a result.

One of the main criticisms of the E71 however, was the casing's rear and its ability to pick up fingerprints like it was collecting them for forensic means at a later date. We’re pleased to say this has been remedied in the E63, to joyous applause.

The form factor of the E63 has also been designed for ease of use with just a single hand in mind, even while typing. We’re pleased to say it pulls this off well and with the greatest of ease, as the phone only measures 114x57x10mm.

The Nokia E63's full-sized Qwerty keypad is made up of small oblong keys, which are raised and bevelled for a decent responsive feel whilst typing. These unfortunately have a bit of a plasticky feel to them and a distinct squeaking sound that sounds something like running a damp cloth over glass.

In saying that, we found the keyboard was good for typing lengthy emails and text messages. It almost has the same tactile feedback as the original BlackBerry Curve of 2007. The keys are only slightly larger than the RIM device, but give off a better response.

The screen comes along at the same size as the E71, that’s 2.36-inch, 320x240 pixels display. It’s clear and wide enough to read emails, SMSs or browse the web. All of which we found a delight to behold, as the screen matches its form factor down to a T.

Its quite clear that Nokia is aiming the E63 at young professionals, who need email at work and whilst on the move in their own time.

For that purpose, Nokia has provided a dual-home screen feature to the handset. One of the setups shows off all the work functions needed, with the other is easily switchable to show shortcuts and features of leisure, including social networking functions. A nice touch we thought, and all very customisable to suit various needs.

There were some other nice touches to the E63 that we found mighty useful and welcome. One of which was the flashlight feature that Nokia has developed for this handset.

Pressing the spacebar on the keyboard for a few seconds activates a light on the rear of the handset, as if it were a torch. The very same light used by the camera on the phone when in poor lighting conditions. Pressing that key again, turns it off. Although with the phone locked, hitting the space bar only turns the light on briefly.

Nokia has taken away and reduced some elements in moving from the E71 to the E63. One of which is the camera, which takes a hit from 3.2megapixels down to 2-megapixels. They’ve taken off any buttons on the side, which are the mute and volume up and down keys. The latter of which is performed now from the d-pad instead.

The 3.5mm audio jack has also been relocated from the side, to the top and is situated in a musch more convenient place to listen to tunes loaded onto the E63.

Nokia has also completely cut out two major items which we thought was a shame. The Finnish manufacturer has taken away HSDPA connectivity and GPS from the E63, despite bundling in Nokia maps 2.0, all of which seems a bit redundant now.

The OS is fast enough and very responsive, although the phone’s menu items do look a little bit blocky and uninviting to use.

The E63's browser and web surfing abilities are very good. They must have fixed or tidied this feature from the last edition, as we’ve really did not find a fault with it this time. There are some nice touches to the browsing experience with a preview window appearing on long webpages. This is useful to see where you are on the webpage, and how far it is to the bottom. There’s no automatic zoom in and out as seen on the iPhone; instead there’s a manual option for reducing and enlarging the pages for viewing.

Also onboard is a feature we’ve only just started to use, and has now become invaluable – it’s the Files on Ovi. This is a free 1GB of online file storage for sharing files from your PC to the Nokia phone for use at anytime. Think of this as a USB key permanently attached directly to the internet, for your own personal use and you’ll get the idea.

Overall the E63 is a good handset and comes in at nearly half the cost of the E71. This is with almost little or no sacrifice at all. The handset can serve both as a good budget business phone, whilst being useful socially too. Although we’ve stayed clear of using the words ‘cheaper than’ in comparison to the other handset, as it may detract from the picture we were trying to paint – it more or less is just that. It is some way off from being officially released, with the only dates we’ve been given yet are sometime in Q1 for the UK and around February time for the USA.