Small Review on Nokia C5

Nokia C5 – a compact smartphone running the Symbian S60 3rd Edition operating system. The Nokia C5 is very well-made. Its keys are very easy and pleasant to use, while the back side features a matel battery cover.

The display is 2.2-inch with QVGA resolution, but unfortunately its viewing angle is not good.

Nokia E90 Communicator

Great build quality Sturdy Fully functional front display Large and clear internal display

No TV out 2.5mm earphone socket Sound quality from provided earphones is bad No business card reader Camera quality is not too great

Enter, the Big Daddy of all phones! The E90 may look like and perhaps feel like any other communicator, but is it really? The answer is a resounding NO! The previous models, although still quite popular in many arenas has nothing on this baby. With a combination of elegance, style and a sturdy demeanor, the new addition to the business i.e. "E" class of Nokia phones has promised to overshadow its predecessors. But whether or not it can actually live up to that is what we’re here to find out. So let's get to it.

Form Factor
Although the design is quite like any Communicators of yore, this one has a few upgrades. For example this is the first to have a fully functional ‘External Phone’ with a 16million color display and a resolution of 240x320 pixels. The reason I refer to it as an ‘External Phone’ is simply because it pretty much looks like any other Nokia phone inside some sort of shell. Whatever a normal S60 phone can do, the outer phone can do as well. No exceptions this time. This may also be the first time Nokia has placed the power switch on the side of the screen rather than on top.

The rear houses the 3.2 megapixel, Auto-Focus camera with a flash and the speakers. At the very bottom you'll notice a little flap, which is where the microSD card can be inserted. All you have to do is slide it open and insert the card. The bottom is where you’ll find the mini USB (2.0), charger pin and a 2.5mm earphone socket. What’s most noticeable are the two steel hinges. This is another factor that sets the E90 apart from the previous models. The steel hinges make the phone a lot sturdier and add a certain rugged appeal to it. On the side are 2 keys. The one on the top is a dedicated voice recorder key, and the one at the bottom just below the infrared sensor, is the shutter release key for the camera. However, it's not a dedicated key to activate it which is quite odd.

Flip it open and this is where all the magic happens. The large internal screen is what this phone is all about with a crystal clear resolution of 800x352 pixels and 16 million colors. On the sides of this fabulous screen are 2 pairs of keys. On the right just underneath the secondary camera is a set of call take and end keys and on the other side of the screen is a set of soft keys. But I don’t like the positioning too much as they’re a bit too far from the nav-pad, so you end up having to adjust your hold every now and again when selecting options.

The Full QWERTY keypad makes the E90 look like a miniaturized laptop. At the very top of the keypad Nokia has graciously provided us with direct shortcut keys to various functions and one key to call your own (Open key). There’s also a separate key to switch on the keypad light when it's dark and on the other side of the keypad is a five way Nave-Pad. So that’s it for the design of this big boy. Let's see what he’s capable of doing.

N97 Now Compatible For N-Gage

Like I said before, the N97 is a good handset but lacked a few things here and there to be, what I consider ‘complete’. One of the things was it was not loaded with the company’s N-Gage gaming platform app. Although a few games like Spore and Guitar Rock Tour were present, they don’t fall under the N-Gage umbrella.

With the very latest Symbian OS and S60 UI on board it should have been part and parcel of the package but it was apparently not ready I guess. However, the handset is now listed on the N-Gage site as a compatible device for the system. However, other Touchscreen S60 handsets like the new 5530 and 5800 XpressMusic handsets don’t seem to feature anywhere just yet.

Nokia N82 Quadband 3G GPS Cell Phone Video Review

This phone is a multi-media powerhouse. It comes with not one but TWO camera’s. One in the back that is a 5 megapixel featuring Carl Zeiss optics, auto focus and integrated Xenon flash. One in the front for self portraits and video calls.

The Nokia N82 comes with Bluetooth, supports Java and is Wi-Fi enabled. Heck it even has GPS on it too just in case you are bushwacking somewhere remote and find yourself lost. And when you’re in the city, no problem - download city maps from over 100 countries!

A Nokia N82 review would not be complete without mentioning that the one thing that actually surprised me is that Nokia actually included the Audio/Video TV cable in the box. That’s right, you can shoot your videos, snap your photos, add some sound tracks to them and plug this bad boy into your television set to show your firends all of your media on a large format screen. Suh-weet!

Also it’s worth mentioning that you can drop a 2GB microSD memory card into the phone to store all of your multi-media files.

The phone has a 2.4″ LCD display that supports up to 16 million colours and a wide viewing angle too. For Audio out the N82 has an integrated stereo speaker and 3D sound effects.

Nokia 5530 XpressMusic cell phone

If you couldn’t afford the 5800 XpressMusic, Nokia now has another affordable option in the same XpressMusic category that goes by the number 5530. Key features include a big touchscreen display that is 2.9 inches wide capable of display at 640×360 pixels, a 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus and LED flash, a 3.5 mm headset jack, 70MB of internal memory which can be bumped up to 16GB via MicroSD (4GB card included), Bluetooth 2.0, and WiFi. Sadly though, the 5530 XpressMusic tops out with GPRS/EDGE network connectivity. We definitely like the price at just about $278, but the lack of 3G/HSDPA support will certainly be a big turn-off when the phone starts shipping in the third quarter of this year.

Nokia N78

The successor to the vastly popular N73, the N78 is slimmer, built better and has a slightly better display. The black/silver model we received looks smart and its glossy finish goes a long way in attracting attention. The battery cover is plasticy and there is a problem with the retention on the top — it’s not built well and will likely break with heavy usage and this is a glaring omission from Nokia who are known for solid handsets. The keypad is nothing more than four horizontal lines each with its set of non-segregated keys. Initially we had our reservations about such a layout — surely this would be a usability nightmare. Well not quite — in truth the keypad isn’t good but it’s a whole lot better than it looks. Button feedback is positive, although the keys are a bit hard. It does help if you use nails while typing, but how many of you, aside from the fairer sex, would bother growing those? Once you get the hang of typing, things do get better and we were able to type quite fast. The main menu button and the call buttons are built into the facia but these have to be pressed and they’re not touch activated. The call buttons are well located but are a bit hard. The joypad has a slightly sharp rim that may annoy your finger pads while using but it’s not overly uncomfortable. The middle button is sweet — offers good feedback. The volume button on the side is a joy to use. The camera button is soft and halfway down the click, it engages the autofocus. The screen is brilliant and crisp – 16 million colours, 2.4-inches and a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels keeps things amazingly legible.

The camera is capable of taking some sweet shots although you need to tinker with the settings to get things right. The music playback quality is really good and the handsfree unit will give clear sound at high volume levels. Signal reception is really good with good clarity and detail, no chinks in the armour here and the earpiece is very clear and very loud. Even while playing music the loudspeaker is clear and if you don’t mind the anaemic bass you’ll get along fine. It’s packed to the gills with features and comes with a 2 GB card as well, but it doesn’t come cheap at Rs. 17,479. The Symbian interface has been optimised for multimedia and this makes a good phone for PMP lovers or someone looking at a good camera. It’s the best overall handset within this category.

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Multimedia phones from Rs. 20,001 - Rs. 27,500

Nokia N95 8 GB

The N95 has a rubber finish, which in itself isn’t of very high quality. However, the plastics used for the rest of the body are and the N95 8 GB lasts through a fair bit of abuse. It’s a decent looking phone and the matte finish gives it a serious, suave air, a lot different from the flashy 6-Series phones Nokia currently makes. It’s a thick, clunky phone dominated by a wonderfully rich and crisp display that at 2.8-inches supports 24-bit colour depth. Below the screen is a very PDA-like chrome ring of buttons. The menu and call buttons are cleverly placed on this ring and while everything looks a little intimidating a couple of hours of use and one learns to appreciate the thought behind the layout. The joypad is well laid out and all the keys on the front facia offer good feedback. The backlight used is superb and very visible. The phone’s slider mechanism, while slick at first, does develop some play as mechanics cause looseness with time. The revealed number keypad is well laid out and the keys are beveled with just the right amount of travel and feedback. Backlighting is superb and so is the functionality of the light sensor. The multimedia keys are revealed beneath the other side of the slider (its two-way). The phone is fast and has 8 GB of in-built storage — additional memory expansion is not supported. It’s got all the features that today’s cellphones support — Nokia packed this to the gills and about the only thing missing is a QWERTY keypad.

The N95 8 GB has a superb antenna and calls are crystal clear with great reception wherever you go. It trounced even the N96 in zone 1 and the earpiece volume and handsfree clarity is top notch. The headset is also suitable for music and MP3s sound great on this phone and in conjunction with the eight gigabytes of storage built in, the N95 8GB can double as an MP3 player.

With a 1200 mAh battery the N95 8GB will go for at least five and a half hours while talking on GSM networks. Its five megapixel camera is no slouch and with a few tweaked settings, the N95 8 GB can really hold its own except with the newer, more advanced Samsung cameras. It’s an older phone now, but still offers all the goods, now at a lower price. For Rs. 28,389 the N95 8 GB is nearly Rs. 10,000 cheaper than the N96 which is not always a better phone but offers a couple of extra features and greater storage. With prices as low as Rs. 24,000 on the street, now may be the right time to grab this handset; if you can live with its mediocre finish and its chunky looks.

Nokia E71

A beautiful looking handset that has really been built to last, the Nokia E71 is a slim, wide phone with a full-QWERTY keypad. One look and its corporate orientation is obvious. The shiny chrome rimmed front facia and the dimpled steel battery cover all add a touch of suave sophistication. The screen could have been slightly larger but then the phone would become wider. The glossy finish feels better than the slightly matte finish on the E75. The keypad is small, and cramped; without the excellent bevelling on the keys, it would be unusable. But thanks to that and some great key feedback the keypad grows on you after a few hours of use. The menu buttons are very close to each other but well laid out and we never experienced false key hits. The call buttons are suitably larger and easy to use. The joypad is similar to the E75 but feels a little more usable mainly because the edges of the four-way scroll are not as sharp as the one on the E75. The display is crisp, with excellent colours, but we feel Nokia made the icons a little too drab. The Symbian interface has changed little for the E-Series devices but we found the menus a bit different - stuff had been moved around under different menus and there were a couple of extra options available. Corporate users will want to note that Nokia’s push mail service works as well as Blackberry’s and for those who feel that RIM devices are the only ones with flawless push mail service, think again.But it’s the small keypad with the excellent bevelling that is the main feature of this device and once you get the hang of it, typing out long emails is no problem. Unfortunately it’s not suited to quickly type out numbers to dial since the number keys are in the middle of the QWERTY keypad, and their lettering aside, not differentiated in any way.

The camera is decent, on par with the unit on the E75. The handsfree jack is a 2.5-mm unit and sadly Nokia missed a spot here as we feel all jacks should be 3.5-mm for maximum compatibility. Call quality is good but the loudspeaker is not very loud, that being said it’s louder than the unit on the E75. A couple of the X-Series phones have better call quality and therefore better in-built antennas. The handsfree unit is not as good as the one on the E75 or the N95 8 GB. Music quality is good and the screen is good enough to view videos.

Priced at Rs. 22,949 the Nokia E71 has a great keypad and is one of the best built Nokias around. We heartily recommend it for those looking for a great multipurpose phone with strong business accents.