Nokia E5

The E5 is an update of the Nokia E71, or perhaps a budget version of the Nokia E72. Either way you look at it, the E5 is a fabulous phone, and a true rival to the BlackBerry Bold 9700. The E5 isn’t quite as slim as the E71 or E72, but it’s no heavier. A makeover has given it attractive modern looks with a smart metallic stripe across the navigation buttons. The E5 is slightly cheaper than the E72, but the only things missing are the front camera (so no video calling) and a reduced number of colours for the TFT display (262k instead of 16 million.) No big deal, we suspect, for most buyers.

We’ve previously reviewed the E71 and E72 in depth, so we’re not going to cover the same ground here. We’ll just say that the E5 is an excellent business phone with a superb QWERTY keyboard and is a clear rival for the BlackBerry Bold 9700. The Bold has a slightly superior keyboard and a higher resolution display, but the E5 is cheaper and has an FM radio. And it’s a Series 60 smartphone running Symbian OS version v. 9.3, so you have access to all the apps in the Ovi Store.

Whichever way you look at it, all the phones we’ve mentioned here are superb and you shouldn’t go wrong whichever you choose!

• 5 megapixel camera with full focus, LED flash and 3x digital zoom
• VGA video camera with 3x digital zoom
• Display: TFT, 256,000 colours, 240 x 320 pixels (2.36 inches)
• Music Player (mp3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, WMA formats)
• FM radio with RDS support
• MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, WMA ringtones / video ringtones
• Speakerphone
• Voice memo recording
• Integrated A-GPS with Nokia Maps
• Messaging: SMS, MMS, email (POP3, IMAP4 and SMTP protocols), Instant messaging
• Attachment viewer for Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Excel
• Symbian and Java™ MIDP 2.0 applications
• Internet: Web browser, WAP, GPRS, EDGE, HSPA up to 10.2 Mbps download
• Connectivity: WLAN 802.11b/g, Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR, micro-USB, 3.5 mm audio jack
• Memory: 256 Mbytes plus 2GB microSD card (up to 32 GB supported)
• Vibration alert
• Quadband (850/900/1800/1900) plus triband 3G HSPA
• Size: 115 x 59 x 13 mm
• Weight: 126g
• Battery: 1200 mAh Li-Ion
• Talktime: 5 hours (3G) – 13 hours (2G)
• Battery standby: 635 hours – 670 hours