NOKIA E5 User Reviews

Ownership period: less than 3 months.

The Nokia E5 does everything it says on the tin rather well. Pitched as a cheaper version of the E72, it is definitely a phone for those not enamoured with the current touchscreen craze, but by the same token it is not ideal for those addicted to menu animations, animated wallpapers or widgets - and the screen's too small for movie watching (at a push, some TV shows if they're not particularly detail-rich). I got mine under a renewed contract replacing the very well regarded Nokia E71. Despite a few teething troubles from the updated OS, it's a worthy upgrade. Improvements over said E71 include: optional USB charging (at last!), 3.5mm headphone jack, loads more RAM, faster processor, better inbuilt email client, over-the-air firmware updates (usually of the hotfix variety), some interface improvements etc.

However, the Symbian OS S60 3rd Edition still has a baffling number of poorly-arranged and sometimes contradictory settings menus. If you are familiar with previous phones of this type, fine, if not expect a learning curve mostly absent from Iphone/Android offerings.

Additionally, the screen is less posh. Apparently those in sunny countries have terrible visibility issues outdoors, although being in one of the cloudier areas of the UK I have had no issues whatsoever.

Here's a thing for those E71 fans. Nokia have moved the apostrophe away from being on a dedicated 'primary' key to requiring pressing of shift+L. Whilst I got used to this in time it did spoil my flow when typing initially.

Final bits: I like the mp3 player + podcast client rather a lot. Plus the battery life puts those "charge every day" big-screen phones to shame. Leaving it on 2G mode and laying off the wifi and screen brightness, I can spend seemingly days browsing on Opera Mini without issue (Opera Mini only really needs 2G if you're just reading sites).

Your jaw will not drop. But if you're more into practicality than aesthetics, you'll be pleased.

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