Nokia E60 Smartphone Review

June 8th, 2006

I get hundreds of emails a day at Newsvine and it is incredibly important that I am able to properly organize and respond to a great many of them. So far my attempts to keep my life organized have always been bottlenecked at the juncture of the mobile device. I started off with an Audiovox SMT-5600, which seemed pretty good at first glance.

At first use, I came to the conclusion that Windows Mobile 2003 had a lot of features packed into a relatively tight space. As with many relationships, things were good in the beginning. Then, I tried to sync the Windows phone with my Mac via Missing Sync software. That was a nightmare. Once I got it set up properly I was able to download all of my contacts and calendar info into my mobile device. But upon making changes to the mobile device and syncing again I would end up with double, and sometimes even triple entries on my computer, making me have to go through all these absurd hoops to restore my system back to normal. On top of that, I could only read emails from my device but could not have any actions done on the mobile phone reflected on my machine at work or at home. Basically, it seemed like the only Windows device I allowed into my life was making it quite miserable, which I can only look back at and ask myself why I should’ve expected anything else. My device remained in a ‘read-only’ state for some time before I sent her packing.

Next, my outlook brightened with the release of the Blackberry 8700c. It seemed to have a rich feature set and plenty of endorsements from the business community. After going through numerous hoops in getting the Cingular device unlocked to use with T-Mobile, I was whisked away into BlackberryLand. There, I found counterintuitive menus and options, third party applications that were frustratingly hard to get working, and the thing was quite large which is a big negative in my book. Heap on top of that the fact that I then had the reverse problem of doing things on my BB that later were not reflected on the Mac (the reverse of the problem with my WM phone). So, I spent an inordinate amount of time deleting emails on my Mac that I had already trashed on the BB. Not cool. Lastly, the battery life was terrible. The Blackberry lasted slightly longer than a week.

My next phone was the slick looking Samsung T-809. Though I didn’t expect it to have any ’smart’ features, I was impressed by the thin-as-razr sliding form factor, and had high hopes for it as a ‘regular phone’. I enjoyed the ease of having something wafer thin in my pocket and the amazingly crisp display that generated oohs and ahhs around town. But, in the end it would prove to be nothing more than a temporary infatuation as I realized that this thing was good for talking, but nothing more. Though the signal quality wan’t very good, the operating system was the T-809’s biggest shortcoming. I just couldn’t stand the fact that the most advanced Samsung models seem to have the exact same software as the ones the carriers give away for free or even pay you to use. The thing was basic, too basic. So, it was bon voyage.

Just in time, my brand spankin’ new, shiny Nokia E60 arrives in the mail. At first glance I was surprised (not in a good way) at the size. This thing was rather chunky, though it sports a shiny sliver finish. Slightly shorter in length than the Treo 700 (including antenna), but thinner and not as wide, this smartphone is more of a middleweight than than slim or obese. I slipped it into my jeans pocket and decided that the size wasn’t a deal breaker. After a proper charging, I powered the bugger on and that’s when I fell in love. Amazingly-high resolution display with light sensor (for automatic dimming), multiple IMAP email syncing on the fly, WiFi, push to talk and the most highly advanced mobile web browser on the market. The E60 comes loaded with the newest Symbian operating system, the most intuitive platform I’ve ever used on a mobile device. This Nokia also has superb reception even in areas my previous phones routinely dropped calls in. The best part of it all: I had the phone set up and syncing (almost) perfectly within an hour, which is unbelievable as a Mac user. The Nokia E60 did not disappoint. As I got to know it better, it actually surpassed my highest expectations, as you’ll soon read.

My E60 syncs simultaneously and seamlessly with .mac, including all my important information from Address Book and iCal. The only thing I had a slight problem with in the beginning was the timing of the iCal alarms, which I promptly solved by following the directions shown in this blog. Now I can have all the most crucial information at my fingertips as well as keep up to speed on that avalanche of email that is continually spilling into my inbox. It’s now nearly a week later and I’m still loving the E60 more each moment I get to know it a little better. Phones usually hardly last a few days before I know whether they’re dead weight or not. I feel that this Nokia will be around for a while despite it’s spartan outward appearance.

The E60 is the least expensive model in the expensive lineup of the most advanced Nokia phones. The E60 is about as regular-Joe as they come in terms of form. Basic candybar shape and comfortably-spaced large keys make this thing easy to type t9 on while driving, walking, etc. The E61 is its overweight cousin with full qwerty keyboard, which I abhor after the Blackberry but some people prefer. For the best of both worlds there is the E70, just released in the past few days, which combines both a regular keypad with a flip-open qwerty keyboard that requires two hands to operate. I don’t/can’t type on a qwerty keyboard with my thumbs so the other two models don’t appeal to me, though the E70 looks sexy as hell and the added street cred might warrant the heftier price tag.

Notable Features

• Wide and advanced 16.7 million-color high-resolution display (352 x 416 px) for superior browsing experience
• Dedicated voice key for advanced voice dialing, recording, and Push-to-Talk
• Optimized to provide robust mobile email performance, with the ability to view and edit attachments and still deliver voice functionality
• Built-in MP3 audio player with 48-chord polyphonic sound engine with MP3 ringer support
• S60 software and J2ME support for application, ringer, wallpaper, graphic and game downloads
• Bluetooth wireless technology for hands-free conversations and infrared port for synchronization
• Internet calls over WLAN offering cost effective options for local voice and data access
• Broadband speed with WCDMA and EDGE technology for high-speed data transmission with WAP 2.0 compliant browser with improved HTML support
• 75 MB of internal memory and MultiMediaCard (MMC) memory expansion slot for additional storage

Well, there you have it. My quest for a useable business phone ends at the E60 and roughly $400.

The Nokia E Series Smartphones

Update: I’ve switched phones, yet again. Read my review of the RIM BlackBerry Pearl
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Entry Filed under: Gear