nokia e51 review

E51

Prior to the Nokia E51 i had been using the E50 .The E51 is a direct replacement of the E5o. It was only 9 months back that I started using this phone.So here comes my review.

Key features :

• GPRS/EGPRS Class A, multi-slot class 32
• 3G :Yes, HSDPA, 3.6 Mbps
• Wi-Fi, VoIP over WLAN
• Symbian 9.2 OS Series 60 3rd edition
  
• 12 mm slim, elegant design
• 130 MB on board memory, expandable via micro SD cards (up to 4 GB), hot swap
• Browser used : WAP 2.0/xHTML
• Bluetooth v2.0
  
• FM Radio
• Weight : 100g [including battery]
  

Nokia offers a wide range of E series business phones. Each E series phone is optimized for different types of business users.The Nokia E51 is no exception to this and you can expect some good connectivity options from it.

Appearance :

• The dark glossy-metallic finish gives it a nice, elegant appearance.
• The screen measures two inches corner-to-corner and delivers 320 x 240 pixels.
• The number pad keys are all large and shaped so that while they all touch each other and feel like individual keys. I had no trouble number dialing or texting quickly.

Connectivity :

• WLAN and a great GPRS connection allow for great a browsing experiences.
  
• The inbuilt browser is not so great but Opera Mini which can be downloaded for free greatly improves the browsing experience.

GRPS :

• GPRS often causes this phone to hang and reboot unexpectedly.This is one of the biggest disappointments and has been reported by many of the phone users.

Memory -

• With over a 100 MB of internal memory it’s definitely a lot faster than it’s predecessor

Battery -

• It has standard Li-Ion battery 1050 mAh (BP-6MT)
• The stand-by time is up to 310 hrs and talk time is up to 4 hrs 20 min

Operating System :

• This phone is a symbian OS 9.2 based phone which means that installing applications, games, themes etc will not be a hassle at all

Music player :

• Not top notch but when compared to some of the other phones in its price range it is quite good

Keypad :

• Dedicated shortcut keys for contacts, messages. calendar and home. Around the navigation pad itself, 9 keys are provided. But still the numeric keys are made large enough for comfortable usage.

Pros :

• Full black steel body gives it a nice, elegant appearance.
• Power packed with Wi-fi and 3G technologies like HSDPA
• You can define your IMAP/POP mail box.
• In device search [just like windows search...search a given word in messages, contacts, notes,calendar, other files...which i think is exceptionally cool ]
• Of course symbian 60...which gives the extensibility to your phone...a wide arrayof places to download cool applications, games and themes.
• Great battery life
• Looks quite sleek
  

Cons:

• GPRS often causes this phone to hang and reboot unexpectedly which is by far its biggest drawback.
• Little congested key layout. It takes some time to get used to it (But it can be over come easily).
• Camera is a big disappointment for camera freaks....2MP without auto focus.. no flash(but business phones don't need them right??)
• Front camera not included : I think this is needed for a 3G phone for video calls.Also camera’s "sound disable" is not there. So need to live with the "shutter" sound whenever u click a snap!
• Speaker is located at the backside - sound output is just ok-not too loud as N-series
• Side keys are very hard to press and mine are on the verge of getting damaged.

Conclusion:

I still feel that the Pros of the Nokia E51 completely outweigh its Cons .The Nokia E51 is probably one of the models that offers the best price/performance ratio. Good value for money