Nokia e65 Review
Nokia’s E-Series of smartphones are primarily targeted at the business user. As such, most E-Series handsets have been largely utilitarian in design. While beauty is, of course, in the eye of the beholder one can’t argue that Nokia has kept style in mind when they released the Nokia e65 for sale on February 2007. At 105x49x15.5 mm and 115 g, the e65 is a very compact handset given its feature set. The slider form factor with rounded edges and a leather like finish looks good. Not exactly a fashion phone but certainly one of the best looking in the E-Series line.
Build quality is par for the course with any high-end Nokia handset. The e65 for sale feels solidly built from the sliding mechanism to the keypad. The spring-loaded slider has smooth action and locks in place nice and firm. The leather-like texture of the plastic makes for a grippy feel.
The keypad has decent sized keys and are nicely spaced but, unlike other E-Series handsets, the unlocked Nokia e65 doesn’t have a QWERTY keypad. If you plan on sending a lot of email and are used to QWERTY layouts, start practicing your triple-tapping. Keys on the handset’s face include shortcuts for one-touch conference calls, accessing your contact list, and a user-configurable “My Own” button. The Nokia e65 for sale also features an ambient light sensor that automatically adjusts the brightness of the keypad backlighting.
The Nokia e65 for sale has a 2.2-inch active-matrix LCD running at a resolution of 240x320 pixels with support for up to 16M colors. While a higher resolution screen would have been nice, the screen still performed well displaying crisp colors with good clarity. The ability to adjust contrast and brightness levels is a very welcome feature.
The 2MP camera is average; nothing to rave about but no complaints either. One glaring omission, however, is the lack of a front-facing camera. Secondary cameras for video calling are pretty much a standard for any 3G handset.
One of this handsets strengths is its connectivity features. The Nokia e65 for sale is Quad-band GSM with support for 3G and EDGE as well as 802.11b/g. The added support for VoIP over Wi-Fi is a nice touch. The handset also has excellent signal reception on all fronts.
As a business-oriented phone, support for push email is pretty much a given. The nokia e65 for sale supports various push email services including Nokia’s own Intellisync, Microsoft Exchange and Blackberry Connect. However, heavy email users or those used to the Crackberries will surely miss the full QWERTY keypad.
In addition to the standard and very capable S60 PIM functions (which can be accessed in the middle of a call), notable business features also include office-based applications as well as a voice recorder. Missing from the applications list is a document editor. But, with a 2” screen and the lack of a QWERTY keypad, you probably would not want to whip up a spreadsheet on the e65. The voice memo feature is hampered by the 1 minute maximum recordings.
Other noteworthy features include extensive search capabilities and impressive battery life.
The emphasis on style with the discounted Nokia e65 may have come at the expense of true business-class features. For power users and would-be executives, this handset might not be for you as there are quite a few trade-offs. But if you think that less business functionality for a more compact and stylish handset is an acceptable compromise then you can do no wrong by buying the e65. And, being more than a year old, discounted Nokia e65 units should be easily found.
