Will E? Wouldnt E?

With the new E7,Nokia seems to be banking on its days of glory to propel it back to the top of the business phone segment,now ruled by the BlackBerry tribe. And the E7 is not a bad bet. With a 4 AMOLED capacitive touchscreen and a slide-out qwerty keypad,the E7 feels a lot like a solid brick made of metal. The design and finish of the phone made me double-check the writing on the box. Yes,this one is made in Finland,and not in friendly neighbourhood China. Well,now that means business.

There are many things I like about this phone. For one,there is a qwerty keypad,which is good enough to write a novella with. The keys are well-spaced and backlit,though the top row feels a bit cramped if you type with your thumbs. The AMOLED screen is one of the best I have seen,as it is easy to read and soothing to the eye.

The operating system is a bit of a doppelganger,though. The Symbian3 OS still has the character of other Symbian phones,but tries to do an Android and iOS at times. Despite the new interface with three flip through homescreens,you know this is a Symbian phone when you see the limited options available. You can add widgets,but there are not many to choose from. And they are locked in a grid,leaving hardly any room for playing around.

Thankfully,Nokia has gotten rid of many unnecessary software apps from the menu,which can be accessed through the lone button below the screen. There is a cool new integrated social networking app,and for everything else,there is the Nokia Ovi store. The Office side of the phone is still strong with Quickoffice,PDF reader,F-secure (anti-virus software) and other apps that you might need to work with on the move. Plus,the E7 can update software without the help of the Nokia PC suite,provided you have a fast connection.

Another great feature of the phone is the 8 MP camera with dual LED flash. You miss the autofocus,but there is a toggle volume button on the side,which doubles up as a zoom while in camera mode. The E7 can also shoot HD quality video,which you can play on a larger screen using the HDMI cable in the box. There is a complete photo editing software along with the camera,which lets you do a lot more than just add frames to your pictures. The software is good for editing video too,despite the content being in MP4. This also gives you a clear idea of the processing power of the E7.

The phone is great for mail and messaging,though I am not a great fan of the SMS thread view,which takes up to three clicks to reach the message. However,when it comes to email,there is push mail and the oversized keypad means you dont have to put a word limit to your replies. The E7 comes with 16 GB storage,which sadly cant be expanded for want of a card slot.

The E7 is a 3G phone and works very well on high-speed networks. From streaming videos to listening to Internet radio,this one is up to all the tasks. The speakers are good enough for you to keep your earphone aside,even while inside a crowded Metro train. But 3G will take a toll on your battery,reducing its life by about 30 per cent. Still it lasted me about three days without long calls,but through rather long sessions on the Net.

If you are loyal only to Nokia and dont mind using a Symbian OS in the Android era,this is the business phone for you. There are lots of pluses with this phone,and the minuses arent damaging enough to keep you away from it. Buy it if you can afford the Rs 29,000 price tag.

The E6

Nokia has started taking pre-orders for the E6,its new Touch and Type business smartphone which will be amongst the first on the Symbian Anna OS to be launched in India. The phone features a sleek design with a qwerty keypad and a high resolution touch display. It promises an out-of-the-box Microsoft messaging experience with access to Microsoft Exchange,Microsoft Communicator Mobile and Microsoft SharePoint. There is also an 8 MP full focus (EDOF) camera with dual LED flash,2x digital zoom and VGA front camera.

Price Rs 17,999.