Nokia E72 review

Nokia’s E72 has a very déjà vu feeling about it. If you remember the E71 then at first glance the E72 looks like a clone. In fact there are some subtle design differences and there has been a general updating all round. If you are a fan of the front facing QWERTY keyboard but don’t want a BlackBerry, then the E72 is a very well designed alternative.

If you sit the E72 and an iPhone side by side on the desk, they measure up to each other almost identically. The E72 comes in at 114mm x 58.3mm x 10.1mm and 128g as opposed to the iPhone’s 115.5mm x 62.1mm x 12.3mm x 135g. But the E72 has an old fashioned non touch screen and mini QWERTY keyboard, making it a very different beast indeed.

One of the real plus points of this handset is the under-screen shortcut keys. Alongside a D-pad, two softmenu keys and Call and End keys there are four others. They have set functions out of the box but can be personalised. Out of the box they take you to calendar, contacts, messaging and the home screen.

Long and short presses have different functions, so you can, for example, add a new appointment by long pressing the calendar key, and see an overview of the month by short pressing that key.

The D-pad has an optical navi key in its centre. We found this most useful for things like Web browsing where it moves a small cursor around the screen. Simply moving through ordinary lists or the home screen is easily achieved using the D-Pad’s outer rim.

The screen is quite small by modern standards, and it is not touch sensitive. Its resolution of 320 x 240 seems low on paper too but don’t be put off by that. It is sharp and bright, and displays its information clearly.

Among the data on the Home screen is missed call and text notifications. Select the latter and a window gives you a preview from which you can choose what to view. Some will find this an unnecessary feature, others might feel it helps them to jump to the info that really matters.

Nokia repeats its trick of offering two home screens which you can populate and theme differently. You switch between them by choosing the switch icon on the home screen.

The QWERTY keyboard is very well constructed. It is small, but the keys are raised which makes them easy to hit. The number pad is embedded centrally, there is a separate key @ and there are several long press shortcuts including Bluetooth activation, phone mute and toggling the photo light so it can double as a torch.

Document creation fans will like that QuickOffice with full document, spreadsheet and presentations creation is here, and Adobe Reader is here too. In fact, there is lots of potentially useful software here for the seriously minded smartphone user. WiPresenter, for example, which lets you control PowerPoint presentations, and Multiscanner which is a business card scanner. It worked well for us capturing data from some quite complex cards.

This is an HSDPA handset with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS. Nokia Maps is pre-installed. There is a front facing VGA camera and a main 5-megapixel camera on the back. We’ve already noted its LED light which is fairly bright. There’s a photo editor for a little retouching before you pass images on over the air.

Music playback and an FM radio are supported, and it is nice to see a 3.5mm headset jack on the top of the chassis. The flat in-ear buds are one piece, though.

Like the E71 before it this is a very well featured handset with good ergonomics. If you are a fan of S60 and want a qwerty keyboard, look no further.

Price: £350 SIM-free
Web: www.nokia.com

Essential Verdict
Performance: 8/10
Design: 8/10
Features: 8/10
Value for Money: 8/10
Overall score: 8/10

Written by Sandra Vogel.

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