Just purchased a Nokia E51. It arrived an hour back and from the first experience it seems like Nokia has finally managed to make a perfect business smartphone with practical size and weight and a good price. Every time I purchased a cellphone before this, I was always somewhat disappointed with something or the other like missing features or buttons or unnecessary bulk and immediately started cribbing on how anyone with common sense could make small improvements. But here there's absolutely nothing I could spot that was an obvious error.
Looks - It is a nice pocket-fitting, candybar size and light-weight phone. The keypad is regular ABC with great tactile response and has just the right dedicated keys for SMS, Contacts, Calendar and Menu (though the left and right soft keys are kinda too small). As far as looks are concerned, this is one of those rare phones which actually looks better in real-life than those brushed-up publicity images on the internet. Its certainly not very different-looking and is not meant for the bling crowd who want to turn heads. It is very sleek and a regular candybar which will be appreciated by the utilitarians.
Connectivity - It has more than necessary connectivity options including Quadband, Bluetooth, Infrared, USB, Edge, Wi-fi (that's right), 3g etc. which makes it future proof for when the Indian networks upgrade their technology. The network strength was better than average in the little time I used it. The box had a mini-USB PC cable included.
Multimedia - The camera is 2-megapixel and is good enough for outdoors and well-lit conditions. I haven't tested the music and video multimedia performance yet but these are obviously not going to be as good as the N-Series mobiles. The screen is a 2-inch QVGA display and since this is a S60v3 Symbian phone it will support most multimedia formats. It has FM radio and there was a stereo headset and 512 mb card included.
Price - The price was Rs. 12,400/- which makes it great Value-for-money for a smartphone. It has just been launched this week so the price might come down further (though I doubt it given the features and Wi-fi). Subhiksha, Univercell etc don't have it yet and some priority dealers were quoting it at Rs. 14,000/-.
Conclusion - All-in-all this is perfect for someone who needs a nice value-for-money candybar smartphone for calling, messaging, Internet etc and does not like very eclectic looks or bulky size. Those looking for good dedicated multimedia performance and use their phones as MP3/Video players and digicam should still go for the N73 Music Edition which is now available for Rs. 15,000/- in the market. But meanwhile, we business users have finally found a good substitute.
Links to Other Reviews - This was my first try at a review and written in a huge hurry so forgive the amateurish writing. Please check the technical features from other reviews as I might have excluded some vital things which are not obvious at first glance. Following are the links for some good professional reviews which I read before buying this phone:
Nokia E51 - Mobile Phone Review - CNET Asia (very detailed with all the features well-explained)
All About Symbian Review: Nokia E51 (Has a lot of pictures clicked by the reviewer comparing size etc)
Review: the Nokia E51 - OSNews.com (has pictures clicked from E51's camera)
E51 Blog -
Eseries » Nokia E51
Full specifications -
Nokia E51 - Full phone specifications
Nokia India E51 page -
Nokia India - Nokia E51 - Coming soon
Anyone who has any questions about the phone please post them here and I'll get back as soon as possible.
Nokia E51 Review - Finally the perfect business mobile
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