Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Nokia E63: The Reasonably Priced E71 Sibling




You probably read some reviews already about the E63 or big brother E71. But nevertheless, here's my short take on the Nokia E63 after getting a brief hands-on with a friend's unit yesterday.

At first glance, the Nokia E63 looks like a phone meant for the young, easy-going, fun-loving, working yuppies -- that doesn't necessarily mean it's any less hardworking.

Even if the E63 doesn't look as striking as its QWERTY sibling, the E71, it doesn't look as smudge-prone and fragile. Its tactile keys are a treat to type message on. The only downside on the keypad though is its backlight, which is not enough for a big keypad. One can barely see the keys at the very bottom when using it in the dark.

It's a good thing the E63 has good battery life, as one will get carried away surfing the web via WiFi hotspots. Aside from having a rich landscape screen perfect for browsing, it supports Java and Flash, so you'll get your fill of silly YouTube clips on the go.



Much like most Nokia phones, the E63's interface is intuitive even for the first-time QWERTY users. And despite the hip facade, the phone underscores its business features -- Quickoffice, a pretty intricate calendar, and even printer support, among others -- by not having any games installed in the phone. The only source of entertainment on the E63 is its music player and FM radio that support your standard 3.5mm heads. These help boost the phone's otherwise thin sound quality. On the video front, the E63's two-megapixel camera yields decent photos, if you don't mind a little noise and no autofocus.

So, should you get the E63? If you've already got the E71, it's silly for you to get one. But if you're shopping around for a new phone, maybe now's the time to learn the QWERTY smart phone ropes -- especially since the Nokia E63's price tag is just as reasonable as typical mid-range phones in the market.

Specifications at a glance:
- Full QWERTY keyboard
- Touch sensitive Navi wheel
- 3.5mm audio jack
- 2.36" 320x240 pixels, 16 million colors QVGA display
- 120MB internal memory
- microSD memory card slot
- Quad-band GSM and dual-band UMTS with 3G
- Bluetooth with A2DP, Wi-Fi and microUSB
- 2 megapixel camera
- 432 hours standy, 11 hours talktime
- 113x59x13mm, 126g

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