Nokia E62 Review

The Nokia E62 is a bar design available through Cingular. The display is large, taking up the top half of the device, with the keyboard taking up the bottom half. It has an all metal silver casing and is similar in size to the Blackberry 8700. Opening the box revealed an AC charger, USB cable, Users Guide and PC Suite software for your PC.

There are several key features on this device that are just about required by anyone using a PDA integrated with a cell phone these days. Bluetooth, full internet, QWERTY keyboard, several email options, calendar and the ability to Sync with your computer all allow for ease of use. The Symbian operating system allows for a wide variety of third party programs to be downloaded onto the device, for a fee. You are able to view, and edit PowerPoint, Excel and Word documents, Adobe Reader, however we would recommend viewing and not editing Excel or Power Point files. Trying to edit them led us to frustration a few times before we finally gave up and went to a computer to edit them. The E62 lacks both the 3G band (UMTS/HSDPA), and Wi-Fi of its predecessor, the E61.

The Nokia E62 is a standard PDA form factor similar to the Blackberry 8700. At first, it felt rather large in the hand, but after a few days we were thankful for the size as it allowed for the oversized screen. If you plan to carry it in your pocket, don’t forget to lock the keys as we found keys were being pushed accidentally. We usually forget to lock the keypad, so an automatic locking feature would be welcome on the next version.



The display is large, even compared to most other PDA’s. Measuring at 2.8 inches diagonally with 320 x 240 pixel resolution and over 16 million color output, this display does not disappoint. During out tests we used it inside and outside in the sunlight and didn’t have a problem seeing it. The contrast and the backlight can be also adjusted if darker or lighter display is desired. Its only downside is that it is not touchable.

Using the keyboard was easier than most PDA’s that Cingular has out today, mainly because of the size of the keys as well as the space between them. You navigate through the menus using a joystick stationed directly below the screen in the middle of the device. Two soft keys can be reprogrammed for applications you would use frequently for quick launch. The remaining keys are made up of a call button, end button and power button. Side keys include volume controls and a voice record button on the left side of the device. We found the keys to be a bit stiff, but they responded well and we rarely pushed a key accidentally when typing.

Unique characteristics include a flashing LED light when you have a waiting email, using any of the available email programs including Blackberry Connect and Xpressmail.

Features:

The menu took a little getting used to. After a few days, we were easily able to navigate where we went often, but had difficulty finding other options. Moving through the menus wasn’t slow, but it wasn’t as fast as a lot of devices out there today. The icons on the main screen can be customized to features you use more often so you don’t have to waste a lot of time navigating through the menus, although it does take some time to learn how to do this (unless you’ve used a Symbian operating system before). Out of the box, the main display shows the time as well as signal, battery. Active home screen options include messages, calendar, calculator, internet, contacts, world clock and bluetooth. It can be turned on or off and themes can change the visualization of the menus. Your email and appointments are listed so you can check those with just a glance.

Organizer:

The phonebook is extremely easy to use, even with all the information you can store in it. The E62 phonebook is not limited, and the number of contacts saved only depends on the available memory. The contact information is set up so you have the ability to store several phone numbers plus an email address, both seem very easy to search by just beginning to spell the name or dial the number. Several options to make it easier to function at a glance are picture ID, which looks very clear, and ringer ID, which is very loud. Assigning both picture and ringer ID’s are simply done through the contact list, although you have to send the picture from another location because of the lack of camera.




Using the calendar is extremely easy, you can move by hour, day, week or month and can use repeat occasions to easily copy an appointment or meeting even designating only by weekday. The alarm is easy to get to by selecting the world clock icon and clicking on the alarm. All the basic personal management functions are present and perform nicely compared to just about every device out there.




Voice recording is easy enough using the button on the side of the phone, and can be up to 1 minute long. One problem we experienced with this option is with the button placement. Side keys include volume controls and voice record button on the left side of the device. We found the keys a bit stiff, but they responded well and rarely pushed a key accidentally when typing.

Messaging:

When you select to send or read a text or picture message, the device hesitates. Nokia released a software update to alleviate this problem, but after a few days with the software update, the messaging seemed it began hesitating again. It’s not painfully slow, but it does cause frustration when moving between messages. Although the E62 has a full keyboard, you are still able to use predictive text entry.

Email was what this phone was built for, and it doesn’t disappoint. Using both Xpressmail and Blackberry email, the device performs admirably. No device we’ve used compares with the exception of the more recent Blackberry devices such as the Pearl. Most recent emails appear on the main display so you can see what’s new without having to enter the email program. Attachments are supported, but they don’t automatically download, which doesn’t pose a problem because you may not want to view the attachment at that time. The attachments can be easily downloaded by selecting Download while viewing the email.

Connectivity and Data:

Bluetooth functionality is simple to use. We were able to transfer several pictures, audio files and an Excel spreadsheet using bluetooth and a computer. The E62 uses version 2.0 and supports up to 6 simultaneous connections. We only used two at one time, a headset and a GPS receiver. When I received a call as the GPS was running, the phone call took over. Within seconds of hanging up, the E62 and the GPS receiver synced and updated my location on the route I had mapped. Supported profiles include HSP, HFP, DUN, OPP, FTP, SAP and BIP.

The E62 supports full HTML as well as WAP. Using Cingular’s Media Net, the pages appear as they do on a standard device and load rather quickly with 3 bars of service. We was able to click back and forward without waiting for the page to download again, which supports Nokia’s claim that recent pages are cached on the device. Full HTML functions the pretty much the same way, but included a mini page feature. If you hold down the joystick in any given direction a mini webpage appears allowing you to see your location on a given page and quickly moving to the desired location on the page.



Multimedia:

The E62 plays audio files using the speaker, or with a headset. While using the speaker option, the music sounded fine with the volume up about three quarters of the way. If you turn it all the way up, it sounds a little distorted. A headset fixed that problem; we had the volume all the way up with no issues. The overall interface for playing music was pretty easy to get used to, especially since you can categorize by play list, artist and genre.

Software:

At 75 MB, the E62 has virtually no problem with internal memory and a small assortment of downloaded programs. Using an external memory card you can greatly expand the software capabilities, but expect your programs to lag slightly, especially when running programs from the card itself. It wasn’t too frustrating, but it is noticeable.

Java versions MIDP 2.0 and CLDC 1.1 are supported. We experienced no problems with any programs that use JAVA, with the exception of when we had to access something stored on the memory card as we stated earlier.

Performance:

Applications stored on the phone started up at a decent speed as expected, however when stored on the memory card, they lagged slightly as they were loading. Once an application was open and running, there was very little lag time.

When we moved into a low signal area where most phones drop the signal all together, we still had enough of a signal to make a call. We tried to use the internet, but load times were very slow in the low coverage area.

Sound quality in general is very good. While on speaker phone, the volume was very loud and but had a slight echo. Using the phone without the speaker on sounded exceptionally clear, but you have to position the earpiece within a certain area near your ear to hear the other person. With a bluetooth headset connected, we experienced the same level of clarity as without the headset.

Battery life was much better than the rated talk times. We got about a full hour more than the rated time of 5.5 hours. The bluetooth was turned on the entire time and we had email set to check for new messages every 10 minutes, with moderate internet usage. Standby time lasted almost 13 days, with bluetooth and email on the same settings. During the standby time test we were moving through my area in both low and high coverage areas.

Conclusion:

Overall this is a solid PDA. The voice quality and email functions are excellent, especially when combined in one device. It will work well to organize your life, while others will be impressed by the look of the device. If you are used to the Symbian OS, this is an excellent phone for you. If you are a first time user of Symbian, you may find it frustrating to learn a new OS. While it’s useful to view excel files, you can only make small changes on the device. Anything too complicated will leave you frustrated.

We would recommend this phone to anyone interested in a true all in one device.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

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