The Nokia E75

A month ago Nokia held a 3 hour online sale. Most of their top of the line phones were on sale at 50% off. I just couldn't help it. I've been eyeing that E75 for so long. I ordered one. I received it on June 25th. On June 29th I called them. "I want to send it back." The sales person then explained how if I kept it for 30 days I could exchange it for something else and besides, there was a 15% restocking fee. Damn it! I sighed heavily and decided I'd keep it for at least the next week or so but if I still hated it I would send it back and maybe give the Nokia E71 a shot.

So what were my initial problems with it? For starters, the much touted slide out keyboard might as well be an Apple virtual keyboard. The keys are so flat that your fingers have little or no tactile feedback, which is the whole point! I was mistyping just as much with this keyboard as I would have with the iPhone. Grrrrrrr.

Then, aside from that I didn't realize it wasn't a Windows based phone. It's Symbian. Not that I love all things Window, but I a) understand them and b) can find loads of free software that is Windows based. When I went looking for my beloved Google Sync to sync my calendar from phone to Google Calendar I was livid!! Because I now have a Symbian platform phone, there is no free calendar sync available. The one trial of GooSync I used wouldn't probably sync both ways. It would transfer Google Calendar events to the phone but not the other way around. When I had my Windows' based Motorola Q9h, I did this all the time and loved knowing that my life was organized. This glitch with the new phone is really upsetting me. I can go online and just check my calendar the old fashioned way, but if it would sync properly I'd be much happier.

Once I was done being annoyed that the two functions I use most on my phone didn't work, I decided to explore the phone further. It has loads of customizability, a plus for sure. The browser is a little clunky feeling sometimes and the screen doesn't always fully load so that you have to scroll left and right. (Another thing my Motorola did well.) However, the resolution is fantastic and it's pretty fast most of the time. The FM radio is a very nice addition and I've used it on train rides. The groups function is great and I already have profiles that exclude certain groups of people when I just don't want to be bothered (my husband probably thinks he's in that group but he isn't). The GPS works pretty well and Google Earth works just fine on the phone, which was a pleasant surprise. However, beware of using this feature too much. It will eat the battery in no time flat. At first the battery life annoyed me as well but I realized that so long as you're not Google Earthing or playing the Sims 3 you should be fine. (I downloaded Sims 3 immediately because my husband was taunting me about it on the iPhone. For the record, it's okay if you're killing a little time but don't expect it to be nearly as good as the power versions available for game systems or your computer.)

Now that I'm used to it, the keyboard isn't all that bad but I'm still mildly annoyed that Nokia was soooo close to my perfect phone and botched in on something as basic as the keyboard design. All in all it's a good phone, lots of bells and whistles. I like that it has WiFi but so do most other phones. Mostly what's good about it is the large scale customizability and it's functionality. It really can function as a mini computer in a pinch. The Office program is compatible with MS Office files and it works well, including very good coping and pasting functionality. You can edit a file on your phone will listening to WQXR. Keyboard notwithstanding, it's one of the better phones out there at this time.

OH.... and the bonus feature is that it has 2 cameras! One takes really good, clear photos at higher resolution and the other takes smaller pics which are more appropriate for sending as MMS to others without crashing their phones. Very thoughtful of the Nokia designers.

On a scale of 1 to 5 I give it a 3.75.