Photo gallery: Nokia E55Before the E55 was announced in February, Nokia's E-series portfolio was clearly segmented into the Communicator series, messaging-optimised and voice-orientated devices. This has changed with the E55 which features a hybrid keyboard with a dual-letter layout, making it a cross between the E51 and E71.
Upside
Unlike the E75 which has a numeric keypad and landscape slide-out QWERTY, the E55 packs a single dual-letter keyboard. This is similar to the ones on the HP iPAQ Voice Messenger and the SureType on a BlackBerry smartphone. A hybrid layout like this keeps the E55 relatively compact. Its footprint of 116x49mm means the E55 is only marginally larger than the E51, but with a considerably slimmer 9.9mm profile. In fact, the Finns are so confident of the E55's petite frame that they call it the smallest Nokia messaging device.
At the core of this device is the S60 operating system familiar to most Nokia users, although the company has traditionally tweaked the software to be slightly different from those in the N-series, for example, in terms of security features (data encryption and remote wipe) and pre-installed apps. The key difference here is the enhanced email interface which lets users receive HTML email, manage folders and sort messages by date, sender and size. We tried this previously on the E75 and found it a breeze to use, so this would likely be the same with the E55.
Aside from software enhancements, there are also slight modifications to the physical keypad. There's one less dedicated shortcut to the phone book which has been replaced in favour of the Back key. We don't think this will hamper the user experience beyond the initial stages as the soft keys can be customised to open specific apps.
Nokia packs a 1500mAh lithium-polymer cell with the E55, which gives it up to eight hours of talk time and nearly a month on standby. We are certainly eager to put these claims to the test. The smartphone also features HSUPA, one of the few devices that support the data upload connection, alongside HSDPA, Bluetooth stereo, Wi-Fi and assisted-GPS. There's also a 3.2-megapixel camera and a 3.5mm audio jack for plugging in to your personal ear buds. Earlier E-series smartphones came with 2.5mm ports, so the 3.5mm jack is definitely a welcome addition to the portfolio.
Downside
Our initial experience with the keyboard layout was somewhat lacking, but we'll chalk that down to having only a short time with it at the launch back in February. There is a learning curve with the dual-letter keyboard and users new to this will most likely find themselves fumbling with the keys.
Outlook
In the earlier days, the E-series line-up had a distinct target audience, ie, business and enterprise workers who needed to have access to a suite of Office apps, emails and enhanced security features. From the E51 to recent devices like the E75 and E55, Nokia has started to change dramatically to the point where we start to wonder if the company is cannibalising its N-series line-up which is more known for its multimedia-handling capabilities. Even within the E-series, the product lines are also becoming more complicated as new form factors get introduced, so it'll definitely be interesting to follow this space.
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