Part of Nokia's Eseries business smartphone line-up (which also includes the similarly spec'd but differently shaped E61 and E70), the E60's square, simple look belies a wealth of features designed to make it easier to do business, wherever you are.
Design
The E60 is, to put it bluntly, a bit of a brick. Nokia calls it a "monoblock", and at 115mm by 49mm by 16.9mm and 117g, that it is. Given the Finnish company's recent experimentation with unusual phone form factors (such as the keyless 7380 and the swivel-happy 3250), it's a contrast to see a regression to the basic rectangular shape of days gone by. With its silver accents and simple silhouette, the E60 is not unattractive, but it does reflect the strictly business nature of the phone's features.
For a large phone, some of the buttons are curiously tiny. The power key on the top right is small and stealthy, and Nokia's decision to refer to the five-way directional key as a "joystick" was somewhat optimistic. Scrolling through Web pages for more than a few minutes will bring you not joy, but a sore thumb, due to the small, recessed nature of this square button.
One thing that did make us very happy was the brilliant display. The 16 million-colour screen is simply gorgeous, and makes reading Web pages and e-mail attachments very easy on the eyes.
Features
Many of the features across the Eseries have been designed to fit in easily with an existing enterprise environment, removing the hassle of setting up protocols, proxies and passwords. Particularly useful features of the E60 include the ability to connect to your company's IP-PBX system so that calls to your desk phone are automatically diverted to your mobile. This also means that you can use the E60 to perform workplace telephone functions like call transfer and voicemail forwarding.
For mobile mail, you can go the IMAP/POP3 standard route, or take the plunge into push e-mail. The Eseries phones support third party push applications including BlackBerry Connect, meaning the E60 can swiftly slot into an existing BlackBerry enterprise set-up.
Calls can be made over GSM and 3G networks, or you can take advantage of the E60's Wi-Fi and use VoIP. Push-To-Talk, speakerphone, conference call compatibility and a dedicated key allowing immediate voice recording round out the voice features.
As expected for a business-focused model, "fun" 3G phone features such as a camera for video calls are not included, nor is an FM radio, but there is a multimedia player.
There is 64MB of internal memory, with an RS-MMC slot allowing expansion of up to 2GB.
Performance
We had no problems with connectivity -- Bluetooth devices paired instantly with the E60, and file transfer was quick and easy. E-mail transmission and attachment handling (PDF, Word and Excel documents) was also problem-free, with those wonderful wizards guiding the set-up process. We appreciated the ability to edit received documents rather than just view them.
Despite our grumblings about navigating with the joystick, we liked the way Web browsing was handled. The relatively new S60 Web browser, which is based on the same components as Apple's Safari application, allows big, complex Web pages to be displayed on small screens with few changes to design and functionality. It's a brilliant browser -- we especially liked the Page Overview function, which displays a mini screenshot of the entire page so you know which direction to move your pointer in. The phone's display rotate feature also allows you to browse in landscape mode.
Voice features all performed well; the speakerphone was nice and clear, although playback volume without headphones was a little soft. You also need to stay within a metre or two of the microphone when recording.
Battery life was very good, with the phone lasting almost a week on mid-level voice and text use. Extended internet use did bring battery life down significantly, but no more than you'd expect for a 3G smartphone.
Generally, the E60 was a pleasure to use. It may not suit heavy mobile Web users given the screen size and small joystick, but push e-mail devotees who don't want a device of PDA proportions will be happy with this model. It's not a phone that you'd slip into your board shorts when the weekend rolls around, but the focus on workday functions and corporate integration means it does everything you'd want a business phone to do.
Those who want the same features but are stuck on the BlackBerry's QWERTY keyboard should take a look at Nokia's E61.
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