Nokia E51 on Week 2: Not for me

I am at the beginning of my second week with the Nokia E51 and I ultimately have mixed feelings about it. I shall begin with the positive side of my ownership of this E51 device.

From a smartphone perspective the Nokia E51 is truly a marvel in its own right. With nearly (and I stress nearly) all the same features as the E90 from its use of the Nokia S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 1 operating system, it is very reliable for keeping up with the usual personal data of messaging (text, MMS, email), calendar events and contacts and has no trouble in keeping me connected with others via Gmail and AT&T messaging. The small form factor, slim profile and light weight of this phone makes it absolutely PERFECT for slipping flawlessly into ANY pocket and going virtually unnoticed. For the first time ever I finally know what it feels like to go without a belt clip holster on my waist throughout my workday, and it feels pretty good. Having much less on the E51 bulk means having to go without a qwerty keypad, so for the past week I have been living exclusively off of T9 which has not been too bad for a new learning experience. Reception of phone conversations is just as clear as my E90 and the volume of both the earpiece and external mono speaker is very sufficient for hearing audio.

This is pretty much where the positive points for the E51 come to an end for me. After getting used to the benefits of T9, the featherweight dimensions and certain features also available in my E90, I notice certain omissions aside from a full qwerty that immediately turn me off.

-good quality camera, camcorder with flash/autofocus
-widescreen
-external stereo speakers
-built-in GPS
-efficient feedback for the outer buttons
-Quickoffice suite in read-only mode

Since purchasing my Canon PowerShot SD750 camera I have come to rely less on the camera of my smartphone to capture spontaneous moments, but that doesn't mean I want to settle for mediocrity either. The 2 megapixel camera quality on the E51 is at best a repeat of the previously released E61i, which isn't saying much either. Resulting pictures appear grainy when viewed on a computer screen and the video taken at 15 frames per second is not made for TV quality. The lack of an LED flash and autofocus makes the camera experience even more irritating after coming from the likes of the N95, N93 and E90. Over the past few days I have been intentionally ignoring the E51 camera even for casual snapshots, and during my recent weekend in DC I turned solely to my Canon SD750.

The iconic widescreen on the E90 is definitely a godsend for mobile web browsing and movie viewing and as a smartphone user I have been spoiled past the point of no return. I am at a point where if a device's screen isn't AT LEAST as big as my TyTN 2 or Treo 750, I hardly give the device the time of day. When using my E90 I simply tolerate its tiny external screen for the sake of being quick and efficient in using certain applications or peeking at online articles from certain sites. With the E51 I have no choice but to rely on its tiny screen for my everyday usage. While at first I thought it quite alright, there are moments when I do yearn for a wider screen such as web surfing, movie watching and composing messages. There is just something about having more screen real estate that makes the overall user experience that much enjoyable and worthwhile. The size of the E51's screen seems best suited for someone who doesn't use their mobile device for anything more than basic phone functions.

Lack of external speakers are by no means a dealbreaker, but it does take away a couple of points in the user experience aspect. If an E-Series smartphone model is to be looked at as a convergence device, then Nokia must treat it as such when manufacturing it. I don't think that it makes much sense to include a music player on a device with MONO speakers (whether or not headphones provide stereo). Once again, this is another feature given to me by the E90 that has caused me to be spoiled in my daily smartphone usage. This same judgment goes for lack of built-in GPS. It is truly not a primary feature that I look for, but it is VERY nice to have when necessary. Driving around in unfamiliar territory this past weekend in Arlington, VA and DC brought up an interest to test GPS via Google Maps or Nokia Maps. The E51 left me hanging since it doesn't have this feature available unlike my E90 and TyTN 2.

The outer buttons that control the power, volume, voice dialing and voice recorder are frankly a CHORE to press without the use of a fingernail. These rubberized controls are practically impossible to use with fingertips unless I press hard enough to where I nearly feel like the E51 will break in my hand.

Last is the lack of an editing version of the Quickoffice Suite. T9, while sufficient for test messages and brief emails, is no substitute for a qwerty when it comes to writing word documents in Quickoffice. Despite this opinion, it is still discouraging to find that just the read-only version of Quickoffice is enabled on the E51. Due to the small screen I didn't have the desire to compose any documents with the E51, so this is the most minor of all my critical points for the E51.

Overall this device has been good to me and quite sufficient in standing in for my E90, but it can only do so much from its end. While it has taught me to appreciate the usefulness of T9 on the numerical keypad of my E90 as well as enjoy the portability of its small measurements, the E51 is not a phone for me. I think Nokia WOM World said it best when it referred to me as a "qwerty evangelist". I am afraid that title can still be applied to me as of right now, for it appears that I am still destined to preach the word of the everlasting qwerty and its functional salvation to smartphone users everywhere...HALLEJUAH! I hereby pray for the day of deliverance when I will be able to see the much rumored Nokia E71 in person! ;)

TRENT
Sent from my MacBook Pro

I have also posted pics taken from the E51: