Nokia E75/E71 Picture Comparison

Here are the results of pictures I had taken with both the E71 and E75. In the pictures, it is apparent that the E75 does show more fine detailing with better quality optics. Overall, I am content with the quality of the E71 for taking still images.

In the series of double sets, the FIRST picture is from the E71 and SECOND picture is from the E75.

Nokia E75 first impressions

It is now morning after I had spent nearly all night playing with this Nokia E75 I've received from WomWorld, and I must say that impressions are very good overall so far. At this moment I am writing this email blogpost on the E75 with music being played aloud from its speaker.

Upon taking the box out of the DHL packaging, I was pleasantly surprised to see that my review unit was the copper variation! Such a great and much welcomed departure from the usual silver and grey layout. The build quality of this model is certainly on par with that of my E71 with chrome and metallic accents and surface textures that closely resemble the anodized aluminum of my current 13inch MacBook. There is simply not one opportunity given by the E75 for a first-time user to think that it is cheaply constructed. Every physical component is secure without any creaking or flexing. The slider mechanism for the side qwerty keypad is amazingly robust with its smooth motion and strong spring action in both directions.

At first glance in closed mode, the front face of this E75 immediately conjures a recollection of the E51 handset I had reviewed not too long ago. But there is also a bit of design inspiration from the likes of the N96 with the numerical keypad, soft keys, call/end keys, and quick access icons surrounding the silver d-pad ring; instead of each digit and icon having its own dedicated button, they appear to be placed on strips of glossy plastic with underlying tactile keys. This gloss of the keypad combined with that of the select key and dominating screen certainly adds to a sleek appearance that is truly eye-candy material. As if to be icing on top of this decadent tech toy, white backlighting evenly and brightly illuminates the entire keypad and notification ring around the select key. This added feature of the pulsating light encircling the select button has been a most useful one since the previous release of the E71 model. With that said, the tactile feedback of the outer keys feels secure with only a negligible amount of softness that makes for a soft clicking sound (if any at all).

Sliding open the E75 reveals a qwerty keypad consisting of flat buttons organized in a rectangular layout. While the light copper keys stand out from the matte metallic grey of the phone, there is a vertical strip of chrome that goes from the top of the keypad to the top of the central space bar. Why the N97 doesn't have a central space is far beyond me, but I shall not digress at this point. There is no separate row for numerical digits, so the use of a function key is ultimately necessary. The character and control keys are separate, and there are two shift keys on either side next to the lower corner keys. Like the E71, there are also 4 keys located toward the lower right corner that are dedicated to specified punctuation marks. With the delete and return key residing on the right margin of the qwerty, the remainder consist of alphanumeric combinations as well as specified symbols. The tactile feedback of the E75's qwerty can certainly be associated with that of the N810 Internet tablet. Even though there is a reassuring click from every button, the flat surface can make it difficult to touch type with any kind of acquired speed. This may be solved over time as one becomes more accustomed to the E75. On a few text messages I have noticed some quick traversing of my thumbs over the buttons. Predictive text can work at certain moments, but it doesn't perform to the same quality as my E71. I assume that this could be solved with time as the user writes more often and gives the device ample time to learn word inputs. However, it is still a minor inconvenience to have to press the shift key to input "I" when the E71 does it automatically. In regards to the slider causing hindrance to pressing the top row of keys, I have not found a problem with this at all. Overall, the prolonged experience of typing this review on the E75 is not bad at all in comparison to the trusty E71.

Sound quality from the small back speaker grille is on par with the E71, but has a tendency to be muffled when placed on a flat surface. This still isn't much of an issue to be bothered with, for the 3.5mm headphone jack more than makes up for it! Listening to music from the included Nokia earbud headset is good, but having my preferred Sony MDR-EX85s is absolutely a winning combination! Bass is full and gives my music a welcomed boost that I've come to expect from Sony. I haven't used the earpiece for a phone call, but have used the included Nokia microphone headset and speakerphone. Both of these methods provided suitable volume and distinct clarity on a voice call with no sign of distortion in the high levels. One caveat about using headphones while qwerty typing is that the plug can certainly get in the way of the left hand cradling the side of the phone.

According to published specs, the camera appears to be the same as that of the E71, but video recording is where the similarities end. The E75 is said to be capable of shooting video footage at 30 frames per second, and I have seen this firsthand!! Video footage recorded by the E75 is absolutely a match to the E90 if not the N95! Colors appeared crisp and the movement in each frame was smooth and fluid! I can honestly say that the E75's video footage alone is enough to surpass the camera of my E71. While I am hesitant to shoot YouTube videos with the E71, I would certainly consider the E75. However, I have not paid close attention to to the sound of this video footage. I plan to do this at a later time when I compare the cameras of the E71 and E75.

To the naked eye, the Symbian OS doesn't appear to be that much different from the E71 aside from revamped icons and a new soft key command at the central bottom of the vertical screen. Navigating the menus does take some getting used to with a smaller d-pad and home keys, but is not too cumbersome.

Setting up the built-in Nokia email app with my Gmail account was simple and straightforward. However, the push email feature is not currently activated on the E75 since it is set to update every hour. This is not a major problem, except for the fact that upon every hour there is a prompt that pops up and asks me to select a data connection to initiate the email update. This is already a huge inconvience since my E71 does this automatically, but I am sure I can probably change this in settings.

As for web surfing, it appears to be no different than the E71 at first sight and I have yet to look at flash capability. This brings me to the screen size. There are moments when it feels adequate in vertical mode, but horizontal mode leaves a bit to be desired. In constructing this email, I am feeling somewhat cramped and do miss the E71.

One last mention of this E75 blog is that the battery life is nowhere near the longevity of the E71. After a little over half a day of just writing this lengthy blogpost, listening to music, taking a half-hour voice call, and doing one visit to a site on the S60 browser via wifi, the battery level is already down to 2 bars! Not too promising when the E71 has a higher capacity battery.

So far the E75 is not too bad minus a few quirks here and there. I will provide a further update on my opinion as I continue to use this as my main phone.

TRENT
Sent from my Nokia E75
trentonnsmith.blogspot.com