Review of the Nokia E55 Design
Introduction
The Nokia E55 is a mobile phone that seems to want to catch the attention of all users across the board. This Nokia E-Series business phone actually packs a little of everything for everyone. For the serious business user who is on the go and wants to keep up with their emails and communication and be able to compose and view their office documents, the Nokia E55 has them covered. Then there is also something for the serious gamer, all the while accommodating to the needs of multimedia enthusiasts. Of course the Nokia E55 does not leave out the casual phone user who simply wants to be able to communicate with friends, family and loved ones. The Nokia E55 has it all.
The Nokia E55 was released in February, 2009 and looks a little like its cousin the Nokia E52 except for a few minor differences and one major change, which happens to be the half QWERTY keyboard.
Design (4 out of 5)
As we look at the visible design features of this Nokia E-series business oriented smartphone, we start off by recognizing that the Nokia E55 comes in a range of colors which includes black aluminium, white aluminium and red.
The phone has dimensions that measure 116 x 49 x 9.9 mm, weighing in at 98g. Moving onto the front face of the Nokia E55 there is an ear piece for listening in on calls. Right next to it on the right side there is a secondary video call camera and a sensor on the left side of the ear piece.
Below these there is the TFT display that supports up to 16M colors. Its physical measurements are 2.4 inches with a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels.
Below the display on the Nokia E55 you will find a softkey panel which houses the D-pad. On either side of the D-pad you’ll find the two softkey buttons, four shortcut hardware keys that give direct access to the Home screen/menu, the calendar, messaging functions and address book. Lastly on the softkey panel there is the call start button and the call end buttons. Below the softkey panel there is a half QWERTY keyboard.
Turning the Nokia E55 over to the right side, there is the camera function button and the volume up and volume down buttons, placed right above the camera button.
Over on the left side of the Nokia E55 is the slot for inserting the microUSB cable connector.
The top of the Nokia E55 is reserved for the power control button and the 3.5 mm audio jack. The back of the Nokia E55 has got the 3.2 MP camera which comes with the LED flash and the single external speaker. All in all this is a nicely designed phone, it is slim and fits well in the palm of the hand and in your purse or pocket.
User Interface (3 out of 5)
The Nokia E55 comes loaded with the Symbian Operating System S60 version 3 with feature pack 2. This dynamic operating system allows users of the Nokia E55 to experience subtle menu transitions. It may not compare well to other high end smartphones such as the iPhone and the latest Android releases, but it works well.
The Nokia E55 comes with a built-in accelerometer sensor that allows for an auto-rotate display. Calls can be received in discreet modes which include beeps and vibration alerts in addition to a selection of customizable ringtones.
Voice commands are catered for in the Nokia E55 which also allows the user to make video calls in addition to voice calls. As far as Navigation goes, the user is able to move around using the controls on the D-pad as well as the dedicated keys on the softkey panel. There is a menu which can be customized to display as a list or as a grid of icons which provide access to the different categories of apps such as installations, office applications, utilities and so on. From the menu you can launch any program with a single tap on the D-pad select button.
The home screen on the Nokia E55 is fully customizable. It is also good to note that this Nokia smartphone comes with an additional home screen for further personalization. The typical home screen has got short cut keys to launch applications that you can easily bookmark and customize yourself. There are also visual alerts on the home screen that give information on calendar events, Todo items and the multimedia files or radio being currently played. The Nokia E55 in general comes with a simple and functional user interface.
Features (4 out of 5)
Taking a look at the features of the Nokia E55, you find that this Nokia phone comes with support for messaging services such as SMS and email. With a document editor, the Nokia E55 is capable of manipulating MS Word, MS Excel, MS PowerPoint and viewing PDF documents.
For all the data connectivity needs, the Nokia E55 supports the slower GPRS and EDGE protocols and goes up to support 3G HSDPA at 10.2 Mbps and 3G HSUPA, 2 Mbps. Without 3G in your area there is an option of Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g. To add onto the above options, the Nokia E55 supports Bluetooth 2.0 and microUSB.
There is a 3.2 MP primary camera with a 2048 x 1536 pixels resolution with enhanced fixed focus and LED flash. This camera is also capable of Video VGA at 15fps. There is a secondary camera that is specifically for using during video calls.
As for Internet access, the Nokia E55 comes with a WAP 2.0 and HTML browser with an option of installing third party browsers. There is a built-in Stereo FM radio with RDS on every Nokia E55. The phone also happens to be a member of the N-gage gaming platform.
There is a Digital Compass and an A-GPS receiver on the Nokia E55 with preloaded Nokia Maps version 3.0. Java applications are supported on this Nokia E-series smartphone. Music on the Nokia E55 is convenient as this phone is capable of playing MP3/WMA/WAV/RA/AAC/M4A audio formats and if that is not enough there is a WMV/RV/MP4/3GP video player on the Nokia E55. Both audio and video can be listened to through the external speaker or through the 3.5mm audio headsets.
Performance (4 out of 5)
The Nokia E55 comes with relatively fast performance with the built-in ARM 11 600 MHz processor powering the Symbian S60 OS coupled with 128MB RAM and the 60MB internal memory and the microSD that can hold up to 16GB of data. There is great sound output through both the external speaker and the 3.5mm audio headsets.
Nokia Maps is great to use and reliable and meets expectations. The call quality on the Nokia E55 is excellent and that too can be said of the radio reception. Battery life is great with the official rating stating up to 672 hours of stand-by time with a talk time of up to 8 hours and up to 18 hours of music at your disposal.
The camera quality is not all that great as more often that not you get grainy pictures out of the Nokia E55. The situation does not get any better with video since it is limited to 15fps, you would be hard pressed to expect fluid videos recorded from the Nokia E55. Gaming is fun, functional and with the Nokia E55 you will get lightning responses from your character on screen, the only thing is that it would have been much better if this phone had a larger physical display.
Data connectivity is great with 3G and Wi-Fi. You will be able to do some sizable downloads with the Nokia E55, that is assuming you are connected to a great carrier.
Verdict (4 out of 5)
Taking a walk through the Nokia E55 you do realize that this is a great phone with its own personality. This phone has great features and performance and it meets the expectations for a phone within its price range. There is a welcome gesture in the implementation of the N-gage gaming platform in a Nokia E-series business phone and especially the fact that it does not take away any of the things that made the Nokia E-series phones very successful.
So with the Nokia E55’s ability to edit and view your office documents, handle your emails, listen to music and radio on the go and download the latest apps and games and use the phone for turn-by-turn navigation, I would say for a price of about $250, it is totally worth it.
Other Nokia E-series business phones include the ever popular Nokia E71 and its successors, the Nokia E72 and the Nokia E73 Mode. Other Nokia E-series smartphones worth looking at are the Nokia E51 and the Nokia E63.
