Nokia has designed the E51 to be a phone that’s easy to use and functionally spot on for business users, but which also has the flexibility to become much more. There’s a Download! tool included that gives you a quick link to apps you can download for free to beef up the E51’s out-of-the-box spec.
Among these are a Windows Live Messenger and Hotmail application, F-Secure Mobile Anti-Virus software, WorldMate travel and weather information app, MobiPocket Reader Pro ebook reader, Nokia’s WidSets widgets application, plus a range of other tools and entertainment downloads.
The keypad is large and responsive
There’s no built-in GPS receiver on the E51, but Nokia has included its Nokia Maps satellite navigation application. This can be used for full positioning and navigation in conjunction with a standard Bluetooth GPS module. Even without a GPS module, you can get routing information or local points of interest by tapping in the relevant locations.
As well as doing the business in a businesslike manner, the E51 has a familiar selection of multimedia entertainment features. Its HSDPA capability enables fast downloads or streaming of video or audio content to the phone, although the Nokia Music Store isn’t yet supported on this device.
The music player software interface offers a familiar rundown of tracks by artists, albums, track lists and genres, and supports album cover art on playback. It’s simple to use – the nav-pad takes control – while the sound performance is perfectly acceptable through the supplied headphones.
The E51 uses a 2.5mm headphone jack connector rather than a headphone-friendly 3.5mm one, so an adaptor is required if you want to upgrade the sound quality by swapping the average stereo earphones supplied to a better set. You can also use Bluetooth wireless headphones with the E51 or use the built-in loudspeaker to share your tunes. You do need the headphones plugged in to act as antenna if you’re tuning into the FM radio.
COMMENTS
Business phone - with a camera?
Ok,
How can it be a business phone it's got a camera, I find that many of my customers (private and public sector) and my employers policies prohibit a camera on site. Indeed one of the more enthusiastic customers uses a hammer/hole punch and mastic on the "business" phones they issue their employees - to disable the camera.
I'm still looking for a replacement for the 6130 or the 6810..
@ Calvin • Monday 28th January 2008 10:35 GMT
"best feature is that by long-pressing the home key you can see all running apps, and force-quit any that have stalled (i.e. ctrl-alt-del)"
Well I could do this on my N91 straight out of the box 18+ months ago, you just long press the menu key. I think, but am not 100% sure, that this was a standard feature on most S60 3rd Edition phones...
@ Anonymous Coward
Big fan of this phone. Have been looking for a couple of years for a replacement for my bulletproof 6230i.
I've had the e51 now for 3 weeks and it's a joy to use. i've Had an n73 for a couple of months and the e51 puts it to shame.
The keys are high quality, excellent feedback for quick texting (inifintely much better than the n73). I've dropped it twice and it still seems in pretty good shape. The metal rear cover adds a feeling of durability.
The UI is always at least twice as fast as on my N73. I dont take photos on phones so i dont care about the camera. I dont video call so i dont care about no front-camera.
I'm a big fan of s60. e51 seems to take it to another level. best feature is that by long-pressing the home key you can see all running apps, and force-quit any that have stalled (i.e. ctrl-alt-del)
Voip calling is excellent. it comes bundled with gizmo, but im using truphone cos its free to landlines till the end of the month. I get about an hour's battery while voip calling over wifi. excellent quality. the headphones are annoying. probably better to get bluetooth.
searching for access points is incredibly simple. i dont mind the web browser actually - the back/forward function is really well done. great design - slim, functional, understated, no gimmicks, no slidey-whatsits, no stupid colours, wouldnt have minded a slightly bigger screen, but it's relieving to be able to get a phone that is a tool
Looks like a perfected E65!
Seems to have all the things I love about the E65 plus the few problems about it sorted (no HSDPA, no way to easily turn on/off Bluetooth, a sbit of slugishness of the OS).
Hum... Anyone fancy a heavily abused E65?
Did the reviewer actually USE the phone?
How responsive is it? How do the keys feel? What's the battery life like in the real world? How about build quality?
After six pages, I am no wiser. El Reg, this fall far short of the standard of your usual reviews - it doesn't tell me anything I can't read on the Nokia site!
