Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2010/04/01/grouptest_qwerty_smartphones_nokia_e72/

Nokia E72

By Dave Oliver

Posted in Personal Tech, 1st April 2010 07:02 GMT

Review Nokia's E series has been a quiet hero of the business sector for a few years now. It may not have the profile of RIM's BlackBerry, but it owes more than a little to it in style, and also brings Nokia's traditional skills of solid workhorse dependability and multi-tasking applications.

The E72 is a shade longer and heavier than the Blackberry 9700 but, at 10mm front to back, thinner - and the slimmest smartphone in the group test, in fact.

Nokia E72

The 39-key keyboard is laid out in four neatly spaced rows and each is delicately rounded in tactile rubberised plastic to make them easy to find and press. It's a different approach to the BlackBerry's ridges but it's equally as effective at ensuring both that you find the right key and know when you've pressed it, even though it's slightly smaller.

The E72 comes with a 4GB memory card and it's compatible with all the major email clients, including Microsoft Exchange. It has full push email support too, though you can set it to only pick up your emails at set intervals if you want to save your battery.

RH Recommended Medal

The handset runs the Symbian S60 platform, which is easy enough to find your way around, if not always as fast you might like. Nokia is still in the process of getting its Ovi Store together and it's not looking quite as flash as BlackBerry's App World as yet.

The 5Mp camera gives the E72 a leg up on the Blackberry, if photography's your thing, and there's Assisted GPS on board as well as the ability to create and view Office docs. ®

Nokia E72

Next: Nokia N97 Mini