The Nokia E60 is primarily pitched at the business user who doesn't want to carry a pocket calculator sized smartphone about their person. The E60 is a candybar design measuring 115 mm x 49 mm x 16.9 mm and weighing 117 grams it's not the smallest phone we've had on test but it is a relatively small smartphone. The first place you notice the shrinkage is the screen, the resolution at 352 x 416 pixels should be ok but clearly the screen is smaller than that of the bigger E61 and that makes some things more tricky to read (more on that later).

With the Nokia E60 out of it's packaging and with a fully charged battery we were able to start our tests which basically consist of it being our main means of communication for a week. The first thing that you notice is just how well built the new E60 is, it's not at all plasticky like some models in the range and it fells chunky yet not heavy ideal for anyone who gives phones a hard time.

The E60 utilises the series 60 operating system and as such comes with all the mobility toys you'd expect from an excellent email client, web browser,  PIM tools and PC sync. The 3rd generation GUI works well on the bright screen and as you'd expect from a company with Nokias experience it's a dream to navigate. The keypad is not quite smartphone proportions and there are compromises here as you give up any hope of a Qwerty layout, instead opting for either predictive text or the multiple thump technique your parents use.

Our week started well with a battery that was fully charged within 2 hours of us using the standard Nokia charger and so it began with a good few calls pre lunch all sounded fine with a good loud earpiece and even a strong speaker phone. After a bit to eat we thought we'd try out Nokias push email service which we tested on the E61, a quick bit of config later and we were able to fire a few test emails to the phone which rather than being collected are pushed from the exchange server to the handset. This worked as expected and was the same kind of experience blackberry users are now used too. In fact Nokia claim that the E60 is compatible with Blackberry connect meaning it can work on your company server that is already set up to use the bigger Smartphone.

Many users had reported issues with getting blackberry connect to play ball with the E60 and true to form there is now a firmware update available to fix this issue on the Nokia website. Sadly that's about all there is as the E60 is a little bare in terms of bling, there are no wallpapers, themes, funky ringtones or applications, we know this is a business phone but the standard kit is more like a dull office in Reading than a trendy SoHo design agency.

With email licked we moved further into the E60's connectivity, on top of the standard and essential Bluetooth connection the E series mobile also boasts WLAN support, meaning it can join your office network or a WiFi hotspot. We set about joining the silver E60 to our office network and within 15 minutes we'd joined it using WEP encryption and were able to both surf the web and also sync the phone with a selected desktop PC over WLAN. Nothing amazing about this but Nokias real intention is to offer VOIP services using the WLAN capability, something that for us requires Skype to launch there much anticipated Smartphone edition and we just pray this will run on Series 60.

Of course switching on WiFi really eats the battery and as a result of all our messing around during the first day the battery was near on flat by the time we made it to the office the next day. Another quick charge had us back in business and this time with the WLAN turned off and this time a play with the 3G and GPRS data services. Again the Nokia is easy to configure and proved to have a strong RF performance which helps obtain the maximum data throughput which when using GPRS is a distinct advantage as it all feels like using dialup internet again.

Along with the plethora of connectivity options that even include USB 2.0 and Infrared the E60 has a few extras that many phones lack, voice control gets it's own button which allows for either spoken word control of dialling or as a rather handy voice recorder. Layer on top of this the excellent web browser which works in landscape mode to make the most of the screen and also a way to zoom into parts of a web page to make them easier to read on the phones screen. This is essential as without the zoom the small screen makes for difficult reading of both web pages and Microsoft office documents, which can be opened with the word / excel viewers.

Unlike the previous day our calls had only dented the battery and there was no need for a top up, the next day we met with an IT admin chap who was keen to have a look at the E60 as was convinced that Blackberry sporting execs would prefer a smaller device. He pointed out that the E60 has a number of corporate friendly features including a security suite which enables chaps like him to secure them as part of the corporate intranet. Also a bit like an IBM laptop there is a suite of tools that allow for the Nokia to be locked down against changes by the user. A wipe mode that removes all data should the wrong PIN code bet entered 3 times and also a restore function to get the phone back to the corporate image quickly.

In fact we were very pleased that we'd bumped into this chap as we hadn't really thought to give the phone a corporate once over and his words bode well for sales of the E60 into key smartphone markets. However unlike other business Smartphones the E61 is also a nice phone to use out and about or as a personal mobile. To prove this we took the phone out on the town into a few loud clubs and bars where the loud ringtones and vibrate feature is essential, its in these circumstances that a good keypad with good tactile feedback is worth its weight. The E60 has a great keypad with well spaced keys and a really nice feel that lets you know when you have pressed a key and when you are in a tricky environment the combination of a good interface and screen really helps.

One word of caution is that on our last day of testing we took a rather lengthy call during which the rear of the phone got surprisingly hot, not quite egg frying hot but warm enough to be conformable to hold. Perhaps this was an unusually long call (over an hour) and it's unlikely to be a point of concern but it did make for some jokes in the office and an egg being left on LP's desk.

Overall the Nokia E60 is quite some phone, it manages to do the basics well inside a candybar format so much so that most users will only use about 25% of its features. Put it in the hand of a corporate IT Stig and it becomes a powerful business tool with the ability to secure it and some great email and connectivity options. Priced at around £200 the E60 is a great option for a smartphone that isn't the size of a pocket calculator.

Published - 17/09/2006

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