Nokia E63 Mobile phone

[Jeffrey]

Nokia E63
Designed primarily for business, Inspired by messaging, this multimedia computer helps you get things done when and where it matters most. Despite being designed for business, though, it also comes with the multimedia features you would expect from a consumer phone, such as 2 megapixel camera, video recorder and GPS unit.



Design:

The Nokia E63 sports a very similar design to Nokia E71, only slightly inferior in terms of build quality - the materials used. The design is almost the same as the E71 with some layout changes, but the body is made of plastic instead of metal. At dimensions of 113 x 59 x 13 mm, it is 3 mm thicker than the E71 and weighs just 126 gms, more or less the same as the E71. Both the E63 and the E71 are visibly thinner than the previous gen E61. While the build quality is not as good as the E71, it is very good when compared to the standard in its category. The plastic its body is composed of is very durable and feels strong. It is available in two colors - red and blue.

On the left of the device, you will find the MicroUSB connector and the Micro SD slot. The top sports a 3.5mm headphone jack while on the bottom edge, there is just the 2 mm charger socket and a lanyard eyelet. The right is totally clean with no sockets. The front of the phone is adorned with the 2.36 inch TFT display and the ambient light sensor and the earpiece above it. On the back, you find the battery cover, the 2 MP camera and the Flash.

Software:

Even though this is the first E-series model that isn’t business-oriented, the E63 is by no means dull. It runs on Symbian 9.2 with Feature Pack 1, just like the E71. The option of switching between two modes is also present here, reminding us of the fact that the E63 can easily turn into a business assistant. As such, it offers perfect organizer functions; phonebook, e-mail client and Internet browser. The last one lets you check your favorite page, and for a fast connection you can use either the 3G or Wi-Fi network. According to Nokia, the E63 is designed to use the Internet or to access social networks and we were eager to find out what options it packs for this. We were surprised to see that it actually supports a Facebook “application”, though it has to be downloaded additionally. We put it in quotes intentionally, as this application is nothing more than a shortcut that opens the mobile version of the site in the browser. While it is very useful, since Nokia is advertising that the phone is for the social networks addicts it would have been better to equip it with a real, optimized application like we see on the Xperia X1.

[Jeffrey]

Display and Keypad:

The Nokia E63 sports a 2.36 inch TFT display much like the E71. It has a resolution of 320 x 240 pixels and supports 16 M colors. The display quality is nice with decent brightness. It offers nice contrast and the sunlight legibility is also quite good. While the display size is a bit small compared to any QWERTY device, it is definitely usable.

The QWERTY keypad is the main highlight of the E63 as it is meant to be a business offering. The keypad of the E63 is quite nice and the keys are big enough to be pressed easily. It is one of the better QWERTY keypads I have seen. The keypad has a white backlighting which is helpful when typing in the dark.Above the keypad you find some buttons - a Menu, Calendar, Contacts and Mail. You can also see the regular Left and Right select keys, the Call and the End key. In the center, you find the navigation button.



Camera and Multimedia:

It comes with a 2 MP camera which takes shots at a resolution of 1600 x 1200 pixels. The image quality is nice with semi accurate color reproduction which is good enough for casual shots. The camera is nice and takes decent shots. It can also record QVGA video at 15 FPS. The camera is good enough for casual shots, if you are a camera enthusiast, you will need to look at other 5 MP phones or preferably a digicam.

The display is nice enough for watching videos using Smartmovie or some other Video player. The default player is the same as in E71 and can play 3GP and MP4 videos by default. The sound quality is nice and the speakers are adequately loud.

Battery:

The E63 sports a 1500 Mah Li Po battery rated at 440 hrs standby time and 10 hrs of talk time. In reality, the actual values are almost the same as these. The battery will last you about 3-4 days easily with moderate usage. It is one of the most powerful batteries in Nokia smartphones.

[Jeffrey]

Nokia E63 Specifications:

• Dimensions: 113 x 59 x 13 mm
• Weight: 126 gms
• Display: 2.36 inch TFT Display, 16M colors, 320 x 240 pixels
• Memory: 110 MB Internal memory, upto 8 GB via Micro SD
• Connectivity: GPRS class 32, HSCSD, EDGE class 32, 3G, USB v2.0 Micro USB
• Wi-Fi: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g
• Bluetooth: Bluetooth v20 with A2DP
• OS: Symbian OS 9.2, Series 60 v3.1 UI
• Camera: 2 MP camera, 1600 x 1200 pixels, Flash, video recording - QVGA @ 15 FPS
• Battery: 1500 mAh Li-Po Battery BP-4L, 440 hrs standby time
• Other Features: QWERTY keypad, Java MIDP 2.0, MP3 / AAC / MPEG4 player, 3.5 mm audio output jack, Office applications, FM radio

Conclusion:
Since it is basically a simplified version of the E71. Still, targeted at the social crowd, doesn’t disappoint us and although the plastic body its quality is quite high. The only functional change is the lack of a GPS for navigation, and the worse camera is completely acceptable, since that of the E71 isn’t really any better. In its relatively compact body the E63 packs the high functionality of an E-series S60 smartphone with a handy hardware keyboard (even though it has some small drawbacks), making it a preferable device for the heavy messagers. Whether or not it’s worth it depends on whether you like its appearance and price. It is significantly cheaper and if you don’t need a GPS then this certainly should be a phone to consider. An alternative is the Motorola Q9h, which has a slightly better keyboard and is based on the Windows Mobile operating system.