I have already confessed how gorgeous this device is on my initial post. Now, I will dig down the hardware design and share my experiences so far regarding it. There will be regular comparisons with my current phone, the Nokia N82 (warm titanium)...
Starting with the front panel, there you see the 2.4" LCD screen with a QVGA resolution (240x320 pixels). No bangs nor whistles since 2.4" is the smallest screen size you can get on most high-end devices and QVGA is kinda outdated nowadays. But I believe, this is more than enough for the device's targeted consumers and it is respectable considering the dimensions of the device. And just so you know, it was an eye opening experience when I first laid eyes on the screen as it is evidently brighter and more vibrant than my N82's. Maybe because I got used to the N82's screen which is, as far as I know, the poorest among the N-series line. The size of the E66's screen also looks and feels bigger than the N82's at first glance.
At the upper portion of the front panel, you will see the light sensor, the earpiece and the front camera (for video calls only). As Nokia always do, voice quality is clear and very audible during phone calls.
The 5-way dpad is surrounded by four dedicated shortcut keys (called One-Touch Keys) including the home, contacts, e-mail, and calendar key. The backspace key can be found right under the dpad. The user can define two separate application shortcuts for each of the One-Touch keys (except from the home key). Yes! Two applications. One for a brief press, and one for a long press. Indeed a good job done here Nokia!
It is also notable the the dpad is nicely elevated and it is more pleasant to use than my N82's.
Dark-gray text over white finish, that's the E66 keypad and I simply love how good it looks. The keys are of the ideal size. As you can see on the picture, each of them have their bottom-part edged in a sloping manner to leave the user a divided and raised feeling of the keys and a more satisfying feedback when typing. Such a great keypad this baby has.
However, I noticed a significant decrease on my typing speed when using this keypad as oppose to my N82's. I got used to the N82's keypad which is more responsive even with gentle/quick key presses and each keys feel more well divided from each other. With the E66, everything's good for me when typing at a "relaxed" and normal pace, but at my optimum speed, errors start getting into my nerves. Ever since I started using the E66, there's always a feeling of comfort and ease whenever I shift to my N82 and start using its keypad. It's not that I'm saying the E66 keypad is awful, I believe it is one of the finest among other Nokias. It's just that I think the N82's keypad is better. Maybe it's just me. Lots of people have cursed the N82 because of this subject, but based on experience, I am confident to say that the N82's keypad is the best one I have used so far.
On the other hand, I like the placement of the backspace button. The most common error I get from using the N82's keypad is pressing the Multimedia Key instead of backspace which is very annoying! On the E66's case, I have not experienced a single mistake when deleting characters.
The * key doubles as a switch to turn Bluetooth on and off when at the home screen. Sweet! The microphone btw is placed just below the * button as seen in the picture above.
At the back of the device, the 3.2MP camera and a single led flash can be found at the upper portion and the loudspeaker at the bottom left. For a better grip, the silvery battery cover is elegantly patterned with slightly curved lines. Though a magnet for fingerprints, the glossy silver on white combination really worked for a stylish and classy attempt on the E66. Mostly women will really be drawn by the looks of this device.
As a Nokia N82 user that I am, I really did not expect anything from the E66 camera. But hey, its the best you can get from the E-series family today. I will show you sample pictures and videos taken by the E66 on my next post.
You will need to open the battery cover first to take advantage of the hot-swappable slot for microSD cards. There are two release buttons on either sides of the phone (lower area) which are used to open up that stainless steel battery cover.
When I bought my N82, one of the first things I noticed is how horrible the loudspeaker sounds. Firmware updates gave a slight improvement but still unbearable. Tolerable for phone calls maybe, but never for my mp3s. So how's the E66's loudspeaker? Let's just say that, when I tried to listen some music with it, and then with the N82's loudspeaker after, I feel proud and
appreciative of the sound quality coming from my N82, lol.
The headset connector can be found at the left side of the phone. In view of its placement, and this 2.5mm audio jack, it is truly a big turn-off for a lot of users who loves music on the go. I myself cannot live with the packaged HS-47 headset for my mp3s, and particularly never with an adapter to use in conjunction with my favorite 3.5mm headphone.
More on the left side is the Micro-USB port, infrared port, and one of the battery cover's release buttons.
On the right side, there are the volume keys, the dedicated camera button and the other release knob for the battery cover. Between the volume up and down keys is the voice key, which can be used to mute and unmute active calls. This key is also utilized for Voice Commands and Push to Talk applications.
Lonely is the red power button on the top of the device. Thankfully, the charger port is now located at the bottom unlike on the N82 which is annoyingly at the left side.
Forget the headset connector, forget the microSD slot, the E66 indeed is not only well built, but also a well designed business slider. My wish to Nokia, please... share the blessings of good looks and build quality with the N-series pals as well. Hopefully, start with the upcoming first N-series touch-screen release ;-).
That's all for now. On my upcoming posts, I will talk about the improved tweaks on the software, internet and media.
What's next?
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Yes, I have the N82 and now the E66. I love the E66, the camera is not as good and the battery power is only half of the N82's. Maybe that will improve over time or with a firmware-update! I probably keep the E66 and sell the N82, I just like the quality feeling of the E66. Karl
Yep, awesome phone. I'm actually trialling out moving off to an N93 though for a bit more smart phone, but I'm not sure.
Must-have apps for this include Xumii which I've linked to below. Great for staying on IM and facebook when you leave the office.
I'll be interested to see if they use the same form factor in some higher specd smart phones.
Cheers,
Karl,
selling your N82 for the E66? Hmmm.. :-)
Mick,
Yeah, i agree with you, it would be great to see an n-series phone with the looks and build quality of the e-series line. Btw, thanks for the link, i'll give it a try ^^