Nokia E63 is a mobile phone built for those people who need to keep in touch with their business with full keyboard e-mail messaging capability but also do not want to end up spending a large sum of money for the device. It is basically a watered down device of the old and popular Nokia E71 that we reviewed earlier. Let’s take a closer look at the device and decide if the gadget is worth a buy or not.
Design
The device looks quite similar to the E71 in its overall appearance sans any metallic cover which is expected for a trimmed down version. The device is 59 mm wide to comfortably hold the full QWERTY keys and it is 113mm tall which is natural for a device like this. The phone is neither too thin nor too thick and measures a 13mm in thickness. The total weight of 126 g may feel a bit heavier than the non QWERTY ones but it is certainly lighter than the E71 having metal design. However, the plastic design looks and feels OK and we have no problem in this cost-effective approach.
Display
The phone boasts a nice 2.36 inches display showing 320 X 240 pixels and full 16 M Color range. We have no complain with the display and it shows very good crisp texts as well as vibrant images.
Keyboard
The keyboard of Nokia E63 is very good and is almost the same as the E71. The size of the space bar is reduced to add to new keys, the parenthesis and the Ctrl Key. Pressing and holding down the space bar activates the flashlight which works even when the keyboard is locked. Typing at fair speed is possible with the keyboard and the D Pad and the soft keys are also equally pleasing.
Operating System
The phone runs on Symbian Series 60 3rd Edition. The Symbian 9.2 comes with Feature Pack 1 but also has some elements of the Feature Pack 2. Multitasking on the device is as easy as it sounds on the device. The running applications are indicated by a circle next to the icon which reminds users to quit any applications that they may be using. The active standby mode is also very handy to get the shortcuts of the applications to the homescreen.
Speed
The phone has a 369 MHz CPU and a 128 MB RAM. With the Symbian OS running on top of it, the CPU delivers almost instant response. Navigating the menus and using applications is quick and you should not notice any hang up issues for any common tasks. There is also a 128 M RAM which is large enough to be filled with all your applications running on it.
Battery Life
The battery life of the device is truly worth a mention before any of its other advanced features. It has the same 1500 mAh Li Ion battery that is used in its bigger brother E71. With this much large a battery and no GPS to eat up the power, this is definitely going to win any businessman’s heart for its superb battery life. It is stated at the spec sheet to have a 432 h standby and a 11 and half hours talktime and I can assure you that it won’t do too much less than that.
Memory
The phone has a decent 120 MB internal memory and it supports micro SD Cards upto 8GB. Unfortunately it does not come with any micro SD card pre installed. You have to buy one after you purchase the phone. When Nokia means budget, they really mean it.
Audio / Voice Clarity
It is now very unlikely to have any voice issues on a modern day telephone device and you are extremely unlikely to experience any reception issues. The sound is very clear and there is no problem with it. The 3.5mm headphone jack provides clear static noise free sound as expected. The music player of the device is also well equipped though we miss the volume rocker on the side of the device. Changing the volume level means pushing a few extra keys on the device. If you don’t want to listen to your stores music, FM Radio is there for the break.
Camera
Don’t expect too much from the fixed focus 2MP Camera and you’ll be fine. The photos have low resolution as well as poor details and color accuracy. You have to compromise on this because you are looking for an affordable business phone not an affordable multimedia phone.
Web Browser
The Symbian browser is nothing to complain about. Contents render properly and it is a treat to surf web on the device. Thanks to its large RAM size, even heavy pages load on the browser without any problem on the device. The browser also supports Flash, so watching a YouTube video within browser won’t be a problem.
Price
The price of the phone is about $200 in US, about EUR 150 in Europe and about Rs. 10,000 in India. This is a bargain price for a device of its capability.
Pros
Attractive price with all business features
Superb Battery Life
Cons
Poor Camera
Conclusion
If you are in the market for the lowest price QWERTY smartphone, you won’t find many competitor in its price range. If you have no problem with its poor camera or any other thing mentioned here, the phone is surely recommended by us for you.
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