The Nokia E63 looks very much like the company's highly-acclaimed E71, with fewer features and a more affordable price. Like its more expensive predecessor, it fits in a good set of smartphone talents in a good-looking, compact frame. Is the experience just as positive, however?
Armed with a very good QWERTY panel, the E63 offers excellent typing experience, with raised surfaces, soft keys and very good travel. Physical dimensions are thicker than the E71, allowing it to handle much better in one hand.
In terms of the phone's actual use, it delivers a near-similar quality to the E71, less a few features. Specifically, it ditches the GPS, infrared and 3.5G. Web browsing still remains tolerable and, with Wi-Fi also available, it's not likely to be that much of an issue, unless you specifically need ultra-high speed access on the road.
As a phone, it offers clear-sounding voice calls, with no noticeable distortion. The loudspeaker is also quite good. It fits in all the basic phone features, along with a complete messaging suite, including emails and IM. Email setup is particularly straightforward and offers Exchange support, along with POP3 and IMAP.
One thing we like better than the E71 is the addition of a 3.5mm audio jack, which makes the E63 much more usable for media playback. It can handle a decent range of media files, along with an onboard FM tuner and support for podcasts, YouTube videos and internet radio.
The onboard 2 megapixel camera is decidedly average. Even with an integrated flash, it doesn't capture darker areas very well. It's usable, however, like most low-end camera phones around. Other features include Bluetooth, microSD expansion and USB mass storage.
Overall, we love the Nokia E63 for the E71-like experience it delivers, all while sporting a very affordable price. It's a compelling smartphone choice and should be very attractive for both professionals and casual users alike.
Nokia E63 Gets You The Same E71 Smartphone Talents At A Much Affordable Priceunratednoel2009-07-29 09:38:25
Phone ReviewsNokia E63 Gets You The Same E71 Smartphone Talents At A Much Affordable Price
The latest in the electronic company's attempt to make its mark in the smartphone landscape, the Acer M900, is a huge phone. Justifying the additional size, however, is a large display panel, coupled with a side-sliding full QWERTY keypad and a host of high-end features.
Intended to rival similar QWERTY-toting business touchscreen phones like the HTC Touch Pro 2, the M900 fits in all the modern conveniences you can ask for in a handset. Well, all except a pocketable size, as it measures a large 119 x 62 x 17.1mm and weighs 188 grams.
Display is a huge 3.8-inch touchscreen panel, with 800 x 480 resolution and very good quality. Text and images all look bright and crisp when viewed in it. Controls are decent and even adds in an uncommon fingerprint sensor, which can double as an optical directional pad. The keyboard offers good spacing, although it feels a bit shallow. Keying in punctuation requires you to "shift" via the Fn key first, which is hardly the most impressive design we've seen.
We've talked about Acer's Shell UI before and it's here too - working as good as ever, with its office-like design. Connectivity is tops on the unit, which includes high-speed 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS. Other features include a very snappy camera (suprisingly good quality), an FM radio, a task manager application and custom onscreen keyboard (which works way better than the WinMo default).
Voice calls are good, though, it could use some improvement. Video calls, on the other hand, were generally unsatisfying because of pasty video processing.
On the specs sheet, the Acer M900 packs every modern convenience users will expect from a high-end phone. In reality, though, there is no reason to buy this over similarly-priced high-end units, such as the iPhone and those from HTC. If you can get a good deal on it, however, as was being planned originally for its US release (free on contract), it may prove a compelling choice for the hardware quality alone.
Acer M900 Review: Souped-Up Hardware, Needs Better Implementationunratednoel2009-07-21 12:22:04
Phone ReviewsAcer M900 Review: Souped-Up Hardware, Needs Better Implementation
Motorola has had a busy year churning out messaging phones left and right. Among their most attractive releases for the category is the Motorola Rival A455 (released in the US under Verizon), a semi-touchscreen phone with a side-sliding QWERTY keypad and a helpin of attractive features.
Like any self-respecting messaging phone, it comes with a bevy of capabilities on that end. Users get a variety of email options, including webmail, Mobile Email and corporate mail (yes, I know the irony of corporate email for someone with a purple phone). The last two applications do require extra fees, though - one-time payment of $5 for Mobile Email and a monthly $9.99 subscription for the corporate variant.
Motorola Rival A455 comes with instant messenger support (AIM, Yahoo and Windows Live built-in), MMS and a very convenient SMS interface. All of those, of course, on top of a side-sliding QWERTY keypad, with good spacing and elevation, albeit being a little stiff to the touch. It includes dedicated one-touch buttons for instant messaging, SMS creation and emoticons.
Physically, Motorola Rival A455 handset offers a decidedly industrial look, which could allow the non-purple version (I think it comes in silver) to be suitable for more professional users. Sporting 3.8 x 2.0 x .71 inch dimensions, it is a rather compact phone, with a nice heft when held in the hand. The slide mechanism is very sturdy and shouldn't offer any problems at all.
While the Rival's 2.2-inch display (176 x 220 resolution) can act as a touchscreen, the feature only works as a phone dialer so you don't have to pull out the QWERTY panel in order to punch a number in. It also looks like it's packing an accelerometer, allowing it to change orientation as soon as you turn the phone sideways. As you can surmise from the numbers, display quality isn't the best, but it should suffice for most of the text-based features the phone is aimed at.
Other specs that should be of interest include a GPS (with VZ Navigator), USB storage support, voice dialing, stereo Bluetooth, a rather nominal 2.0 megapixel camera (with 320 x 240 video) and average media playback capability. It supports EV-DO, which allows it to take advantage of the carrier's numerous broadband services as well as considerably fast web browsing. Streaming videos aren't a good idea, though.
Call quality is topnotch, with voices sounding very natural, with nary a static nor interference on either end. Overall, this is a good messaging handset and a potentially decent one too for those looking to find a business phone without much need for "smart" features. It's a handset that's focused largely on the basics (SMS, email, voice calls) with a string of talents available as an aside.
Motorola Rival A455 Is A Good Messaging Phone With Few Media Add-Onsunratednoel2009-06-26 14:38:32
Phone ReviewsMotorola Rival A455 Is A Good Messaging Phone With Few Media Add-Ons
Designed for business professionals (especially those intending to travel a lot), the HTC Snap is the manufacturer's answer to all the full-QWERTY candybar handsets that Blackberry has made a living off of and that Nokia implemented so well on the E71. With this global phone, HTC finally has a "professional" unit that doesn't come with the uncomfortable bulk of the side-sliding Touch Pro series.
Before the Snap, HTC hasn't created a candybar QWERTY since 2007, choosing to focus its business on touch panel devices instead. The lack of familiarity shows a bit with a device that feels a bit flimsy and looks considerably less attractive than competing phones in the market.
Display is a 2.4-inch QVGA LCD, with 65,000 colors. Call us spoiled but the screen doesn't offer all that great image quality plus it doesn't perform well under bright lighting. Depending on how pricing goes in your country (it's still unpriced in the US as the T-Mobile Dash), the display could be acceptable. Keyboard is soft and responsive, although it's next to impossible to tell the keys apart from touch alone. Typing is actually pretty good, provided you glance at the keypad every now and then. The trackball pointer works beautifully.
The phone itself runs very fast, with no signs of delay regardless of which features I use or which apps I run. I love the Inner Circle function, which is pretty much the handset's major selling point, allowing you to keep up with only the important emails. Sucks that this feature is rumored to have been removed from the US version of the phone from T-Mobile.
Internet access is pretty good, provided you replace the default IE browser (sorry, Microsoft). There's little customization done to standard Windows Mobile features here, so old-dog WinMo users can expect the same straightforward operation. The 2.0 megapixel camera takes average images and videos - nothing fancy added at all. It uses HTC's Audio Manager for media playback, offering good media performance (as good as you can expect from a 2.4-inch screen anyway).
Phone calls are pristine - really, really clear on both ends of the line. Voice probably sounds as realistic as you can get with no hint of sharpness whatsoever.
Overall, it's a decent phone with all the basics and no frills. If T-Mobile prices this (as the Dash) anywhere near the E71 or Samsung Jack, there's no question you should give it the shrug. Should it come in at around $50 on two-year contract, though (likely), it just might be a good buy, especially with those near-perfect voice calls.
HTC Snap Review: Global Connectivity, Great Voice Callsunratednoel2009-07-01 04:09:11
Phone ReviewsHTC Snap Review: Global Connectivity, Great Voice Calls
There's really no tale to complete, but it is fun to imagine a story in there somewhere. AT&T recently announced the launch of the Samsung Jack, the company's latest follow-up to the previous Blackjack and Blackjack II, both well-received business handsets from years past.
AT&T claims that the Blackjack line has been the number one selling Windows Mobile series in the history of the OS. As such, they're expecting the trilogy's latest "installment" to continue the success.
Sporting classic and elegant looks reminiscent of Blackberry's handiwork, the masculine-looking phone comes with a complete set of business and messaging features designed for professionals on the go. Like its predecessors, the Jack packs a full QWERTY keypad for comfortable typing, along with a set of modern smartphone conveniences.
Specs include a 3.2 megapixel camera module (with video capture support), aGPS, 3G, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth +EDR. It features full email functionality, including support for multiple personal accounts and corporate email (MS Exchange Server with Direct Push). Running on Windows Mobile 6.1, it comes with Office Mobile and will be fully compatible with the impending 6.5 upgrade.
The phone comes with multimedia support via a microSDHC slot (up to 16GB) and comes fitted with AT&T's suite of streaming content. Interested parties can get the Samsung Jack beginning May 19th for $99 (under a two-year contract subsidy), after a $100 rebate.
Photo Credit: Engadget Mobile
AT&T Launches Samsung Jack, Completes The Trilogyunratednoel2009-05-15 10:51:32
NewsAT&T Launches Samsung Jack, Completes The Trilogy
