Nokia E72 review

Will Nokia's QWERTY smartphone do the business?

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Nokia E72
The definitive Nokia E72 review

TechRadar Verdict

A good upgrade to the E71, with a lot of thought gone into this business smartphone

Pros

  • +

    Fine QWERTY keyboard

  • +

    Excellent messaging functionality

  • +

    Great build and design

  • +

    Wi-Fi and HSPA data

  • +

    Good package of smartphone features

  • +

    4GB MicroSD card

Cons

  • -

    2.36-inch screen small for a smartphone

  • -

    S60 user interface buries settings

  • -

    Optical navigation key can be fiddly

  • -

    Only 250MB onboard memory

  • -

    No dedicated camera button

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The Nokia E71 certainly hit the mark for its target business audience, so it's little surprise that its E72 successor reprises much of what was good about that QWERTY keyboard-packing Symbian S60 smartphone, while updating it with extra power and performance.

The E72 features a sleek business-like design, sporting a BlackBerry-style full QWERTY keyboard across its wide body. Some eye-catching chrome trim complements the classically understated bodywork that's aimed squarely at serious business users.

Smartphone technology may have moved on rapidly since the E71 first wowed us as a business tool, but it seems there's still strong demand for devices like the E72.

Nokia e72

This E-series model operates on the non-touchscreen Symbian S60 3rd Edition (v3.2.3) platform, so there's no screen-tapping action here – its 2.36-inch QVGA (320 x 240 pixels) landscape-oriented TFT display is, in fact, similar to the E71's.

However Nokia has upgraded the processor under the bonnet to a 600MHz ARM processor, making its work-rate that much quicker.

The E72 has also introduced an optical trackpad within the navigation D-pad, so light finger action can initiate movement on the screen.

Nokia e72

The camera has been enhanced from the E71's 3.2-megapixel shooter, with a 5-megapixel camera taking care of imaging.

HSDPA connectivity has been boosted to download speeds of up to 10.2Mbps (suitable network capability allowing) and HSUPA upload at up to 2Mbps. Wi-Fi is safely onboard, as is A-GPS satellite navigation which supports Nokia's latest Ovi Maps free turn-by-turn sat-nav software upgrade.

Nokia e72

Nokia has beefed up the messaging experience on the E72, providing support for Nokia Messaging, where up to 10 regular email accounts can be handled in a user-friendly desktop-style push email environment.

Nokia's Chat software also provides instant messaging connectivity for multiple services simultaneously. Other software enhancements are dotted throughout, bringing the enterprise user experience up to date.

So does the Nokia E72 still have what it takes do the business?

Phil Lattimore