History of appearance, market situation.
Well, the popularity of this device is in great doubt, but you will decide for yourself after reading this review. The model, in fact, has a rather strange positioning, and does not occupy the most prominent place in the E-series lineup.
Well, let's take a look at which is which. By itself, the device is ordinary, with a striving for practicality - it is very convenient to call from it, it has a long operating time, there is a semiQWERTY keyboard, that is, it is a workhorse from a series of smartphones.
Let's just say - it occupies a place in the lineup next to the Nokia E71, and Nokia E63 is its counterparts but with a different type of keyboard. These models can be considered the successors of the E51 model. But that was before the Nokia E52 appeared on the market, which is the most direct successor of the E51. The basis of choice for the buyer is the steel case and solid appearance - this is Nokia for business. Everything is also perfectly organized here, a convenient phone book, as in any E-series device, and the latest Symbian version. But let's put it this way, there are not many phones with such a keypad, so we will consider it as a separate device.
And there is a minus - not all languages of the world have the ability to implement such a keyboard. But, we already see the Nokia E52 on the market, which will minimize the sales of the E55, but now it's not a bad thing, let's get to grips with this model. Although you can by and large read this review for Nokia E52 as well, since the difference is only in the keyboard, the rest of the points converge.
I think you've figured out the positioning - the device is interesting, but it has tough internal competition. This is obvious, since the device is not represented on our market, it makes no sense to order it from abroad.
But this is a great solution for those who make a lot of calls, but still need smartphone functions. Or, for example, the phone is suitable for those who write a lot.
In general, a rather original solution.
Body, colors, design, assembly.
So far, only two colors are available - black and light silver. The unit will also be marketed for certain operators who will receive their own colors. But it is not known whether such solutions will be introduced to the market at all.
The size of the phone will not offend any buyer - 116.5x49x9.9 mm, it is thin and wide, which is not a bad thing. The phone will lie just fine in the hand, it is clear that the designers tried to make the device as thin as possible, and made of metal, it turned out to be quite thin, and, by the way, weighs a little.
The metal is coated and pleasant to the touch, but at first it feels like it is plastic, but we checked it was metal. The whole design is implemented quite tightly, and there will be no problems here. The device weighs only 95 grams, you must agree not a lot.
On the right we can see two volume control keys, between them there is a hardware button for voice functions, and from below we see a key to activate the camera.
And on the left there is a connector for MicroUSB, it does not close, maybe this is for the best. Above there is only the power key and the minijack connector for connecting headphones. Below is a connector for a standard charger.
There is a front-facing video camera and a light indicator above the display.
The build quality of Nokia is still excellent, but we can say that, for example, the quality of the case itself is getting worse than on previous models from the same series, but this is observed on all existing models, maybe this is a subjective impression, maybe it should be - to the manufacturer know better.
However, in view of this, there is still a small problem, the device will not tolerate falls poorly. The back cover may begin to fall off over time. Although this was the case on other models.
But in the end we can say that the impressions remain positive and the device fits into the pocket not badly, you can wear it in trousers, you can wear it in a shirt, as you like.
The screen and its capabilities.
The display here is not small, a little larger than on other devices, 2.4 inches with a resolution of 320x240, QVGA.
The display is bright, does not fade in the sun, which is not bad at all, and in general we can say that it corresponds to the level of the device. There are three service lines and up to 8 regular lines. There is a built-in accelerometer that can automatically rotate the screen based on your movements.
Keyboard and backlight. Typing.
Despite the appearance of the keyboard - the keys are of a decent size, it was convenient to work with them. The keyboard is called semiQWERTY, it is not a full-fledged QWERTY keyboard.
Here, the usual keys are marked with two symbols, typing the next one requires two presses, this is not the best solution, but someone will definitely like it. The keys are lit in white, visible in any conditions.
Yes, you guessed it, typing on such a keyboard is less convenient than on a regular QWERTY, but better than on a standard telephone keypad. From this such an original solution was born. There is practically no difference in the hardware keys, the only thing is that now the contacts are called by the "C" key.
Battery
The battery deserves special praise here, imagine its capacity - 1500 mAh! It is called BP-4L.
This is the most powerful battery Nokia has to date. The phone will really be ideal for talking - you can talk for about 8 hours without recharging. And in standby mode, the smartphone can lie for more than 670 hours - that's almost a month. Excellent performance. For example, we will give some more indicators. I managed to listen to music for about 18 hours, and you can record and watch videos for more than 200 minutes. If you use all the functions of the device, then it works for about 5 days, which is not bad enough. At the same time, you can use everything, and even call for a couple of hours a day. I like it. According to the manufacturer, you can watch a video for about 4 hours, browse the Internet with an active connection for about 5 hours, listen to music for 17-18 hours with headphones, a radio for more than 25. The device also has a built-in GPS, if you use it, the device works for 4 hours.
I can tell from myself I managed to run over with the GPS turned on for more than 6 hours, perhaps because there was good visibility of the satellites. That is, this is 1.5 times more than the manufacturer claims. But the problem with music is understandable, probably due to the presence of a chip, although I managed to listen to music longer on the E52 model. This moment remained incomprehensible to me.
Memory
The device has a standard amount of RAM - there is 128 MB of it, of which about 75 MB are available after downloading. This is more than enough for this kind of device. The built-in memory for storing data is 100 megabytes. There is support for MicroSD with hot swap, a 2GB card is included, 32GB is supported. In this aspect, I have no complaints, I think they will not appear with you if you have to work with this device.
Camera and video.
The camera was considered not important here and they put the most budgetary option here, unfortunately, the camera does not have autofocus, but has only focus at one point. You can take pictures from a distance of half a meter. The matrix here is 3.15 megapixels, the resolution is 2048x1536, the focus is called "enhanced fixed focus", there is an LED flash.
This is certainly a minus, but you can take a quick photo without waiting for focus. Video is recorded here in VGA resolution - 640x480. Unfortunately, the frame rate is only 15 per second. In general, there is nothing unusual about the camera. The camera became almost the only annoying moment for me.
Examples of photos:
Hardware platform, processor.
The device is powered by a more modern processor with a frequency of 600 MHz, it is used in almost all the latest smartphones from Nokia. The smartphone works pretty quickly, moving through the menu is instant. The operating system is Symbian, the hardware platform is identical to Nokia 5630 XpressMusic, Nokia 6700 Slide, Nokia E52.
Software features, applications, games, contacts.
Here is still the E - the series deserves praise.Its applications, which stand apart from other devices, have already managed to fall in love with users - this is a different phone book, calendar and a number of other functions. Not many of them are later found in other S60 devices. If we compare the E55 with the E - series phones, then this is the same Nokia E71. Only here a more modern and convenient email client appeared, probably, this was facilitated by the new keyboard. The client supports html, which is very good. In general, all this deserves a separate review.
One phone book deserves a lot of praise, the most advanced functions are implemented here. Conveniently implemented work with subscriber groups. For the first time, I have met such a convenient conference call, the device almost completely manages it by itself, that is, it can create it for you from a group of subscribers. A blacklist of subscribers has appeared, as well as mass mailing of messages.
And the voice dialing here is completely original, in order to understand this - you need to try it.
Music player.
In contrast to the camera, the music is surprising here, the device is built on the platform of a music chip, and it also has a 3.5 mm jack. It sounds very good. The player is absolutely standard, like on any other S60 device.
There are all the same equalizers, playlists and sorting. A musical device cannot be called only in terms of positioning. I like it.
Communications
In the USB settings, everything is as usual - there are three modes, from which you choose one when connecting: transferring data in removable disk mode, working with PC Suite or sending photos for printing. The transfer speed is only 1 MB per second. Bluetooth in a smartphone - 2.0 + EDR. All kinds of profiles are supported, working with the headset does not cause problems. Everything works perfectly. The speed is no more than 100 kilobytes per second. For example, with a headset I managed to drive for almost two days, before phones did not fit into such a record figure. There is a Wi-Fi module, there is a network wizard that will help you connect, the technology is used - 802.11 b / g. I previously disliked this weird networking wizard until I figured it out. A very good implementation of the function, in fact.
Gps
There is a built-in module, the cards are installed in version 2.0, but you can easily update them to the third version. The work of GPS did not cause any complaints. Everything is as usual. I have already written about his long-term work.
Impression
In general, the phone pleased me, there are really successful devices, and in the E - series are quite often. The quality did not cause any complaints. During conversations, all participants hear each other normally. The ringtone volume is at an average level, and I would like a little more vibration, it is not always felt. The device has a number of interesting solutions, good musical content, and the convenience of the E - series. At the start of sales, the price will start at 260 Euro, it is not known whether the device will appear with us, but its analogue E52 is already on sale, in principle, any part of this review also corresponds to the E52 model.
I still can't help but remember the highest operating time and the metal case. This is a real plus in the market, because most people are chasing this - for practicality, and many do not need all these touchscreens, then this device will be just right for them.
In the package that I had on my review - I found: charging «AC-10 ”, adapter for charging“ CA-146C ”, battery“ BP-4L ”, headset“ HS-48 ”, USB cable“ CA-101 ”, 2Gb memory card, manual, CD with software, Ovi services licensed for 60 days, Nokia Maps for 10 days and all-time messaging service for the E - series.
