Nokia's New E series Phone Nokia E61I PDA

Nokia gives latest design cell phone Nokia E61i. The first thing you may notice is the Nokia E61i sheds the all-silver casing for a little less stuffy silver-and-mocha brown color scheme. Curiously, there are some controls and components of the phone, such as the power button and volume rocker, that are made out of a grayish-white plastic that seem out of place and detracts from the overall attractiveness of the Nokia E61i. As far as size, the smart phone carries the same large footprint as its predecessor at 4.6 inches tall by 2.7 inches wide by 0.5 inch deep, but it's a tad heavier at 5.3 ounces (vs. 5 ounces). The aluminum chassis gives the handset a solid construction, but it's a bit awkward to hold and use as a phone since it has a wider body, like that of a PDA. The Nokia E61i's display remains the same as the E62's, but that's not a bad thing since the 2.8-inch screen is large and bright, with a 320x240 pixel resolution and 16-million-color output.

Text and images looked excellent, and even better, it was still readable in sunlight; you can also adjust the backlighting, contrast, and theme. Just be aware that it's not a touch screen, so keep this in mind as you're shopping around for your new smart phone. You still get the standard Talk and End buttons, two soft keys, and shortcuts to the main menu and e-mail. However, Nokia has now added a quick-launch button to your contacts as well as another key you can program to open any of the phone's applications.

In addition, replacing the Nokia E61i PDA's joystick controller is a more traditional five-way navigation toggle with a central select button. It's very similar to the one found on the Nokia E65, and we found it to have its pros and cons. Starting with the good, it's easier to use the large select button on the Nokia E61i rather than having to press in a tiny joystick. On the flip side, the outer band that gives you scrolling capabilities is pretty thin, so you have to make a concerted effort to touch just the edges to move up and down or left and right, while trying to avoid the much larger center select key. Users with larger thumbs may also have problems with the four shortcut keys, as they're bunched closely together. The Nokia E61i's full QWERTY keyboard features some minor changes as well.

There's more spacing between the buttons, and most all of the keys have a square shape to them. They're large and have an almost rubbery texture to them, so there's no worry of slippery buttons. Overall, we thought the keyboard was an improvement over the Nokia E62's and had no problems typing out e-mails or text messages. We also found the tactile response to be interesting. It feels soft almost cushiony and springy when you tap the buttons, unlike some of the other QWERTY devices we've tested, which has a harder, clicky feel to them. We had a slight preference for the latter, since the E61i required a little more pressure when pressing the keys.