Ahead of my own, slightly more formal AAS review of the Nokia E52 and of Rafe's video review, Asri al-Baker has also been using this new ultra-slim Eseries phones and here he reports back on his impressions after two weeks. Highlights for him are 'the best keypad in Nokia's smartphone history', the new, faster version of Web and all the Eseries interface tweaks.
Read on in the full article.
"Best smartphone in the world?
I say that's bull's shit.
Can someone clear up the issue of how many 3G bands the E52/55 has? The reviews say 3, but the specs and the FCC, if I'm not mistaken say 2. I'm pretty sure that Nokia decided that 3 was too hard somewhere along the line as only got as far a 2, which is a bummer.
I have to say the E52/55 is the most exciting phone in a long time. Thinness is very important and so is battery life, and Nokia hit both nails on the head. At the same time the feature set is great. Hopefully software updates will take off some of the rough edges (like lack of a stand alone compass app) and one day they'll release a triband or quadband 3g version (E52/55i?).
Hi Asri,
Nice revue, thank you for that. Are you able to sync with Handbase? With my former E51, it was possible, but now with the 5800 xpress music, the sync doesn't work. Do you know why?
J+How to sync contacts callenders etc in E52 with my Macbook ?
Great review. Some questions:
1. "best alphanumeric keypad in recent Nokia S60 smartphones history"
Is it different to the e51 keyboard?
2. "You can search the contacts database from the Home screen by typing the first few letters of a name"
How does the home screen know that you aren't typing digits for a raw phonenumber?
3. "predictive text input is good and can be configured to use 2 languages at once"
Multilingual users often turn single language predictive text off and stick to multitap. This will allow bilingual users use it. What about trilingual users, can it do more than two languages?
As a bilingual user (and no, I don't stick to multitap, I just switch T9 languages all the friggin time 😊 ) the dual language predictive text is a great idea!
Ah, so the E52 browser has an about pane? I wonder why they're only making the browser version number known now, the browser doesn't even have a proper name, I hope they pick something and stick with it.
EDIT: Aha, they do have something with names and versions: http://www.forum.nokia.com/infocenter/index.jsp?topic=/Web_Developers_Library/GUID-D5C6212A-5EF2-44BF-B1F0-650A5F57D501.html, apparently there was a version jump from 3.2 to 7. lol. Still, they should pick a good, marketable name. s60.com/browser doesn't even work anymore.
I wonder what the 5800 is running though, it declares webkit 413 on the useragent, and it still haven't got the good stuff from the N97's browser. (ps sorry for the offtopic lol)
Why does it matter if the memory card is under the back cover? Just how often do you change the card? Mine has been in my E71 from the day I got it and I can't see any need to take it out.
>>How does the home screen know that you aren't typing digits for a raw phonenumber?
You are typing raw numbers in the normal dialing field. At the same time there is a pop-up menu with call types and a sidebar with predictive contact matches for those numbers. Look at the second set of pictures under Software Tweaks, the picture on the left.
Geez, listen to all these people bagging Asri for simply stating his opinion of the phone!
How to sync contacts callenders etc in E52 with my Macbook?
I expect (hope) that a new iSync plugin will be made available soon.
Is it different to the e51 keyboard?
Yes, it's wider and has a different feel.
I like the keypad, but when clicking left/right on the direction button it's too easy to accidentally press the calendar and email buttons.
How does the home screen know that you aren't typing digits for a raw phonenumber?
It doesn't 😊 You just type the numbers, they appear as normal, but above the numbers is a list of contacts you are possibly looking for. Press send to dial the number or use the direction button to choose the contact.
I really like this phone, but it's not made as solidly as the E51, and the email app crashes constantly - desperately hoping for a firmware update to address this. Otherwise it's fantastic
Many thanks for those who commented 😉
Unregistered wrote:Hi Asri,Nice revue, thank you for that. Are you able to sync with Handbase? With my former E51, it was possible, but now with the 5800 xpress music, the sync doesn't work. Do you know why?
I'm use HanDBase desktop version 4 on my Ubuntu box using the latest Wine. And I dont sync my database, I copy them manually. Most of my database work are done on the phone tho 😊
Unregistered wrote:Why does it matter if the memory card is under the back cover? Just how often do you change the card? Mine has been in my E71 from the day I got it and I can't see any need to take it out.
I have 3 microSD card which I regularly swap and insert into the E52 :
- 8 GB card for songs and transferring files (no need to carry USD thumbdrive anymmore LOL!)
- 4 GB card for movies, videos
- 1 GB card for my documents (articles, ebooks)
All these are my usual suspects, everyday use. Hence, for me, accessing card slot easily is very important.
To each his very own 😉
Unregistered wrote:Geez, listen to all these people bagging Asri for simply stating his opinion of the phone!
I like the enthusiasm 😉
Tim2233 wrote:How to sync contacts callenders etc in E52 with my Macbook?
I expect (hope) that a new iSync plugin will be made available soon.Is it different to the e51 keyboard?
Yes, it's wider and has a different feel.
I like the keypad, but when clicking left/right on the direction button it's too easy to accidentally press the calendar and email buttons.How does the home screen know that you aren't typing digits for a raw phonenumber?
It doesn't 😊 You just type the numbers, they appear as normal, but above the numbers is a list of contacts you are possibly looking for. Press send to dial the number or use the direction button to choose the contact.I really like this phone, but it's not made as solidly as the E51, and the email app crashes constantly - desperately hoping for a firmware update to address this. Otherwise it's fantastic
Tim2233,
1. Many thanks for your assistance. In my opinion, E52 controller keys is better than E75's. I have no problem using the D-Pad, it's spaced correctly.
2. Smart-dial integrates itself with the built-in contact database. It will search the name corresponding to the keypad pressed in T9 style. So, if you want to search A.S.R.I, you just type 2, 7, 7, 4 😉
3. I used E51 before. Hardware-wise, E52 is better but the E51's strength is the darker colour and it looks indestructible while the E52 looks very luxurious and "bling-bling", you know what I mean... 😉
I agree. Nokia Messaging is still too rough for heavy use. I'll write separate article for that 😉
Anyway, If any of you guys are interested to buy new E52 Malaysian version, email me asri at i-symbian.com. I can get it at good price 😉
The N97Compass is compatible with the E52, it's just works smoothly on mine. 😊
How to sync contacts callenders etc in E52 with my Macbook?
Someone has made a plugin which works with the E52/E55 already just need to follow instructions. PM and will send you the details.
My two phones work perfect with my macbook now.
Can it do more than two languages simultaneously?
Please can someone post an idiots proof guide how to disable transitions on the E52???
I got this last week from Play for �230, us Quidco and you get �8 off that, best candy bar mobile I have ever used!!
I have recently , a week ago, purchased a new Nokia E52.
However, I cant get the mail for exchange to funtion.
We have a number of older E71 machines in house that work OK with the Mail for Exchange so I know that Microsoft Excahnge is OK. I have copied exaclty the setup from the E71. I have attempted on now 4 separate attempts to get Nokia to respond via their Nokia Care phone line to help solve this issue and on each attempt they have said , oh we will get a level 2 engieer to call you and go over this issue. On the last attempt I was told that Nokia are reviewing this issue for the E52, mean while I have a phone that is meant to work for business users facilitating sync into my company server via exchange but it does not work, and worst still Nokia seem unable to respond. Frankly, I am not impressed with either the E52 or Nokia.
Pull your finger our Nokia, looks like HTC and IPhone is the only route to take.
On my second phone. Software problems. Phone freezes, crashes and occasionally even switches itself off. Could be the reason for UK's largest network delaying release. Not possible to see the screen in daylight - no problem though if you're sitting in an office. Hearing quality is no problem, however, noise cancellation function seems to be creating problems and receivers often complain of poor sound quality, particularly if walking around in busy streets, for example. Needs to be sorted out by Nokia, so my advice would be to wait for 3rd or 4th generation.
You said voice quality is great? how did you test it? there are a lot of users complaining about the quality of voice if you are in a crowded area because of the noise cancellation. People on the other line could not hear you.
Could you do another test?
Steve, can you update the reviews on AAS about the E52 (http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/news/item/10352_Asris_two_weeks_with_the_Nokia.php and http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/reviews/item/Nokia_E52.php) to warn people about the call quality problem with the E52?
See http://discussions.europe.nokia.com/discussions/board/message?board.id=communicators&thread.id=46085 and http://discussions.europe.nokia.com/discussions/board/message?board.id=communicators&thread.id=48686 for more info.
Until Nokia fixes this problem, the people who buy this phone and encounter this problem are going to be very disappointed! Hopefully Nokia takes note after AAS gives some visibility to this problem!
hello can u send me the link for e52 plugin for mac.. as isync is not working with my e52.
Has anyone upgraded to the latest firmware., and if so are there improvements in stability
Great features gps etc etc etc
BUT in the Real world every day physical use It's....
Let down by the worst build quality of any nokia handset I have ever touched!
DO not buy the e52 unless you keep it in a furlined bag and don't push the buttons too hard as they will fall off if you put it in your pocket and a thread should catch some of the keys they will come away I kid you not that is what happend to mine.
If Nokia made all their phones this bad they would go bankrupt.
Awfull
I have 2 friends who own Nokia E52, i can't hear them at all the sound quality very bad,
i always ask them if i'm on speaker because sometimes their voice disappear,,
before i thought the microphone is misplaced so they might be covering it with their hand then we made a test, even though sound is very bad,
nokia please fix this,
myself i have nokia e72 it's perfect except the small keyboard
I want to change my present micro sd (1 gb) with new one (16gb). Would you be kind to explain the whole procedure step by step 😞 ! Must I use Nokia PC Suite ? I want to do this and to keep the current settings on my E52 (mail settings, personal customization etc) for sure. I can copy pictures and music from telephone to pc and I know that, but what about installed aplications? Would they work with simple copy-paste?
Thanx in advance 😊 !
Compared to E51 the sound quality is dreadful on speaker or for music.
Nokia E52-1, Firmware: v.034.001
So here's the thing - I began to install apps on my E52-1. Install them on the memory card and they still take away some memory from the 56MB or so of memory that the pfone starts off with. I was left with less than 10MB of memory after a few week's usage - that's not great. Getting 'low memory' messages on a phone in this day and age is just ridiculous, esp. when there is only one app or so running. So I wanted to see where it went. I hard reset my phone and started installing:
These apps install directly on internal memory without prompting otherwise.
update psiloc world traveller: another 3MB on the internal memory ("other files"😉
update quickoffice to v.6.2: 8MB of memory taken up! ("other files"😉
update Ovi maps to v.3.04: 13MB of internal memory (mostly "SIS files"😉
Escarpod took about 800KB if I remember correctly. Another 8 or so apps installed on the memory card took up about 3MB of internal memory also (Fring: 300KB).
So I'm left with 28MB before I restore my contacts, email and notes etc. I haven't installed the updates from the Softvvare Update such as MS exchange and python etc. Nor maps. If all the 'officially sanctioned' updates insist on being installed on the internal memory, how long can we receive updated for. Or put another way, does this determine the life of the product? No one with this phone wants to be using outdated maps, office app, PDF viewer but these are all taking up precious memory space!!
"Best keypad"??? it must be joke... My company gave me brand new phone E52 and next day I sent him to repair. The E52 keypad is terrible - especially joystick that doesn't click (it clicks in only one direction) so you have no tactile response and you feel like pressing a sheet of metal... Service claim that it's normal behavior and that other phones are the same.
