Rita's love hate relationship with the Nokia E52

Has the spec, has the tech, but sadly built on the cheap.
I have had an E51 for almost 2 years which has suffered SERIOUS heavy (ab)use and STILL not a squeak to be heard or a creak to be felt. Unless you've owned one you won't appreciate just how solidly built this phone is. E52? Had one replacement due to poor build issues, and this is still creaky, squeaky, cheap and nasty for an E Series. Light leakage is extremely bad as reviewed too. I was SO looking forward to this phone but after nearly 2 months use the disappointment still keeps growing.

I wanted to replace my E51 too with the E52. Returned the E52 after a week because of build quality as well. First time I do so with a Nokia E-series. Might try the E55...

Well the E55 is the same build, just a different input system. Had considered the E72 but seeing as the keys around the D-Pad are EXACTLY the same think I'll pass on that one (yet another issue!) Makes me very sad that my (very) old S40 phones (and plastic!) are built better than this.

Yes, I'm considering a top 10 list, identifying the best built Symbian smartphones of all time. Any recommendations?

Off the top of my head:
E51
E61
E61i
E90
N86
N97 mini
Sony Ericsson P900
Samsung G810
Samsung i8910 HD
E75

What else am I missing?

100% Agree with the E51 being at the top of that list (if it is indeed in order). Although it did have one Achilles heel - the soft rubber buttons.

I used an E51 for around 6 months. I had a 6300 before it and an E61i and an E71 after it. The E51 was easily the cheapest feeling of them all. The keys had too much travel and the d-pad sounded hollow and too clicky. It also didn't have that solid as a brick feel of the 6300 or E71. I just couldn't gel with the handset itself but it did open my eyes to the magic of S60 compared to S40. Still loving Symbian but using Android at the moment for a change of scenery. Spent 6 months with a 5800 but it couldn't inspire me to move up to the N97. The mini however. . . .

Top Symbian smartphones for me (not in any real order)

E71
N95 8GB
N82
E50

Don't laugh but the original N Gage was very solid.

Amongst the abuse mine took was a 4 foot drop on to concrete and a fall from a bike to asphalt art top speed.

Garden pond got it in the end 😞

N82 was probably the best built N-Series in terms of being able to take abuse. The concrete worried, whenever I dropped mine. It did squeak a bit in the hand though sometimes.

In terms of overall BQ, I think I'd have to go for the E61..... very nicely over-engineered device.

My N73 made it through the whole contract and a couple of years of being used by the kids and was still in good shape, so it gets my vote.

Not something that gonna make me stop using the device, but after using the E52 for ~6 weeks, I totally agree with Rita when it comes to the build quality issues.

Very bad move of Nokia, seeing how one of the strong points of the E-series was the superior build quality. The build quality is extremely important for me, and while I felt sort of locked into Nokia when I bought this device (partly thanks to N-Gage which already is dead), I will probably spend more time looking at devices from other manufacturers the next time I buy a device.

They should have used more metal for the device, as it is now, only the battery cover is metal. The "metallic" frame around the device should have been metal too, but it's not.

E90, e71, e51, n93, n90.

I bought a 6630 3.5 years ago, about 3 years ago left it on the dash of my car for at least 4 hours during the aussie summer; it was about 35C that day, and on the dash (I'm guessing well over 60C) it was enough to melt the 3rd party cover and the sim card.

The original keypad was in it and wasn't effected so I did a quick cover change and ordered a new sim card. A friend bought it off me about 2 years ago and it is still working right now. The battery was changed about 2 months ago.

It wasn't until I saw the video of the Nokia testing centre video that I understood what this phone had likely gone through to make sure what happened above was less likely to cause a complete hardware failure.

Of the phones I have used:

1. N82
2. E61i
3. E51
4. 6131

I really really hope E72 is not having E52's build issues. I have waited sooo long for that phone! That's my only symbian upgrade for now otherwise, I don;t even know, what to look for in India! May be mini is good!

As the maximum term that I use any one phone for is less than 12 months, I don't feel the need to consider build quaility.

According to me E71 takes top spot and rest are as follows

E90- great for device with hinge
N82- my personal fav
N86
E61
E51
E75- although its slider

I was looking to get E52/55 but hearing lots of -ve things about both 😞
Anyways Nokia isn't releasing these in India, may be same reason? who knows.

Best buy will be N86

Another vote for the N82, mine was a solid brick too, in a good way. Nokia shouldn't let hardware quality slip, they already face enough on the software front as it is. The E52 fiasco made me get an Android device to try something new.

My Symbian experience is limited to 3 phones (P910i, E90 and E51), but I have nothing but admiration for the build quality of my 2 E-series phones.

My E90 is bomb-proof (even survived getting full of water - not recommended!!), and the E51 just feels superb in the hand. Even my P910i survived an early fall onto concrete, so I guess I've been pretty lucky....

Unfortunately, Nokia are doing a truly excellent job of ruining their reputation; their recent phones have been both unreliable and badly built/designed, which is hardly a glowing recommendation, particularly when compared to some of the "opposition"...

Steve...

N86 ?????

Yes, we know from my Tweets, that my own experience with the N86 has been nothing short of the worst disaster for any Nokia phone I have ever owned, but in fairness, these predominantly relate to the software.

But when talking about the best BUILT phones, and you include this, I am quite staggered...

You see, build wise, the N86 has lots of flaws that not just I am experience, even Tim Salmon attests to many of these...

• Wobbly slider. Far improved from old n95 days, but Nokia STILL do not know how to make a solid slider, that most other manufactures have been doing for at least four years now. Trust me - if I slide it open, then press down on the top part, just underneath the D-Pad, I can readily play clackety-clack tunes with my phone for people's amusement. And this is a well protected N86 that lives in a Lowepro Shockproof case.
• Poor D-Pad. My D-pad is such that the lower edge only, not the top or sides, the slight lip that runs all around the d pad edge - my bottom one is rough, jagged, and almost sharp even. Very poor.
• Rock solid pressure needed to press keys. Tim Salmon knows all about this, but he seems to only equate it to earlier models. My mate just got one last week, new to Virgin so thus not sitting on a warehouse shelf for ages, and his is the same as mine - the keys are not just nice and firm... on the contrary, after a while, they give you serious RSI when trying to type. They are far too HARD to press.
• Dust inside - and I know why - see next issue...
• Misaligned upper glass layer. My top surface glass layer that covers the top of the phone completely - mine is misaligned. If you hold it to the light so you can see it, I can clearly see that along the right hand side of my phone, where the glass surface layer should touch up the the slightly higher raised lip or bevel that runs around the phone - there is a 1mm gap. The other side, over the left though, the glass is pushed against the bevel. This gap on the right is clearly were the dust is entering my phone, and contaminating the screen. I can carefully press down, for pressure/grip, on the glass, and push it over to the right, to make it flush. But as soon as I let go, it moves back to the original position - clearly the glue or whatever, is fixed to the offset position alas.
• D-Pad again. Mine clacks now (not when properly pressed - just when pressing it enough to make contact with the phone surface as it were). So coupled with the loose slider, it makes for a very musical phone, so at least I can play tunes on it to amuse people.

Indeed, whilst it feels rather 'solid' in the hand, this is due to the generous use of metal parts. But that doesn't mean mine, or many others, are of great build quality.

Indeed, after this N86, I am convinced that I will never again own any Nokia other than a mono-block, as Nokia have still not got the slider right - far from it.

I only relented and went with a slider this time, as that is what Nokia, in their foolish wisdom, have decided to give us, for their flagship camera-centric phone.

How stupid is it, that for a camera orientated device, they build it into a SLIDER, not a MONOBLOCK. Mmmm.

Anyway, I digress - I sound biased, but honestly I am not. My friend with a brand new Virgin N86 is unhappy with the build quality, many others have said the same, and Tim Salmon has posted on here before about the keypad issues.

So I'm please for you yourself that you consider YOURS to be so great of build, as do others too to be fair.

But please be mindful that such praise, from the praiseworthy as yourself, will tempt many into a similar direction, and I worry that this would be a bit unkind to them, when they might well find their real world experience, vastly different to your own alas.

EDIT - to add my E51 Experiences...

Mmm E51... Loved that phone, apart from one major issue I had..

My first E51... there was a 2-3mm gap between the front and back parts, around the side, that started flush as it should have been, on the right, but as it ran up around, and over to the other side, ended up a good 2mm wide gap.

The first was therefore returned straight away, for a doorstep T-Mobile exchange.

When that arrived, this new one was even worse.

So I took it back to an actual T-Mobile store, where they opened up the only one they had, and it too was the same.

So I was (foolishly) advised to keep mine, and just take it to a Nokia Care Centre. Which I did, and after a week, they rang to say they wouldn't even touch it, and it would have to go to Nokia.

It was therefore sent to Nokia, who sent it back "No Fault Found" (morons).

I therefore had to send it BACK to Nokia again, with a full covering letter.

This time, it came back EVEN worse, but to try and cover for their failings, they had replaced the front silver metal, with the black metal fascia one instead (thus making mine some kind of hybrid speciality - not a black one, nor a silver one, but bits of both - and this being NOKIA THEMSELVES, not a Care Centre - so your getting my picture as to what I think of Nokia UK Care, yes...)

This was therefore sent back with the threat of legal action... To no avail, because the recorded delivery legal action letter was sent to the wrong address, as Nokia had given me their OLD UK HQ address - this just gets better and better.

Finally after sending a Letter of Notice Before Action to Nokia UK correct address, they relented and let me choose from a new alternative handset, AND keep the E51.

Result eh! Er no, because I kid you not - the N82 they sent me (NEW, not refurb), was D.O.A. - just wouldn't even switch on.

And this being at the end of the N82 production cycle, they could not source me a replacement N82.

So instead, they eventually decided to offer me an E90 instead. FINALLY - RESULT...???

Erm it arrived damaged - but to be fair, we could see that already, as the box was mangled - it was a Royal Mail fault, not a Nokia one. The box was totally destroyed, and the phone inside was damaged too.

So a replacement one had to be sent.

And eventually, I ended up with an E90 that is still solid and reliable now.

But only after the utterly ridiculous, utterly farcical situation described above, which doesn't even mention the twenty odd phone calls to Nokia, promises of fifteen FAILED return of calls, FIVE recorded Delivery letter, and being sworn at twice (yes honestly), by some afro-Caribbean sounding employee of Nokia Care, down the telephone.

So if Damian Dinning is wondering why I haven't taken my problematic N86 to a Nokia Care Centre, maybe after reading that, he might understand, and have the UK Product Manager arrange something a bit more direct, to try and resolve my current N86 issues (bearing in mind, that to the latter end of my tale above, this is what I was in effect then doing with Nokia for that case, personal one ot one correspondence, and that didn't make things go much smoother anyhow).

So E51...? Not on my list of solid builds, but I know I was the unlucky one (again), but I will sure add the E90 as one of the all-time solid Nokias, and indeed also perhaps the plasticky, but solid (lasting), N82.

Wow. That's a tale of woe! You, sir, are a one man Nokia disaster area!!

I can only re-iterate that my N86 is built superbly in every detail. Again, it's possibly down to me having one of the first production run units, from Finland - I suspect that yours was from a later batch at some Asian factory? Anyway, I stuck it further down the list because of the different experiences of (some) others.

But yes, you were right to perservere. At �400, these devices should be nigh-on perfect in terms of hardware. Anything less is, rightly, to be thrown back at Nokia until they tighten their QA.

I have an E51 and bought the E52 as an upgrade how wrong that was.

The keys either side of the toggle as just awfull felt like they would come unstuck after a weeks use.

What is it with nokia can't they make a good phone these days.

The 6230i solid the 6310i amazingly solid.

I don't think i'll ever buy another nokia.

All I'm after is a candy phone with a standard keypad and a clear screen with gps free for life.

Nokia could easily fall from their premier position.

A bit like toyota are in cars.

E52 = rubbish build quality

actually

E52 = Joke phone

Sent back after 2 days my e51 lasted 2 years and still going strong.

Shame on you Nokia your phones are getting worst and worst in build quality as time goes on.

Apple 1 phone solid and does it all Nokia 1,000 phones and none of them do it all.

Nokia why not just make 10 excellent phones ?