Review: Nokia E72 - part 1: the E71 upgrade, a Solid Smartphone

As a long term user of this form factor (I've owned an E61, E61i and E71 - and loved them all) the lack of "Podcasting" was a real deal breaker for me.

I've switched to an N97 Mini and, although a consumer phone, it's not too bad for business use.

Let's hope Nokia come out with a decent Symbian^3 big screen business phone.

SJ

Great phone this one is. Couldn't care less about podcasting or whatever, so I am fine with it.

There are a few things with this phone that will not get me to upgrade from my E71:

- it lacks touchscreen. in a world where small companies like palm are able to come up with a combo of qwerty keyboard and touchscreen i would expect Nokia to deliver something even greater!
- since it lacks touchscreen, the whole user experience with the phone goes down the drain a bit.
- the qwerty keyboard is nice and prolly one of the best in its class, but the rest of the keys are a huuuuge piece of crap!!!! the call keys are flat, you have no feeling at all pressing them. they should be raised a bit in the middle.
- S60 UI needs an overhaul! even though the phone is new, it seems old! that's because the user experience lacks excitement, you could do much more with the screen real estate. the home screen needs live widgets like N97.
- needs more power.. why is there no snapdragon in this baby??? this phone would be great for gaming!! why does nokia think that only business people want qwerty phones? i bet if they paid more attention to their customers they would put more power into it and make those phones gaming phones and build more media capabilities into it.

Nokia needs to head back to the drawing board cuz they're lacking innovation as of late!

Compare the E72 with the N95 from a few years ago and there is almost no difference between them two!!!!! Were they sleeping for the past 3years?? DO THEY THINK WE'RE THAT STUPID TO CONTINUE TO BUY THEIR CRAP???

@DonCavili

You speak for yourself. I hate touch screens and I can't be arsed with kids games. I am glad that Nokia offer a variety of different options. And I don't use my phone for excitement. There's plenty of that to be had from the stuff that normal humans do. If you want a touch and qwerty combination, Nokia do phones like that, but they are not called E72. Try looking for phone companies that are not called Nokia and phones that are not called E72.

None touchscreen is fine by me.

S60 UI is fine for a none-touchscreen. I do admit that S60v5 needs an overhaul and that is what Symbian Foundation are working at for its next release.

Also Nokia do have touchscreen + QWERTY combo. This is for people who do not need or want touchscreen. Ever heard of the N900?

As for Snapdragon, not everyone phone needs a 1Ghz Cortex in it. If you actually used a E72, you will know it is fast. Way way faster than your E71. Stop spewing crap if you have not used it or do not know what you are talking about.

doncavali wrote:
Compare the E72 with the N95 from a few years ago and there is almost no difference between them two!!!!! Were they sleeping for the past 3years?? DO THEY THINK WE'RE THAT STUPID TO CONTINUE TO BUY THEIR CRAP???

. . .and while you are at it why not compare a hairdryer to a washing machine? Those hairdryers are just real rubbish at cleaning clothes aren't they!

As one of the target audience for the E72 I must say it does exactly what I need. Yes, like everything it can be improved but from your comments it is certainly not the phone you want. Have you thought of a washing machine?

Why does this phone have a Accelerometer? I dont see a reason why anyone would want to tilt this phone for viewing stuff in portrait mode? :tongue:

The accelerometer is used, amongst other things, for the 'flip to silence' on calls and alarms, which is a nice touch.

Speed-wise, it's a massive improvement, coming from my original N95 to the E72 (my own review is on RegHardware).

Nigel

I'm not sure if it will work on the E72 (I haven't got mine yet) but the old Nokia podcast client can still be downloaded: http://europe.nokia.com/get-support-and-software/product-support/podcasting/compatibility-and-download

malerocks wrote:Why does this phone have a Accelerometer? I dont see a reason why anyone would want to tilt this phone for viewing stuff in portrait mode? :tongue:

It used for flip to silence (alarms, incoming calls). But it is available for developer use (there's quite a few use cases - e.g. potentially with AR; also gaming).

Compare the E72 with the N95 from a few years ago and there is almost no difference between them two!!!!! Were they sleeping for the past 3years?? DO THEY THINK WE'RE THAT STUPID TO CONTINUE TO BUY THEIR CRAP???

First glance may suggest nothing has changed... but really while you might say this about the UI (and even that's not true)... in terms of the real world functionality they are a long way apart. A lot of this is updated software, but also performance and a few extra on hardware (e.g. compass, optical pad).

When i say qwerty + touchscreen i mean candy bar qwerty + touchscreen combo like the pre/pixi from palm.

I am very well aware that nokia offers huge bricks like N900/N97 with a rather stupid layout of qwerty + touchscreen combo which i've tried and find it quite useless.

The most useful form factor i've come to like is a candy bar qwerty phone. The only reason i dont want a palm is because they are far behind, they have a nice concept but the execution is rather unfinished to compete at the top.

If you dont want the touchscreen then just dont touch it! But other like me and prolly 90% of the people would want the addition of touch and a more capable processor for gaming/media! Let's run a servey, I'll bet you i'm right!

The E72 is nice dont get me wrong but it's 2010 for christ sake, how can you come up with the same old tech every year for the past 3years?

Nokia will lose out i'm telling you if they stay on this track! That's why they have been losing ground and thats why their stock has been downgraded.

Hi,

I am an intensive user of E71 and now E72. The E72 is a worthy upgrade, for many reasons, in my case the following are important:

1) Significantly improved speeds in web browsing. Maybe due to improved HSPA downloads? Don't know, but difference is abysmal
2) Html email compatiblity
3) Better battery life and USB charging

Just one issue: There have been changes in ActiveSync code in Mail for Exchange. This means 100% MS Exchange compatibility as usual, but alternative mail servers like Kerio, may not work. This is a common issue for E52, 55, 72 and 75

Thanks Steve anc Co.

Also own the E72 as of Thursday last week.

"...what's important here is rock solid telephony and rock solid messaging"

Yes, rock solid messaging would be appreciated - and not an e-mail client that keeps on hanging up and/or showing as if all settings were deleted (kept them, but showed no mailbox).

#RM-530
#021.024.203.04

The firmware still has some bugs - and given that the market launch was delayed more than once (+ no official communication from Nokia in the age of Cluetrain, Twitter & Co.), I wonder how they could ever think about becoming a software company. The hardware is great, but software-wise... *cough*...Ovi.com. Hello-hoo??? wtf?

I love my E72, regardless.

Okay, Steve, you can stop going on about Podcasting now, by now we all know you are upset about its omission.

I suspect it being left out of late has little to do with product differentiation. More like Nokia has realized it's an application that doesn't fit with their newfound focus on user experience.

Face it, Podcasting is broken. Messed up downloads, long periods of irresponsivity, sometimes the system even kills it as it's taking too long to quit or whatever.

Nokia doesn't have to develop an app for every conceivable purpose themselves. Far better to focus on the platform and the core apps, and make sure the design and reliability is unparalleled.

I'm sure third party developers will be happy to start working on those "missing" apps, provided the distribution channels are such that there's a fair chance of making decent money.

Steve, are you sure this is an accelerometer ? isn't it just an optical contact sensor (near the front camera) to flip the phone to silent and repeat the alarm ? I have tried rotating the phone in all the apps and nothing happens (no accelerometer settings visible either so I'm not sure about this being an accelerometer).

Regarding touch screen I agree it gives a better user experience (I do miss my 5800 for web browsing) but I didn't any touch screen phone whose battery would last through even one day of my heavy use:
* 3G or WIFI connected all day (push email on) + Bluetooth connected all day (headphones+PC * suite)
* 2-3 few hours of calls (VoIP & GSM)
* 1-2 hours of podcast (yeah, downloaded with Escarpod too... let's make a joint donation for a podcast app developper!)
* a little Maps and other multimedia stuff

well, the fact is: my E72 actually gets me through 2 days of this use !!

Give me just one touchscreen+qwerty keyboard that does the same with similar (or smaller!!)dimensions I'll buy it right away. in the meantime I'll stick to this E72 (probably one of the the best phones I've had so far).

markilou wrote:

Give me just one touchscreen+qwerty keyboard that does the same with similar (or smaller!!)dimensions I'll buy it right away. in the meantime I'll stick to this E72 (probably one of the the best phones I've had so far).

Amen 😉!

I have tested this phone myself, and I think Steve forgot to mention a few things.

- like the 'light leaks' under the screen? Those gaps under the screen also is a problem in the future - because it lets in dust! Much like the E71 before it, the E72 will most likely have the same "dust under the screen" problems. Poor build quality for an E series!!
- plus a number of owners have reported that the battery cover is loose!
- a number of owners also reported that after some time of using the phone - the flashlight (spacebar) wont light up. And restarting the phone is the only thing to solve it.
- the music quality is crap. Compared the phone to a 5800, the 5800 sounds so much better.
- the vibration is very weak
- lastly, the 5mp cam is bad, it's worse than most other 5mp cameras of nokia. When you take a picture, especially in bright light, you'll get a purple hue in the middle of the photo.

The N97 Mini is very much better than this, imo.

Unregistered wrote:I have tested this phone myself, and I think Steve forgot to mention a few things.

- like the 'light leaks' under the screen? Those gaps under the screen also is a problem in the future - because it lets in dust! Much like the E71 before it, the E72 will most likely have the same "dust under the screen" problems. Poor build quality for an E series!!
- plus a number of owners have reported that the battery cover is loose!
- a number of owners also reported that after some time of using the phone - the flashlight (spacebar) wont light up. And restarting the phone is the only thing to solve it.
- the music quality is crap. Compared the phone to a 5800, the 5800 sounds so much better.
- the vibration is very weak
- lastly, the 5mp cam is bad, it's worse than most other 5mp cameras of nokia. When you take a picture, especially in bright light, you'll get a purple hue in the middle of the photo.

The N97 Mini is very much better than this, imo.

Are you an owner of e72 yourself? If not, I�m impressed by all bad info you have about this device 😉..
I�ve tested the device and the camera is almost as good as my N82 and that�s quite impressive.
Vibration weak? Well it�s not a sex toy 😉..
Battery cover is not that loose, but it�s true, you can remove the battery cover so you are able to change the battery etc.
Music quality according to some reviews are all right, just use the right earplugs 😊.

Steve,

This one is for your list of programs that were left behind, there's no IM client as in E71. I use that to keep myself up on yahoo while on the move and it works like a charm. It does the work when I'm away from comp. I know there are too many free IM apps available but nothing beats the convenience of the built in app.

Regards

Umesh

Typical, They make a new phone with less free ram than the one before it. We've seen this before, and it didnt work out.

You would think they would learn from their mistakes (N97) but it seems like my e71 will still be a better workhorse device than its newer counter part.

And I think its just sad for AAS to make up excuses for why its ok that they've made an inferior device. It seems like we have another "N97" on our hands.

Some replies:

re: RAM. Come on, 45MB of RAM is still fine for this class of device. it's lower than for the E71 because the OS is larger and does more stuff. Apart from Podcasting.... rant.

re: 'light leaks' . Well, there are more moving, backlit parts, I don't think the leaks are too bad on the E72.

re: gaps under the screen lets in dust. Really? I haven't heard of this as a problem with the E71. Too early to tell with this model anyway.

re: battery cover is loose: not loose, so much as flexible and able to be bent/compressed. Annoying though, you'd have thought that the parts would have been matched up better.

re: music quality. Go try it with decent headphones.

re: still to be tested properly, but doesn't look too bad so far

If I really wanted to become a fanboy of non-Nokia qwerty phones, I can point out tons of negative aspects of E72.
1- It does not have xenon
2- It does not have a dedicated music chip, music quality sux even though call quality is good
3- The processor is rahter slow, I would want 1ghz
4- It does not have HD video recording
5- The battery is not 2500 mAh ....

If I wanted, I could make this amazing device look like a shitty piece of hardware. That is what few comments above have been trying to do. Whining that E72 lacks this and that. Unrealistic expectations from a business-oriented phone which is not really focussed on delivering top-notch media output quality.

E72 amazingly does what it was supposed to do. After e55/e52, E71/E72 are the best phones every built by Nokia. Versatility. Dependability. Connectivity. They have everything.

RE: Okay, Steve, you can stop going on about Podcasting now, by now we all know you are upset about its omission...

I agree. Steve, the current smartphones do NOT need all features in the box at point of sale. Going forward, its OK to miss things out as long as the phone itself ... JUST WORKS. Buyers will goto the OVI store and try to find things support that its missing. In fact it is in Nokia's interest to miss glaringly obvious and required software SO IT CAN TELL PEOPLE TO GOTO OVI. To me this is a strategy, not an obmission.

Smartphones nowadays are not about having everything in the box so the functionality is covered. Smarphone for 2009 are about having all the HW components available, so that Nokia and all other S/W companies can take advantage of the common APIs available.

That is why Nokia is focusin on UI improvements, and not functionality improvements (which they always have been focusing in the past).

hi steve,

in E71, email & sms can be stored at memory card.
in E72 is it the same or only sms can be stored at memory card ?

thanks

I agree with yitwave. Applications like podcast (or IM) can always be offered as free Nokia appas through the OVI store. Its better that Nokia concentrates on getting the phone right.

All Nokia phones now come preloaded with a link to the OVI store. Any user can just click on it and access the apps that are recommended for the phone. This is how we used to do it 4 odd years ago. Buy a phone, go to the nokia site and download extra apps for the phone.

I would like to believe that it is not an obmission and that Nokia expects its users to go to the OVI store but... there is no Podcasting app on the OVI store for the E72 !!

Also, as far as professional/integrated features is concerned (i.e where the E72 is supposed to meet our expectatives), unfortunately the current firmware version has a lot of bugs: VoIP is a buggy (harder to set-up and unable to unregister a SIP service manually you have to turn the phone off and reboot it in off-line mode) and so is the email client (MfE with Exchange 2003 doesn't let you view messages > 2kb or Gmail IMAP set-up not working from the integrated configuration E72 tool).

I know we can expect a firmware update to solve these bugs but most ex E71/E51 users going to the E72 have been very disappointed and getting angry with those bugs (from my own experience and reading/participation in the Nokia forums). Although I like the phone I can only advise the non-geek/nevertheless_demanding professionals out there to stick to their current phone untill the E72 is updated... (I've been about to send it back quite a few times since I got it)

What's Nokia excuse this time to reduce video recording from 30fps in the E75 to 15fps in the E72? I wonder why they seem to delight so much in forcing users to unnecessarily compromise between form factors and technical features for a given category. So you rather have an E71 factor but went for the E75 because of the most advanced specifications both at hardware and software level. Now you are ready to jump ship to the E72 as the best of both worlds but, oh lord, have to go back to a 50% less video recording frame rate. What's the logic behind it?

Same for the N-Series. You are shown a N97 mini and a regular N97. You are keen on the extra screen real space and built-in storage and happy to pay the difference. But, on reading the small print, you realize you'll also get a half-size main memory. Who on earth has decided that? Could you imagine Apple selling the 32GB iPhone with half the RAM as the 16GB?

Of course the same happens at software level, with apps like internet radio or podcasting. I don't know for you, but this turns what should be a very simple selection process in an agonizing experience for me. The predictable result is that instead of buying a Nokia, as I've always done, went for an HTC Hero this time. If anything because I could made a rational decision on which was 'the best' model on offer.

Here are a few fun facts. S60v5 is now 1 year old. Since December 2008, Nokia S60v5 devices have sold cumulatively at a pace of about 1M units/month. Yet, here we are 1 year and 12M phones sold later and there isn't a 3rd party Internet Radio app for S60v5, not even a beta.
People who are waiting for a 3rd party Podcasting app at least as functional as Nokia's to appear on the Ovi Store should definitely not hold their breath.

Haven't used a Nokia since the e71 earlier this year. I have a copy of the Podcasting application as a "sis" file, version 1.00.3. Would I be able to install that on the E72? If not, does the onboard Nokia Music player handle playing podcasts as I have a podcast "smartlist" that I could probably transfer via the Nokia Mac iTunes sync tool.