You'll have seen my previous 'retro' article, looking at pimping the Nokia E61i, an early 2007 device that can now be picked up for pocket money but which still has a unique form factor. The same applies, but 'in spades', to the Nokia E90, released only a few months after the E61i but sporting the full Communicator form and also S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 1, plus SDHC support. Like the E61i, it too had a few performance bottlenecks, so how did I get on pimping the Nokia E90 to 2010 standards and might it possibly challenge the mighty (ahem) N97?
Read on in the full article.
I would say that N97 wins at alarm clock, which must wake you up, not to ease snoozing. I have a 5800 and I put it on a table just to make me get up from bed to stop it.
Hey Steve,
Why don't you just flip the N97 to snooze? No need to push any button or to stab a touchscreen.
You have to activate the sensors in the phone settings for that, but I'm certainyou did that already anyways.
Ciao
The 5th edition alarm is a beautiful thing - I can leave my 5800 in the kitchen and it will still wake my up. I also love how it isn't harsh, but rather gently wakes you up 😊 The alarm on the Motorola Droid on the other hand was hard to tolerate - suffice it to say I stuck to the 5800.
@Wpx: and what happens on the second snooze? And third? Do you have to flip it through a full 360 degrees? Must admit I haven't experimented with this much - I tended to just stab the screen, as mentioned in the text.... [blush]
@Steve
You just have to flip it upside down and vice versa, so 180 degree for each snooze.
Much better than searching for the right spot on the touchscreen...
I just remembered the alarm on an old Motorola I had in the past: T190. That phone rang so loud that it woke up the dead people. Even worse, the sound was loud from start.
I agree that the absence of a 3.5mm jack or dedicated controls are a downfall but I have been using the e90 for a while and found that a bluetooth headset works awesome with the e90. The headset has dedicated play pause fwd back and a volume rocker and answer call key which doubles as voice command key. Syncs perfect and the controls respond great. I would have picked the e90 as the winner for that category.
I use Skype on the E90, that works great aswell
About movies, I encode them on the resolution of the inside screen so they fit perfectly on the screensize and are very sharp of resolution.
I even think with a good look around and testing of some 3rd party apps the E90 can win in a lot more cases than the N97.
@bassgroove: is correct indeed, a bluetooth headset is working great with the E90, such a headset combined with the large internal screen and encoded movies (with subs) is just like a private cinema!
About Snaptu: I tried it on my E90 just now, good app.
When you don't dislike a red (oh , dangerous!) torch in the night , just install S60 SpotOn . It also can keep the displaylight on :
http://www.outbank.de/en/download/s60spoton.html
The best mediaplayer , for slidehows queued-up video's and music is CorePlayer . It plays your complete collection shuffled or in a row , or just selected items . Also preselected zoom settings included . Plays practically all codecs . Only $30 .
For viewing pictures I use also X-Plore . Manually to use viewer like Gallery is inside , but right away playing and handy shortcut-keys like : N = next and P = previous . + Zooming shortcuts , going to next picture without to have zooming-out before next picture can be viewed , like in Gallery .
😊 Regards jApi NL
plus (to my knowledge) there's no multimedia headset compatible with its (4 pole) 2.5mm jack - by the time you've used a 2.5mm to 3.5mm adapter, you've lost the extra pole and any extra control. You do get d-pad control when Music player is in the foreground, but it's not the same somehow.
this multimedia headset came with nokia 5700.......and its 2.5mm jack n can be used with the e90 😃
Ooh, thanks, I'll have to look one of those out on eBay!
[later] Purchased. �6.61 inc postage 8-) My E90 won't look back!
Steve
jApi NL wrote:The best mediaplayer , for slidehows queued-up video's and music is CorePlayer . It plays your complete collection shuffled or in a row , or just selected items . Also preselected zoom settings included . Plays practically all codecs . Only US 30 .
The trouble is that CorePlayer's customer support is non-existent. I've emailed/formed them numerous times and not ONCE had a reply. 8-( AAS bought on license for their player, for testing, but I'm blowed if I'm going to recommend them to another soul until they get their act together....
Why haven't you mentioned opera mobile 10? Surely it should be part of any pimped up symbian phone.
And I agree with you on coreplayer customer support. They need to get much better.
my mom (yes my mom) is still very happily using the e90. I recommended it to her about 2 years ago and even though the battery lid is loose (needs replacement) and there are some scratches on the device it is still working like a charm.
She uses it for email, scheduling, texting and even browsing and is just in love with the inner high resolution screen. it is capable of showing all the information at once which makes the device so much more usable to her. (to be honest she sometime has trouble using the outter screen because she cant find certain options in that layout. also she's constantly using the camera, pictures are decent and the video is more than fine!
all in all a great device
(i own a n97 also happy but the ram is (even with latest fw) just killing me sometimes, also NO INTERNET RADIO! STILL!)
Steve, great article.
I'm still using my E90 after 2 1/2 years, and am still bowled over by just how good a device it is. OK, it's a tad large and heavy (if you put in your jeans pocket you have to sit down VERY carefully!), but the build quality is stupendous; I've always had mine in a noreve case, but it basically looks as good as new.
The only problem with its unusual form-factor is that some software doesn't work very well on the internal screen, but apart from that, it's a totally cool device...
I also have a Nokia multimedia headset adapter for my E90, the AD-54, as well as a Jabra BT one...
http://www.pdashop.nl/product-gallery/48520/category-4400-headsets/0
Still Using mine, I'd use it another year if it supported AT&T 3G, but here I am surround by iCraphones with 3g and I'm stuck with Edge, just bought my wife a 5800, it blows my EDGE away... I'm waiting, hard to keep me from going to Android...
And yes, the E90 is still a great device...but like an earlier poster, I'm sick of EDGE-only service here in the US. Putting my SIM into a 3G Android device was a breath of fresh air. I'll miss the old brute, but it's nice not having the massive bulge in my trouser pocket.
Worth noting--an E90 in good shape commands $300+ on eBay US--interesting that it's so much lower in the UK.
You recommend Resco Image Viewer. I don't know it. But it is a commercial programm. Many people don't know, you can install "Nokia Image Exchange" on the E90. Even if you don't want to use the online functions of this excellent app, it is a perfect tool to watch your photos on the E90. AND: Despite what Nokia Beta Labs says: It runs on the E90 😊. OK, a few problems (e. g. switching from inner to outer display or vice versa mostly doesn't work), but else it is a dream and changes the photos as fast (and animated) as on an iPhone on the inner display. It supports very fast zooming (Keys: '?' and '+'😉 and a lot of other things...
Take a look at this and run, do not walk to dump the N97 and all Nokia flagship phones.
http://www.mobileinc.co.uk/2010/03/nokia-n97-promotional-video-vs-real-life/
With all these update info in the comments, I think this pimping review can be renewed and gets a conclusion the E90 still wins after 3 years on the market!
Sorry Steve , I never needed Coreplayer's cumstomer care . But I still like the App .
Edit : BTW reason for my double posts above : the posts can be seen in the thread beneath the article , BUT they are missed in the Forum thread . As I am using the forum thread : my first post was filtered for Moderating , the second just disappeared ?!
😊 Regards jApi NL
😊 Regards jApi NL
I bought an N900 just before Xmas and love it but I do miss my e90 so much so I've yet to be able to bring myself to sell it.
The N900 is great but I miss the solid metal feel of the e90.
I've been using an E90 for the past couple of years, and I must admit I've had
something of a love/hate relationship with it. I loved the build-quality and the
form-factor; for sheer usability, both as a phone and as a PDA, I don't think
anything else on the market quite matches the E90. On the other hand, the
software regularly used to annoy me to death, particularly the painfully slow
web-browser, with its insistence upon part-rendering the page, then taking it
away again just as you think you're about to be able to interact with it. (Yes, I
know, other browsers are available, but they all have limitations that prevent
them from being as useful as the S60 one would be if it weren't so blipping slow.)
I think what finally drove me away from the E90 was discovering that the most
recent firmware update is only available for *red* unbranded UK E90s, not
brown ones. WTF, Nokia?? I wound up changing my E90's product code in
order to get the new firmware, but that was the final straw. I bought an HTC
touch pro 2 a couple of weeks ago. I miss the tank-like build quality, and there
are definitely rough edges to the software, but web-browsing is a *lot*
less painful, and most of the other things I regularly used my E90 for are
either present or easy to buy or download. In particular, Textmaker knocks
the socks off Quickoffice for document editing on the fly.
I'm sorry to see that Nokia don't seem to be interested in continuing the
Communicator line. They seem to be working on the assumption that the E75
and N97[-mini] between them will bridge the gap. Time will tell, I suppose, but
I think they've left an open niche that other manufacturers will exploit.
James Lothian
steve do you really think the E90 will rise in value?
i bought mine for around 200 2 years ago and have been looking at the prices and they seamed to have stayed pretty much the same.
ive got one and was looking to do a bit of a clear out. had it for like two years, probs the best Nokia ive ever owned, with no flaws expect its not shiny and new anymore!!
if Nokia did an updated E90 maybe an E95 with same form factor and the internal screen was touch id buy it in a minute.
ive got an N900 for the record.
steff
Thanks again for the excellent article!
Pimping: commonly used nowadays as making something cool or better.
I am a fan of the E90 and tried to make it better: i.e. easier to use/better. This has meant on the software side adding:
Dayly use:
advanced device lock (automatic once set-up)
alon contact guide
best profiles
conversation nokia
coreplayer
fing/nimbuzz
FSCaller
FSMessage
Gravity/Tweets60
Handy Alarm Pro
Handy Blacklist (automatic once set-up)
Handy Calendar
Handy Shell
Handy Taskman
Handy Tools
Ion Battery Timer (automatic once set-up)
Keylocker (automatic once set-up)
Memoryup Pro (automatic once set-up)
Missing Sync (automatic once set-up)
Mobireader
NetworkAccelerator (automatic once set-up)
Phone Shortcuts
ProfiMail
Slick
SPB Weather
Total Recall
Tracker
Not Dayly
Abby business card reader
Advanced device locks Pro
Best birthday
Crypto
Finanz
Group Creator
Handy expense
Handy safe pro
Internet radio
Joiku spot premium
McGuider
Merrium Webster dictionary
Projekt
Slovoed dictionary
Spb tv
X-plore/Y-browser
Hardware:
car charger
extra battery
Bluetooth earpiece
memory card reader
stereo headphones
As to the future I would love it if Nokia came out with a successor with some improvements:
Better web browser and faster browsing
Touc-screen on the outside
faster processor
ability to assign yourself the pre-defined buttons (top row inside keyboard)
page uo and down buttons (inside keyboard)
delete key further down from navigation button
Thanks again
Like a few commenters here, I've had my E90 for 2 1/2 years, and it's been great enjoying the power that comes with a full qwerty device with 3.5G and GPS for this length of time. I think that it was ahead of it's time, given that it came at a time when there were few phones of this nature around.
However, it does fall down in a few places - mainly the software.
Calendar - was never that sophisticated. It could have made great use of the large screen, but didn't really.
Office - sorry but quickoffice suite was a pain and fiddly to use, and has also corrupted an important file of mine - grrrr...!
Web - as someone mentioned - great for it's time, but not the best option now.
There's still a market for this kind of device, which isn't really being filled. I've had a good look at the N900, and I think it's close, as long as I could get a good PIM suite sorted out on it with calendar/word/spreadsheet etc... But I could do with a slightly larger keyboard.
E900 please.. ! And calendar, word processor and spreadsheet as easy to use and functional as the ones found on the psion 5mx.
Duncan.
I've always loved the communicators - started with the Psion 3a... now have an E75.
What I think is missing is the full-on spec phone. Why do Nokia not come out with one phone which has the best features and spec for everything. So, keyboard, touch screen, GPS, of course, but also a high Mega-pixel camera, universal s60 software compatibility, etc etc. I know the cost would be restrictive, but hey - I would be willing to pay a LOT of money for such a beast. The E90 could have been there, but didn't quite make the grade.
Am I asking for too much? Of course I am.
I still love it and use it. Can type on that better than anything else. The problem is the new technology of a 5800 makes it faster. WIFI appears to be more efficient. Just works better. The E90 has taken great pictures and is very reliable. I only have a hard time getting batteries to last ok on it.
E90 size factor. I get criticisms in the US about it being so big, but the iPAD will be the biggest form factor, almost phone that exists. The E90 has been great for reading books and ok at movies. I figure if I get itching for an iPAD, I will carry my E90 around some more.