Nokia E52 Review

Design:

We have recently introduced Nokia´s first handset featuring a compact QWERTY keyboard to you, the E55, and mentioned it was almost identical to the follow-up of  E51, the Nokia E52 . The only difference in their individual appearance is the keyboard. The Nokia E55´s one consists of 20 buttons, whereas the E52 sports a standard, 12-button numeric keypad. The keys are large enough, easy to press and quite handy to use. Frankly, this is one of the best keypads we have used, ever. Everything else about both devices is absolutely the same and you can even mount a battery cover from one of them onto the other. Well, the Nokia E52 comes boxed with 1GB microSD card rather than 2GB, but this is not of utmost importance. The 2.4-inch screen remains usable in direct sunlight and is by no means worse than the E55´s one, although you can notice it is a tad darker indoors. Still, it is remarkably good.



Software:

The functionality of the Nokia E52 is not different in any respect than the E55´s. The phone works on 3G networks, sports a built-in GPS and Wi-Fi, 3.2-megapixel camera with flash and runs Symbian S60 3rd Edition with integrated Feature Pack 2. The E52 delivers equally capable organizer, nice messaging, Word and Excel 2007 support and quality browser. Thanks to Nokia Messaging, following email correspondence is fast and easy and if you happen to be on the road often, you will be able to take full advantage of the functionality of the World Traveler app.



The built-in GPS is as fast as the E55´s and the navigational software provided by the manufacturer is Ovi Maps again. Its version on our unit comes with 125 days of free voice navigation if driving, but without life-long license when walking. This, however, depends entirely on the region you are in, so you better enquire about the license at your local retailer.


The image quality of the stills taken with the 3.2-megapixel camera of the phone differs in no way from what the E55 delivers, no matter whether the snapshots have been taken in natural or artificial lighting. The integrated LED flash produces absolutely the same overall result and this is no wonder. The major drawback is once again, the lack of dedicated macro mode. As you may have guessed, there is no difference in the multimedia functionality either. The boxed earphones deliver sound with decent quality, plus you´ve got a 3.5mm jack, so you can plug in another pair anytime. The handset plays videos with a resolution of 640x480 pixels and the image quality is good, provided the video has been converted to MP4 using MPEG-4 codec and bitrate not exceeding 700 kbps.

Performance and Conclusion:

We encountered something really interesting when we compared the speed of both devices. Both handsets sport identical hardware, including the 600MHz ARM11 CPUs, but the Nokia E52 runs noticeably slower alongside of the E55 with identical tasks. However, this doesn’t feel annoying and won´t get in the way.  In-call quality is better, but the loudness is lower. As a whole, the difference is not stunning and the phone performs satisfactorily. The battery is extremely robust once again, so we managed to achieve pretty similar results to what we experienced with the E55. We had to charge it at the end of the third day, despite the heavy use and serious Wi-Fi abuse we subjected it to.

All totaled up, it seems the Nokia E52 is as good as its cousin, the E55. The only noticeable difference between the two is the keyboard, but it´s the same blood that runs through their veins. Our final opinion is the E52 is definitely worth the money. Whether you opt for the E52 or would rather get the E55 depends on your keyboard preference. No matter the option you pick, you won´t regret your choice.

The software version of our unit is 021.010.