One of the reasons I love my job is because there's no single answer to "what phone should I get?" The best phone for me may be different from our Editor's Choice, which may be different from what's best for you. So I'm going to make my review of the Nokia E72 a little different from the usual review; I'm going to explain why it's my phone of choice for now.
The E72: A Quick Rundown
The E72 is a strikingly elegant, slim business phone with a usable QWERTY keyboard of small, domed keys. The phone feels solid and reliable at 4.5 by 2.3 by .4 inches and 4.5 ounces, with black plastic edges and a steel back. Below the usable but boring 2.4-inch, 320-by-240 screen there's a cursor pad surrounding an optical mouse. The E72 runs the latest version of Nokia's Symbian Series 60 smartphone platform, 5th Edition.
The unlocked Nokia E72 works on AT&T's and foreign 3G networks, T-Mobile's 2.5G EDGE network, and Wi-Fi. Voice performance is very good. Reception is just average, but voices sound loud and clear through the earpiece and on the other side of calls. The speakerphone is quiet, but transmissions sounded clear on the other end. The phone had no problem pairing with an Aliph Jawbone Icon Bluetooth headset, and battery life was excellent at 6 hours and 35 minutes of talk time on AT&T's HSDPA network. That's much longer than the previous E71 model, which got 4 hours and 43 minutes in our tests.
Thanks to the keyboard, this is an excellent messaging device and a very good Web phone. The built-in e-mail software handles Outlook contact, calendar, e-mail, and task syncing, as well as most other kinds of accounts, though it still doesn't display HTML e-mails from Outlook. Facebook and Twitter clients are available for free. Nokia's Web browser uses the same WebKit engine as the Android and iPhone browsers, and even adds limited Flash support.
The E72's biggest failure comes in its lack of third-party apps. Nokia's Ovi Store is an almost unusable abomination, difficult to navigate and with few useful free apps.
As if to compensate, Nokia loaded up this phone with a ton of good, built-in stuff, including a program to let you use it as a modem for your PC, a business card scanner, PDF reader, Microsoft Office compatible document editor, DLNA-compatible media streamer and free, global GPS navigation software. The new navigation software, Ovi Maps, is so groundbreaking that we'll be reviewing it separately next week.
The phone plays back most common forms of media through the phone's 3.5mm headset jack or stereo Bluetooth headphones. Music files in WAV, AAC, WMV, and MP3 format and MP4 or WMV videos all played well, though the screen is pretty small for watching videos. You can drag and drop music onto a microSD card for the phone, or sync it through Windows Media Player or Nokia's own software (but not iTunes, unless you use a third-party solution like doubleTwist.) A free YouTube app runs smoothly, but with annoying ghosting.
The E72's 5-megapixel camera is obnoxiously fuzzy, but it has somewhat-saving graces in good low light performance and a sharp 640-by-480, 15-frames-per-second video mode. Still, this isn't a flagship media phone.
The E72's closest competitor is Nokia's own E71, a former Editor's Choice and coincidentally my previous phone. The most important changes are the much longer battery life, the free Ovi Maps, and the addition of a 3.5mm headset jack, which finally makes the phone a valid media player. It also bumps the phone's camera from 3 to 5 megapixels, adds more internal storage, and supports faster transfers on AT&T's (but not T-Mobile's) network.
Why I Choose the E72
Notice that I've given the E72 3.5 stars. That's a good rating, but not the best. So why is the E72 my phone? Maybe my thought process will help you with yours.
My primary uses for a phone are voice calls, e-mail, Web, and Twitter. I absolutely need a QWERTY keyboard—that's non-negotiable. I'm forgetful about charging, so long battery life is great. I'm on a rather peculiar older T-Mobile plan that I don't want to extend or change. I walk around a lot. And I want something that looks good enough that I don't feel embarrassed when I pull it out in public. After all, I am the cell phone guy.
When we recommend phones around here, we rarely talk about people's existing service plans. But one of the big advantages of Nokia's unlocked phones is that they'll tend to work with whatever T-Mobile or AT&T plan you already have; they'll autoconfigure and make the best of it. Do you have a plan that only allows limited WAP access? No problem. A Nokia smartphone will dig in, establish the right hooks and become the best WAP-plus-Wi-Fi phone it could possibly be. That's in contrast to other smartphones like the iPhone and Motorola CLIQ, which would spit out your SIM card in disgust if you don't have their preferred plan.
The Nokia E72 has great e-mail support, a solid Web browser, and an excellent Twitter client in the third-party Gravity program. Ovi Maps has a terrific walking-directions mode. The camera is good enough to take a few pictures of my daughter. Calls sound clear, and the battery lasts forever on T-Mobile. Finally, when I pull it out, I don't look like a total loser.
As you're buying a cell phone, don't just look for the top-rated models. Think about all the considerations in our guide on how to buy a cell phone—and remember that your choice may be different from everyone else's. The Nokia E72 is my personal choice, and when I have to return it, I'll be sorry to see it go. At least I have my E71 to fall back on.
Spec Data
* Price as Tested: $359.00 List
* Service Provider: AT&T, T-Mobile
* Operating System: Symbian OS
* Screen Size: 2.4 inches
* Screen Details: 320-by-240 16M-color TFT LCD screen
* Camera: Yes
* Megapixels: 5 MP
* 802.11x: Yes
* Bluetooth: Yes
* Web Browser: Yes
* Network: GSM, UMTS
* Bands: 850, 900, 1800, 1900, 2100
* High-Speed Data: GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, HSDPA
The E72: A Quick Rundown
The E72 is a strikingly elegant, slim business phone with a usable QWERTY keyboard of small, domed keys. The phone feels solid and reliable at 4.5 by 2.3 by .4 inches and 4.5 ounces, with black plastic edges and a steel back. Below the usable but boring 2.4-inch, 320-by-240 screen there's a cursor pad surrounding an optical mouse. The E72 runs the latest version of Nokia's Symbian Series 60 smartphone platform, 5th Edition.
The unlocked Nokia E72 works on AT&T's and foreign 3G networks, T-Mobile's 2.5G EDGE network, and Wi-Fi. Voice performance is very good. Reception is just average, but voices sound loud and clear through the earpiece and on the other side of calls. The speakerphone is quiet, but transmissions sounded clear on the other end. The phone had no problem pairing with an Aliph Jawbone Icon Bluetooth headset, and battery life was excellent at 6 hours and 35 minutes of talk time on AT&T's HSDPA network. That's much longer than the previous E71 model, which got 4 hours and 43 minutes in our tests.
Thanks to the keyboard, this is an excellent messaging device and a very good Web phone. The built-in e-mail software handles Outlook contact, calendar, e-mail, and task syncing, as well as most other kinds of accounts, though it still doesn't display HTML e-mails from Outlook. Facebook and Twitter clients are available for free. Nokia's Web browser uses the same WebKit engine as the Android and iPhone browsers, and even adds limited Flash support.
The E72's biggest failure comes in its lack of third-party apps. Nokia's Ovi Store is an almost unusable abomination, difficult to navigate and with few useful free apps.
As if to compensate, Nokia loaded up this phone with a ton of good, built-in stuff, including a program to let you use it as a modem for your PC, a business card scanner, PDF reader, Microsoft Office compatible document editor, DLNA-compatible media streamer and free, global GPS navigation software. The new navigation software, Ovi Maps, is so groundbreaking that we'll be reviewing it separately next week.
The phone plays back most common forms of media through the phone's 3.5mm headset jack or stereo Bluetooth headphones. Music files in WAV, AAC, WMV, and MP3 format and MP4 or WMV videos all played well, though the screen is pretty small for watching videos. You can drag and drop music onto a microSD card for the phone, or sync it through Windows Media Player or Nokia's own software (but not iTunes, unless you use a third-party solution like doubleTwist.) A free YouTube app runs smoothly, but with annoying ghosting.
The E72's 5-megapixel camera is obnoxiously fuzzy, but it has somewhat-saving graces in good low light performance and a sharp 640-by-480, 15-frames-per-second video mode. Still, this isn't a flagship media phone.
The E72's closest competitor is Nokia's own E71, a former Editor's Choice and coincidentally my previous phone. The most important changes are the much longer battery life, the free Ovi Maps, and the addition of a 3.5mm headset jack, which finally makes the phone a valid media player. It also bumps the phone's camera from 3 to 5 megapixels, adds more internal storage, and supports faster transfers on AT&T's (but not T-Mobile's) network.
Why I Choose the E72
Notice that I've given the E72 3.5 stars. That's a good rating, but not the best. So why is the E72 my phone? Maybe my thought process will help you with yours.
My primary uses for a phone are voice calls, e-mail, Web, and Twitter. I absolutely need a QWERTY keyboard—that's non-negotiable. I'm forgetful about charging, so long battery life is great. I'm on a rather peculiar older T-Mobile plan that I don't want to extend or change. I walk around a lot. And I want something that looks good enough that I don't feel embarrassed when I pull it out in public. After all, I am the cell phone guy.
When we recommend phones around here, we rarely talk about people's existing service plans. But one of the big advantages of Nokia's unlocked phones is that they'll tend to work with whatever T-Mobile or AT&T plan you already have; they'll autoconfigure and make the best of it. Do you have a plan that only allows limited WAP access? No problem. A Nokia smartphone will dig in, establish the right hooks and become the best WAP-plus-Wi-Fi phone it could possibly be. That's in contrast to other smartphones like the iPhone and Motorola CLIQ, which would spit out your SIM card in disgust if you don't have their preferred plan.
The Nokia E72 has great e-mail support, a solid Web browser, and an excellent Twitter client in the third-party Gravity program. Ovi Maps has a terrific walking-directions mode. The camera is good enough to take a few pictures of my daughter. Calls sound clear, and the battery lasts forever on T-Mobile. Finally, when I pull it out, I don't look like a total loser.
As you're buying a cell phone, don't just look for the top-rated models. Think about all the considerations in our guide on how to buy a cell phone—and remember that your choice may be different from everyone else's. The Nokia E72 is my personal choice, and when I have to return it, I'll be sorry to see it go. At least I have my E71 to fall back on.
Spec Data
* Price as Tested: $359.00 List
* Service Provider: AT&T, T-Mobile
* Operating System: Symbian OS
* Screen Size: 2.4 inches
* Screen Details: 320-by-240 16M-color TFT LCD screen
* Camera: Yes
* Megapixels: 5 MP
* 802.11x: Yes
* Bluetooth: Yes
* Web Browser: Yes
* Network: GSM, UMTS
* Bands: 850, 900, 1800, 1900, 2100
* High-Speed Data: GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, HSDPA
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