Nokia E62 user reviews (AT&T)

4.5 stars

"Great Personal Smart Phone" on October 15, 2006 by eegb81

Pros: Excellent call quality, Excellent Overall Smart Phone

Cons: A Very Basic PDA, No Wifi, Takes a while to switch from applications

Summary: I have been a TREO 650 user since September 2005. I decided switching to Nokia E62 since the TREO is very unstable (often needs restart) and has poor call quality. Treo 650 has many great features and software as a PDA, but it surely isn't a good phone at all.

I have only used the E62 for 2 days and yes, I am very impressed by its performance. This smartphone's call quality is unbelievable (excellent). The call quality is clear and loud, and pairing with my Plantronics 645 is easy. I am happy that I can now have conversations while driving with my Bluetooth headset as my friends and callers can hear me and have not said " Are you driving because I can't hear what you are saying?" It was a problem when I was using my TREO.
I also enjoy the many features that Nokia provides as a phone manufacturer. For example, I can restrict my caller ID from the device if I choose to do so. E62 has an outstanding battery life. I charged the phone on Thursday and I have only use two bars of my battery life (Sunday morning). I do not have a problem with not having a camera since most camera phones have poor image quality and I do not take pictures on my phone.
Another feature that Nokia provides is the Nokia Web Browser. I enjoy the simplicity of the Nokia Browser and how user friendly it is. Nokia Browser allows me to navigate with a small screen to a particular section of the webpage rather than only scrolling with a mouse.
It would have been great if the phone has a Wifi.
E62 is a very basic PDA. E62 has a great address book where you can keep different phone numbers including pagers, fax, telephone, mobile, and email. It allows me to assign ring tones and picture to my contacts. It also allows me to send touch tones (pin numbers for prepaid phone cards etc.) while calling.
The calendar features on E62 cannot be compared with Treo 650 or most Palm calendar software. I was using DateBook on the Treo 650 and it has so much more functions that the basic E62 calendar. That is THE ONLY THING I miss from my Treo 650. Does anyone have any suggestion on Symbian calendar software that I can install on my E62?
The email capability on this device is very basic. I have set up my phone where it checks for emails every hour and I can connect the server manually when I want to check my email. This works for me as I am not an intensive email user while on the road. If you are looking for a comprehensive email device, I suggest that you do some research about the capabilities provided by E62 to find out whether it will meet your needs.
One of the negative aspects of E62 is that it is slow when opening or switching between applications. It is not a major problem for me since I prefer it to be slow while being stable rather that fast and unreliable.

Lastly, here are my reasons why I chose E62 over Q, Blackberry Pearl or T-Mobile Dash.

E62 vs Q: I have heard from friends and other professional reviews that Q has been very unstable and is not doing extremely well in the market. In addition, I live in a city where there is no Verizon. I heard that Cingular was going to launch Q in January but I have also recently heard that they might not be carrying that device anymore (based on hear say).

E62 vs Blackberry Pearl: I went to a local T-Mobile store and was very impressed by its size and design. The reasons I did not get the phone are 1) it does not have a full QWERTY keyboard and uses the SureType keyboard. I really appreciate the QWERTY keyboard that Treo and E62 offer since it is faster to type the word by yourself rather than having to type the letters, scroll to the correct word, then select it on a SureType Keyboard. 2) I did not purchase this phone because it is on the T-Mobile network. I have been a user of T-Mobile network in the past and was not pleased with the network performance at all. (If you like T-Mobile, you should check out this device.) Thirdly, CNET comments that the call quality is subpar (below average).

E62 vs T- Mobile Dash: I was very impressed by the review given by CNET. Yet, I was not impressed by the design on Dash. I agree with other reviewers that HTC needs to learn from Nokia and Motorola when it comes to Smart Phone designs. In addition, I am not a fan of Windows Mobile. I am a proud user of Mac and cannot see anything-good coming out of the Windows Mobile. I do not want to get myself frustrated with my smartphone since I am often dismay by the performance of my Dell XP laptop. Finally, since it is launched on a T-Mobile Network, I was not pleased with the network performance when I was with T-Mobile.

That said, I think all of us will have our own preferences when it comes to smartphones (Q, Treo, Dash, and Blackberry Pearl). It is important to get a phone that will work and is convenient for you. Here is what I have discovered about Smart Phones: It needs to be a reliable phone before it is a PDA. If not, it is not worth it at all. I am well pleased with the E62 and will update this review in the upcoming months.