Nokia E65 (Unlocked)

We've seen slider smart phones before, but really only in the form of larger, full QWERTY devices (i.e., Cingular 8525, UTStarcom XV6700) rather than the compact cell phone variety, such as the LG Chocolate. Like flip phones, this is one design area where smart phone manufacturers have yet to really dive in, but Nokia's willing to take the plunge.

First introduced at the 3GSM World Congress, the Nokia E65 is a slim slider phone for mobile professionals who value voice capabilities over messaging. (E-mail fanatics and power users should take a look at the Nokia E62 and Nokia E70 instead.) It offers a range of phone features, such as one-touch conference calling and VoIP support, and has good call quality and solid battery talk time. Despite its sleek and sexy profile, there are some downsides to the phone's small size, as the navigation controls are cramped and frustrating to use. However, in the end, we think it's worth the extra effort. The quadband GSM Nokia E65 has not been picked up by a U.S. carrier, so you will have to purchase an unlocked version for a pricey $490.

Design
What can we say about the Nokia E65 except that it's absolutely gorgeous. From its silver-and-mocha casing to its slim-and-trim profile, the E65 is a stunning and elegant smart phone--two words that aren't usually associated with these business-centric devices. The slider phone is compact and lightweight (4.1x1.9x0.6 inches; 4.0 ounces), making it comfortable to hold in the hand and cradle against your ear during a call. Plus, it features a soft casing that feels like leather, and it not only makes the phone easy to grip but adds a touch of luxury to the handset.

There's a 2.2-inch diagonal TFT screen that displays 16.7 million colors at a 320x240 pixel resolution. It has a slightly lower resolution than its sibling, the E70, so we noticed colors weren't as bright and text and images weren't as sharp. Still, it's a nice display and we could still read it in direct sunlight. You can adjust the intensity of the backlight and customize the screen with different themes.

The Nokia E65 doesn't have a touch screen, so you can navigate the phone's menus and launch applications with the controls beneath the display and the shortcut buttons on the right side. There are four keys on the right: a voice recorder launcher, an edit key that lets you choose the text input type, and volume up/down buttons. The volume controls have raised bumps so they're easier to press by feel, especially while on a call, but the other two buttons do not, so you'll have to pay closer attention when trying to access them. Actually, all four buttons are pretty small and close to each other, so it's going to be difficult regardless.

Unfortunately, the same affliction plagues the navigation array on the front of the device. This is the one pitfall of the E65's compact design. First, there's an outer ring of controls that consist of two soft keys, the Talk and End buttons, a Main Menu shortcut, and a clear key. Inside that circle (err, rectangle), you'll find shortcuts for conference calling, Web access, your Contacts list, muting and unmuting a call, and a four-way navigation toggle with a center select key. This is all well and good, but the first set of mentioned keys are squeezed onto sliver-like bars (see image below), which made it entirely too easy to accidentally press the inner controls with your thumb. We had a similar experience with the toggle. It required a concentrated effort to touch just the edge of the directional keypad to scroll up and down or left and right, while trying to avoid the much larger center select key.

To expose the alphanumeric dialpad, just push up the front cover of the E65; we found it easiest to push the bottom end of the phone with our thumb. The sliding mechanism is smooth, and the cover clicks nicely into place. Thankfully, the keypad is more spacious and features large, tactile buttons for easy dialing. They're also brightly backlit so you can read them in dark environments. Clearly, the lack of a full QWERTY keyboard means the E65 isn't optimized for e-mail, but it's OK for text messages and short e-mail replies when absolutely necessary.

Rounding out the device is the camera lens on the back, a power button on top of the unit, and the power connector and USB/headset port on the bottom. There is also a microSD slot that accepts up to 2GB cards, but as Nokia has an annoying habit of doing, it's located behind the battery cover so you have to remove it every time you want to access it.

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