The E63 is essentially a cut down version of Nokia's venerable, keyboard-touting E71 smartphone that was warmly received when it was released last year. In fact, that handset managed to rack up our top score when we reviewed it back in July, so the E63 certainly has a lot to live up to.
The phone follows the E71's design quite closely, but there are some significant differences. For instance, this model is slightly wider and fatter, and forgoes the E71's metal battery cover in favour of a plastic one with a slightly rubberised finish. It means that the phone doesn't feel quite as sturdy, but the pleasing 'grippiness' of the new battery cover does counter this somewhat. Overall, we'd say that while the final finish is not as solid as the E71, it still looks very classy.
One of the best things about the E63 is its excellent keyboard. It takes a lot to match the keyboards found on RIM's Blackberry devices but in our opinion, Nokia has managed it here. The keys are relatively large and slightly domed so it's easy to hit individual letters without accidentally nudging the key next to it. Furthermore, all the important symbols such as the '@', full stop and question mark characters can be hit without having to first press shift, which speeds up typing when you're tapping out emails or text messages. The E63's keyboard also has some improvements over the one used on the E71. Nokia has shortened the space bar and used the extra space on the right to add dedicated keys for the 'Ctrl' and 'Char' functions and on the left for two keys that give direct access to the '(' and ')' characters.
Price: $141
General
Product Type Smartphone
Integrated Components Digital camera, FM radio, digital player
Service Provider Not specified
Width 2.3 in
Depth 0.5 in
Height 4.4 in
Weight 4.4 oz
Body Color Ultramarine blue
Cellular
Technology WCDMA (UMTS) / GSM
Band WCDMA (UMTS) / GSM 850/900/1800/1900
Phone Design Candy bar
Antenna Internal
Vibrating Alert Yes
Polyphonic Ringer Yes
Input Device(s) QWERTY keyboard
Voice Dialing Yes
Call Timer Yes
Conference Call Capability Yes
Voice Recorder Yes
Speakerphone Yes
Wireless Interface IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g, Bluetooth 2.0 EDR
Bluetooth Profiles Dial-up Networking Profile (DUN), File Transfer Profile (FTP), Hands Free Profile (HFP), Headset Profile (HSP), Object Push Profile (OPP), Generic Object Exchange Profile (GOEP), Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP), Audio/Video Remote Control Profile (AVRCP), General Audio/Video Distribution Profile (GAVDP), Basic Imaging Profile (BIP)
Speech Codec EFR, FR, AMR
Additional Features Text-to-Speech (text recognition)
Communicator Features
Operating System Symbian OS 9.2 / Series 60 3.1 Edition
Synchronization With PC Yes
Messaging & Data Services
Cellular Messaging Services MMS, SMS
Supported SMS Functions SMS CB (Cell Broadcast)
Mobile Email Client Yes
Supported Email Protocols POP3, IMAP4, SMTP
GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) Yes - Class 32
EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates For Global Evolution) Yes - Class 32
High Speed Circuit Switched Data (HSCSD) Yes
Internet Browser Yes
WAP Protocol Supported WAP 2.0
Platforms Supported Java MIDP 2.0
JAVA applications Yes
Messaging / Data Features XHTML Browser, PDF support, Macromedia Flash support, Zip Manager support, VoIP client
Multimedia Features
Playback Digital Video Formats RealVideo and RealAudio (RealMedia), MPEG-4, 3gp, H.263 video and AMR audio
Downloadable Content Audio files, themes, games, ring tones, wallpapers
Digital Camera
Sensor Resolution 2 Megapixel
Optical Sensor Type CMOS
Still Image Resolutions 1600 x 1200
Still Image Formats JPEG, EXIF
Min Focal Length 4.5 mm
Self Timer Delay Yes
Camera Light Source LED light
Video Recorder Resolutions 176 x 144 (QCIF), 320 x 240 (QVGA)
Digital Video Formats 3gp, H.263 video and AMR audio, MPEG-4
Organizer
Alarm Clock Yes
Calendar Yes
Reminder Yes
