Nokia E51 Review

Overall Rating

Quality & solid feel
Slim
Comprehensive information on screen
Notification light

Too much of too many features
Easy to forget how to navigate to a feature
Can be laborious in certain applications
Synthetic voice of virtually no value due to incoherent speech

Let's establish one thing from the outset; the E51 reeks of quality from the simple but classic looks to the weight and solid feel. Its dimensions enable it to fit snugly in virtually any pocket. In Active Standby, the screen shows much of the information of ones daily activities and schedules in addition to incoming sms messages.
I found the notification light a useful feature. This is situated at the top left of the screen and lights up when an incoming text message has been received.

But the honeymoon ends there; I have a Nokia 6280 so forgive me if I make comparisons.

I am surprised that instead of building on some of the handy and time saving features that the 6280 has, Nokia have decided in their very questionable wisdom to abandon them. For a start; in the 6280 you can delete sms messages by folder; in the E51 this has to be done message by message.

The E51 is aimed at the business user. In that capacity it may well have many features that a business user will benefit from but allied to that, these features must be easily accessed, which in the case of the E51 is sadly not the case ie. if you are not using a particular feature often, you can go mad trying to recall how you brought it up last time you used it. Incidentally, this sentiment has been echoed by colleagues and acquaintances who have the E65.

The E51 may have shortcut buttons but some of them are very small, not ideal for those who do not have pencil points for fingers! Having said that, the keys themselves are very easy to use. Sadly, when in Active Standby, the sides of the navigator cannot be used as a short cut. To some extent this is the same on the 6280 but here at least the bottom and sides of the navigator can be used whereas in the E51, non are available for this function. This effectively deprives you of four shortcuts.

Although the E51 is equipped with GPS and maps, they can only be accessed via the internet. Also, the back has to be removed to access the memory card. The synthetic voice which translates incoming text messages to speech, is the worst I have experienced to the extent that to me it completely negates any value it may have had. And although you can choose between a male and female voice, in application called Speech Aid, only the male voice can be used.

In conclusion, I am returning the E51 admittedly with some regrets. But I think that the hassle that I know I will experience, outweighs any pleasure I may have derived from what could have been a winner.