Review: Nokia E75

Despite Nokia's vast array of mobile phones, the company had never made a model with a full landscape slide out keyboard until the E75, previously opting for the dual-screen hinged format used in its Communicator series.

That said, that's about the only thing that's remarkable about the E75. It's not a bad phone by any measure, but it lacks any kind of feature that helps it stand out from the crowd.

For a phone boasting a full slide out keyboard, the E75 is remarkably compact and is certainly one of the slimmest in its class. However, although the sprung sliding mechanism makes sure that the keyboard snaps reassuringly open and shut, it feels like this could start to weaken over time, making the entire mechanism loose.

The keyboard has nice large keys but we would have preferred some shape to them, as trying to type quickly by touch can result in a lot of misspelling because it's difficult to differentiate between the individual letters. Also, to help make the keys as large as possible, Nokia has done away with a dedicated number row and directional keys on the main keyboard.

Both of these issues are fairly minor gripes and most users will quickly get used to the layout and moving their right hand up to the keypad to navigate around.

The rest of the casing feels very solid and the metal rim and battery cover are a nice touch. All in all, the device is quite weighty but fits well in the hand and should be easily usable by just about anyone.

Critically, the 2.4in screen has a 320 x 240 display which is bright and clear, so there is no problem reading emails or surfing the net. Video playback is smooth and clear for a screen of this size.

There is an accelerometer inside so the display automatically changes orientation between landscape and portrait if you turn the phone on its side, and it will always go into landscape mode if you open the keyboard.

Under the hood the E75 packs in Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS and runs Symbian Series 60 third edition, so the interface will be instantly recognisable to anyone who's used a recent Nokia smartphone. It also features Nokia's profile switching, helping users to keep their personal and professional lives separate on the device.

Being a business phone, the primary focus is on productivity applications like email, calendar and office programs. Nokia Maps is also included, and users will have easy access to a wide range of other applications when Nokia's Ovi store opens later this year.

For those wanting to use the E75 as a media player as well, Nokia has included a 3.5mm jack and an SD card slot, and a 4GB SD card is included in the box.

There is a 3.2-megapixel camera with LED flash built in which, although perfectly acceptable as a basic spur-of-the-moment point-and-click camera in natural light and bright conditions, was really grainy in low or artificial light even when trying to use the flash to compensate.

Unfortunately all these features take their toll on the E75, and we found the battery life really disappointing. Even with moderate use we managed to get just two days between charges, so if you're using lots of data or GPS you'll probably want to make sure you have a charger with you at all times or invest in an extra battery.

Ultimately, the E75 isn't going to turn any heads around the meeting room table, but if what you're looking for is a workhorse that focuses on getting the job done then it may be a good contender. We'd probably recommend the E71 over the E75 as it has a better battery, slimmer profile and no sliding keyboard, but only provided you can effectively use its rather small keys.

We said at the start of the review that the E75 lacks any notable features to help it stand out from the crowd, but it is perhaps this unassuming nature that will make it appeal to serious business users who are put off by unnecessary bells and whistles.