NOKIA E72 FIRST IMPRESSIONS

I went to the Nokia Store in Trinoma last week and was pleasantly surprised to see that the much awaited Nokia E72 was already available.

For those looking forward to buying themselves the new E series business phone that is giving Blackberry a run for its money, you would be happy to know that the price is, I think, even less than the E71 at launch.

Cash Price is 22,258 while Card price for zero (??) interest is 23,258.

It has the usual E series package which includes the case, usb cable and a 4 GB memory card.

So what were my initial impressions? Luckily I had my trusted E71 for comparison and here is the summary:

Size: Essentially the same as the E71. Same sleek form factor.

Weight: About the same too. It's the type of weight that doesn't feel heavy but it imparts a feeling of quality and durability to the phone.

Keys: Much to my chagrin, the E72 keys are much better than my E71's. They are slightly bigger and the layout was changed just a wee bit.  

Appearance: This is the surprise for me, I thought that right off the bat, I would go for the E72 but this was not the case. Whether in black or in beige, somehow it had just about equal visual appeal compared to the E71.

So what is my take on the Nokia E72?

For non E71 users looking for a best in class qwerty smartphone then this is probably one of the best, if not THE best alternative.

In my opinion, it trumps the Blackberry which fails on value for money.

The reason may be the fact that showbiz people here have made the Blackberry their buzz word and their must haves. Since they are not on tight budgets, the price of the Blackberry has remained relatively high.

There are of course some new offerings from Samsung and Sony that will compete directly with the E72 but from reviews so far, the E72 remains at the top of the business phone class.

For E71 users like myself, it's not such a cut and dried decision. 80% of the E71 is on par with the E72.

In my opinion, the advantages of the E72 would be the IMPROVEMENTS to the camera, the keyboard and better gps.

I emphasized improvement because the E71 is definitely not inferior. It's just that the E72 has improved on it.

Personally, my upgrade plans remain the same. I hope to have the Xperia and the E72 soon. Maybe the Xperia could be my Merry Xmas to me :)

As you can see the E72 is not tops on my list. I am still very happy with my E71 and I will not be letting this go, even when I get an E72.

Everytime I tinker with my E71, I still marvel at how well equipped it is and how it has singlehandedly softened the mind of a previously die hard Sony Ericsson devotee.

I hope to be able to do a detailed review of the E72 soon. But till then, if you are in the market for a smartphone in the 22k range, then look no further.

The E72 looks like it will assume the throne of the E71 as the best smartphone.And I can hardly wait for it to assume a place beside my E71 :)