Yesterday I gave you a quick list of things that I absolutely love about the Nokia E90. It’s certainly a rock solid device, and if you’re looking for a one-stop-shop for your pocket that covers email, IM, and office document editing, you really can’t go wrong. There are a few extra features, such as the 3.2 megapixel autofocus camera and built-in GPS that make things nice, but it’s ultimately a businessman’s phone.
Surely, though, there are things that stick out like a sore thumb in the midst of this great phone? Of course there are. For me, I don’t think any of these things, alone, are dealbreakers. However, combined with each other, and I’m forced to use my N95-3 more often than not. I absolutely *do* use the E90, mostly during the week when my multimedia needs are less, but let’s explore why:
1. The camera button – so you’ve got this great 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus, and a dedicated camera key. Awesome, I want to take a picture, I’ll just press and hold the camera button. Sounds logical, right? Wrong. The camera button actually does nothing until you’ve used the menu (or assigned a shortcut) to open the camera application. Simply pressing and holding the camera button for a few seconds does absolutely nothing. Also, it’s somewhat hinged on one end, so that it doesn’t press straight down, but rather at an incredibly awkward angle, resulting in poorly timed photos. In my experience, I also found that it’s randomly responsive, meaning you basically have to simply mash it down as hard as you can to get the picture. I missed plenty of shots in Boston recently due to this.
2. 2.5mm audio port – yes, for some odd reason, Nokia chose to use this only slightly smaller headset port, so that I’m forced to listen to music through the included headphones. There’s also no adapter included in the box, which would have at least slightly made up for things.
3. Useless internal camera – The secondary VGA-resolution camera – which I often use for video/picture MMS’, is completely disabled on the E90, unless you’re making a video call. If you attempt to open the camera application with the handset open, you receive an error message, tell you to either close the cover or exit the camera. Why? Why can’t I use it to snap a quick pic/vid like I do on other S60v3 handsets?
4. Lack of predictive text input on the QWERTY keyboard – While the internal keyboard is very spacious and easy to use, I’m still liable to make a mistake or two. Plus, every other QWERTY-equipped smartphone I’ve used, from the Palm Centro to the Sidekick LX to the Motorola Q9m, offer at least *some* intelligence. Most will capitalize an ‘I’, if typed alone, and perform other convenient little extras. With the launch of the Nokia E71, another S60v3 Feature Pack 1 device with a QWERTY keyboard and its fancy new auto-completion and auto-correction, I’m curious as to whether or not my E90 will get another firmware update soon that offers this convenience.
5. Lack of overall support – Certain applications don’t work properly – or at all – on my Nokia E90. For instance, the new Nokia Internet Radio application refuses to launch. Share Online is not supported on the E90, nor is N-Gage.
6. Sadly, the size – while the size is easily justifiable, given the sheer number of things you can DO with/on the Nokia E90, it’s still earned the Bluetooth name of ‘Behemoth’ from me. It’s monstrous. I wouldn’t say that it’s uncomfortable, though, either in hand or in your pocket, though. It’s just….noticably bigger than any other handset I’ve used.
7. Lack of US 3G – for me, this is really the biggest reason that my SIM card stays in my N95-3 most often. It’s not the speed of 3G that I’m heavily addicted to, but the convenience, really. I can have data running while I take a call, and being on an extended phone call doesn’t cause data-intensive apps such as the email client, podcasting, or Jaiku Mobile to crash or stop performing.
Stay tuned tomorrow for my final coverage of the Nokia E90, compared with my N95-3, as to which Flagship I think is overall better (though you can likely figure it out by now).
