E66 Gets Physical Against The E65
Recently released, the E66 is more like a new E65, it takes from the E65’s form factor, design, target market and builds on it to introduce a very slick handset that’ll take Eseries one step further when it comes to customer adoption.
Here is a head to head between these two devices showing the improvements that were introduced to the line with the E66 and the compromises that had to be carried in order to obtain the smoother look.
Dimensions
Talking about the physical aspect, the E66 is taller than the E65, and although it looks wider, both of them are almost the same width. When the sliders are open though, the E65 is a bit taller than the E66.
The E66 is much thinner than the E65, and that is mostly due to the fact that the upper slider part (ie the one that holds the screen) has been on a very extensive diet. The lower is almost the same thickness between the two.
Design
The E66 sports a more modern design, with the shiny dark metallic finish, compared to the E65’s matte silver metallic look. Personally, I prefer the E66’s appearance, even though it means more fingerprints, but it doesn’t get ugly, at least not on the front.
The true repulsive thing is the battery cover that collects fingerprints like it’s a job, and takes different shades accordingly. The E65’s battery cover is a matte leather-textured material that won’t show any fingerprint at all. This is probably the one and only thing where the E65 is superior to the E66.
On the left: dirty E66 back with fingerprints, smudges and color variations. On the right: well cleaned E66 back.
Another difference is with the E66 sporting the new design strategy from Nokia that was introduced with the N78: when the top-slider keys aren’t lit, they disappear as if there wasn’t a button. Only the green call key and the red end key are still visible. This isn’t the case with the rest of the keypad on the slider (the keys are visible even if not lit), but it does give the E66 a very slick look compared to the E65.
Keys
The E66 cramps 9 keys on the top slider part, other than the d-pad, whereas the E65 sports 10 keys. Although the E66 keys aren’t raised and might look a bit non-responsive, I was surprised by their overall performance and would rank them amongst the best keys on a Nokia handset so far. The Calendar, Messages and Contacts keys can be mapped to launch any application on a normal press and an extended key press. That means that you have 6 available shortcuts on the handset, compared to the E65’s fixed shortcuts.
Concerning the rest of the keypad, the E66 has by far one of the best keypads I have ever had under my fingers. It beats the N95 by miles, so let’s not mention the N81, N76, N73, 6120… It’s probably as good as my old 3250. The feedback is perfect, the keys have a nice coating, are a bit raised and very well individualized. If you compare it to the E65’s keypad, you’ll notice that the E65’s keys are taller but much less wider which makes them less comfortable for typing. I only wish the E66’s keys were a bit taller, but not as much as the E65.
Compared to the E65, the E66 lacks the pen key, and although I have been a bit worried about it before, I think that I got used to not using it. My only problem so far is with X-plore (my favorite file manager) not supporting multiple selection with the # key. The E66 adds a very important key though, the camera key. My main gripe so far is that it doesn’t launch the camera (why, oh why?! WHY?) , but it allows using the autofocus and snapping the picture or starting and stopping video recording. One more thing that I noticed is that the volume up key on my E66 isn’t very responsive (almost not responsive at all). I don’t know if this is an issue with my particular unit or an overall design flaw in the E66 line. I hope it isn’t the latter.
Ports
The E66 replaces the pop-port on the lower side of the E65 with 2 different ports: a microUSB and a 2.5mm plug for the headset. The 2.5mm plug makes you almost wish that they kept the pop-port!
Screen
As you must have noticed, the E66 screen is much bigger than the E65 (2.4” vs 2.2”) and although the difference is small on paper, it does make a great impression on the device itself.
This is it for the physical differences between the E65 and the E66. I will later tackle the hardware and the software improvements that the new handset introduces.
Hi ‘Dotsisx’, long time no comment :p
There’s one thing I would like you to check for me on the E66. I bought an E71 (E71-1 actually, AZERTY keyboard) (A-W-E-S-O-M-E by the way, my E50 has been put to shame bad time. It’s a backup phone now) and I think I’ve got a problem with Flash Lite not working in the Web browser.
Am I mistaking by thinking that the E66 and E71 are supposed to show flash based content in the browser natively ? I can’t get my E71 to show flash content, nothing at all, on any website I tested. Bug on my side or not ?
Will there be a proprer review of the E71 on S-G anytime soon (or will you wait to receive your E71) ?
Nice comparison of the two phones, but i think you mixed up e65 and e66 several times, which makes it a bit hard to read. (At least i hope you mixed them up and that there aren´t the disadvantages of the e66 i did read there)
The keys on the E66 look remarkably the same size and shape as those found on the E51, which is not a problem for me. Can’t wait to do a direct comparison.
The larger screen on the E66 compared to the E65 is definitely a winner.
Actually I’m still debating with myself whether I really like the design.
In my bad day: I think that the non-lit upper keys give the phone an “unfinished” look, as if Nokia had forgot to print the keys.
I also prefer the raised and matte buttons of the E51 (or E71) compared to the flat shiny ones of the E66.
In my good day: The phone looks sleek with its minimalistic and elegant design. I also love the back of the phone!
I realize now that I wanted a replica of the E51 (look-wise) but in a slider form hehe. I’ll buy the E66 anyway :-).
Merlin,
I think that the E66 & E71 are supposed to support flash out of the box, so videos like youtube should work in the browser. But I have read somewhere (excuse me but I can’t recall the source right now) that the browser is failing to load videos after a couple of times. I have been trying to open a few videos all day, but the N82, the E66 AND the N95 are all giving me Server Busy messages. Hm I wonder :s
As for an E71 review, I think I will have to wait until I have mine to get its review done.
None of your business,
When re-reading the post, I discovered that I did mix them up once. I have just re-arranged it and re-written some parts to make my point more clear. You can read it and tell me if there’s something you need clarification on.
Mino,
Trust me, when you see it in person, you will love it!
Acknowledging your article by publishing a link on my blog.
@Merlin, you’re not the only one to comment on the E71 & Flash Lite 3 issue with the browser. Dogman on HowardForums & Symbian-Freak did a review with his model and after working only 1 time in the browser he too cannot access youtube or other flash sites. I’m not sure if this is a growing issue (trend) or if its changes to Youtube’s site (non-mobile I believe). Ricky, could you test as well (with a powercycle) and if its confirmed by you can you see what your WOM contacts say for possible resolution? Please?!
Thanks & unique review - definately needed.
hi, the pen key on the e66 is now the # key
Jul 6th, 2008 at 1:04 pm
[...] up is some E66 coverage from Dotsisx as she pits it against the E65. Meanwhile Abul has put up his initial impressions of [...]