It's clear that the Nokia E-series (see specifications here) will have an impact upon smartphone phone purchasing decisions, particularly if you're not in a rush. The announced date is Q1 2006 - so expect releases by June 2006.
We are not (really) considering price; only announced features and expected delivery dates. Also, only smartphones are considered. Observations are divided into US and non-US; US readers do not need to read about the rest of the world, but the rest of the world should read about the US. (Ed: The US market is a subset.)
It's clear that the Nokia E-series (see specifications here) will have an impact upon smartphone phone purchasing decisions, particularly if you're not in a rush. The announced date is Q1 2006 - so expect releases by June 2006.
We are not (really) considering price; only announced features and expected delivery dates. Also, only smartphones are considered. Observations are divided into US and non-US; US readers do not need to read about the rest of the world, but the rest of the world should read about the US. (Ed: The US market is a subset.)
If you're in the US:
- There is now an upgrade path after the Nokia 6682; there should be a GSM 850 version of the E70 (stated in the official press release), and the E61 is quadband.
- This should not impact upon purchase of the Nokia 6682. Only the Nokia E70 is a direct competitor at about the same size and weight, (117 x 53 x 22 mm, 127g vs. 108 x 55 x 21 mm, 131g) but with a better camera (2.0MP), an updated OS (Symbian 9.1), a screen which has four times as many pixels, and a built in qwerty keyboard. The E70 is obviously a better phone, but going by the timings for the availability of the 6682 ( ~6 months after the 6680 was released) it makes no sense to wait.
- Remember that there is no information about a GSM 850 Nokia N70.
- The Nokia E70 also means that Symbian finally has a direct competitor to the HTC Tornado phones; which have windows mobile 5.0, WiFi, a QVGA screen. The qwerty keyboard and superior screen (and also better camera) mean that Symbian again has the technological advantage, except perhaps in miniaturization.
- The Nokia E61 is a decent alternative to the Motorola Q; with a better screen (16.7m colours vs. 65K), and (probably) Wifi. It is not as svelte - but with a thickness of 14mm vs. 11mm it's not a huge difference. A possible drawback is the lack of a camera. Note that the Nokia E61 is unlikely to have a touchscreen either, and hence the Windows Treo might have an edge.
Elsewhere in the world:
- For the reasons stated above, the E70 is the new best middle of the line symbian S60 phone. The Nokia N91 or Nokia 3250 might be better choices for heavy users of music, but the combination of similar size / featureset with the addition of a functional full sized keyboard, and a better screen is killer for all other purposes.
- Accordingly, the Nokia N70 is not regarded as good buy any longer - it has yet to reach widespread release; and upcoming models are more attractive. This is particularly true because of the screens.
- Note also that because of miniSD capability, the Nokia E70 might even be a better choice than the Nokia 3250 as a music phone in terms of cost; (miniSD media is more affordable than microSD at the moment) provided that a 3.5mm headphone adaptor/control is made available.
- The N90 retains a niche position, as the only Nokia with autofocus, although reviews have not been kind about it's picture quality. It is also the only recent symbian flip phone. Note that it has the upgraded screen already, and therefore might be the most "future proof" option for now.
I suppose we could wish that Symbian OS 9.1 didn't break binary compatibility, but what with the new screen sizes, requiring a new version (to take advantage of the new screen size) is probably inevitable for many programs.
