Here's a solid 3G phone for two-fingered typists

RATHER THAN BEING some kind of overgrown calculator, the NOKIA E65 is a true mobile handset fashioned in the old mould. Yet it's absolutely packed with features.

The phone is aimed fairly and squarely at the business user but that just makes it very difficult to select which features need highlighting.

It is very much more a standard mobile phone when compared to the N95, N800 or HTC P3300, and still has at least one trick up its sleeve - built-in wireless LAN support.

The built-in Wifi enables voice-over-IP support out of the box, although the battery tends to suffer when using your WLAN as opposed to GSM.

It includes the new, second version of Nokia's SIP stack, which has better support for NAT transversal and thus supports a greater range of SIP services. The Nokia Internet telephony application is also present, which allows you management of multiple SIP services and allows you to set VoIP as the default call type when a SIP service is successfully registered.

You can even use VoIP over the WCDMA 3G data support - this could potentially lower call costs if you're able to get the phone coupled with an unlimited data contract, for example T-Mobile's Web n' Walk contracts. We're not sure how long phone providers will allow this to continue.

It's easy to find VoIP software to turn this into an Internet telephony handset. We installed Truphone's app and it worked a treat. Yet unlike the E61 the INQ tried, the E65 boasted a 'wireless LAN' Active standby plug-in.

Call quality was very good over standard GSM, and sufficiently decent over VoIP depending on the QoS guaranteed by your net connection.

The phone is fairly slim and compact, and although light, has a nice weighted feel to it, and a lovely leather-esque backing plate.

The slider is very firm and slips out a lot nicer than most - overall the device gives off a very good, solid build quality.

The two megapixel camera is quite a bit better than standard mobile phone cameras, but don't expect quality like the N95's beautiful 5 megapixel cam. There is no flash, macro mode or auto focus, which limits the conditions in which the camera can be used.

The E65 can be integrated with leading corporate telephony systems - with Nokia Intellisync Call Connect for Cisco, Nokia Intellisync Call Connect for Alcatel and Avaya one-X Mobile Edition for Nokia, something that may swing corporate purchasing decisions.

The E65 actually boasts two browsers - the S60 series Nokia Browser and a standard WAP browser now called 'Services'.

But the E65 is also a 3G handset. Which enabled the INQ to go onto Truphone's standard HTML site while travelling home on a train and sign up for the service. It even made use of the browser's 'minimap' facility.

This enables you to see a condensed view of an entire HTML page and navigate to the actual bit you wan to view on the E65's screen. Once you get used to it it works well.

The whole point about the E65 is that it lacks a Qwerty keyboard but it compensates by offering a whole gamut of voice applications. These are obviously intended to make the E65 useful even though it's sitting in a cradle on the dashboard.

A quick examination of the specs of the E65 offer a reasonable indication of the phone's support and features.

• Quad-band: EGSM 850/900/1800/1900
• WCDMA 2100
• Voice over IP (VoIP) calls via integrated WLAN
• WLAN: 802.11b, 802.11g
• WLAN Security: WPA2-Enterprise, WPA2-Personal, WPA-Enterprise, WPA-Personal
• WLAN Quality of Service: WMM, U-APSD
• Volume: 74 cc
• Weight: 115 g
• Dimensions: 105 x 49 x 15.5 mm
• Screen: Active-matrix QVGA color display (240 x 320 pixels) with color support for up to 16 million colors
• S60 3rd Edition, built on the Symbian operating system
• 2 megapixel camera
• MicroSD card support
• Up to 50 MB user memory
• IrDA and Bluetooth 1.2 wireless technology
• Talk time: Up to 3-6 hours via GSM, Up to 1.8-2.5 hours WCDMA, Up to 2.2-3 hours VoIP
• Stand by: Up to 7-11days via GSM, Up to 8-14 days WCDMA, Up to 4-5 days WLAN

Side view, with the keypad exposed:

Versus the N95:

And on their sides:

We've even put a mini video preview up on Youtube for your viewing pleasure. It's only quick and shows you the size of the phone and the standard Nokia GUI.

In Short
A lovely looking, well weighted mobile which can easily be recommended if you're looking for a new slim device.

The in-built Wifi support certainly puts it ahead of competing brands, but apart from that additional feature little else makes it stand out.

Any business traveller should be looking for a 3G/HSDPA phone to allow for instant internet and speedy modem functionality from their phone - fortunately, although the device doesn't support video calling, 3G WCDMA is supported for fast data speeds. HSDPA is up to around 3x faster, but at least this device isn't stuck on 2G data speeds.

Considering the new breed of smartphone, with in-built GPS and multimedia support, whilst the E65 can certainly be recommended if you don't need the additional features, it might be better to wait for the all-conquering N95. ?

The Good
Wireless LAN support built-in.
In-built mapping software.
Strong corporate support.
WCDMA support.
USB 2.0 support.
Nice, slim, good-looking mobile.

The Bad
No A2DP for stereo Bluetooth support.
No HSDPA support.
No video phone support.
Just a standard mobile except for the Wifi.

The Ugly
No built-in GPS.

Bartender's Report

See also
Nokia N95 close-up preview
HTC P3300 Windows Mobile reviewed
Nokia to offer free mapping software
Nokia N800 examined up-close