Smart Away Nokia E90

INTRODUCTION
Nokia Communicator users and fans got used to always having to wait several years for a new model and always being slightly disappointed by the lack of some important features and reduced performance of new models compared to e.g. S60 smartphones announced/released at the same time. The 9210, the first Symbian OS based Communicator released in 2001, came with no GPRS and no Bluetooth, even though simple Nokia phones had both. 9210i and 9290 haven't changed much and we had to wait 3 years for the 9500 which finally delivered Bluetooth and GPRS/EDGE but (in 2004/2005!) still no UMTS, low-res camera and slow(ish) 150 MHz processor, compared to 220 MHz clocks of S60 smartphones (e.g. the 6630) announced at the same time... The 9300 and the 9300i provided improved WLAN connectivity but still the same processing speed and no UMTS support...

History often repeats itself.... but NOT THIS TIME! The E90 has almost everything you could dream of and provides the fastest processor currently used in Symbian OS smartphones and the largest operating memory (RAM) capacity ever used in a Symbian OS based device, with the recently announced UIQ3 based Sony Ericsson P1i being the only smartphone to offer the same amount of RAM. Yes, it's true, Nokia has finally created a Communicator that is as fast as other high-end Symbian OS devices and as powerful (and MORE functional) than high-end PocketPC Phone Edition devices!

The Nokia E series has gained a reputation as a mean set of power smartphones for business users. Just take a look at the Nokia E61i and the Nokia E65 if you need proof. And now, you've got the granddaddy of them all--the mammoth Nokia E90 Communicator. A descendant of the Nokia 9300, the E90 brings solid performance and more features--Wi-Fi, GPS, the latest Symbian operating system, and more--to the corporate customer. That said, we couldn't help but be disappointed by the lack of 3G support on the E90, and the omission is even tougher to swallow when you realize it will cost you about $1,100 (though you can probably find it for a couple of hundred dollars less online, but still) for an unlocked version of this handset. The Nokia E90 Communicator is a sharp device, but if you're looking for a comparable and more affordable solution, check out the AT&T Tilt.

Design

The Nokia E90 Communicator is a mammoth. The handset measures a whopping 5.2 inches tall by 2.2 inches wide by 0.7 inch deep and weighs 7.4 ounces, so you can pretty much forget about slipping this into a pants pocket, comfortably anyway. On the upside, the smartphone has a solid construction and looks like it could weather some rough treatment. It's also got a decidedly no-nonsense, corporate look, which suits its intended audience of power business users.

Features
The Nokia E90 Communicator is a workhorse. The brainpower behind the smartphone is provided by Symbian OS 9.2, Series 60 3rd Edition and comes packed with a host of applications for the business user. There's full support for viewing and editing Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents thanks to the Quickoffice suite. The E90 also features the Nokia Team Suite, which we saw debut on the Nokia E65, and lets you create "teams" and define members, conference call numbers, conference call PINs, and Web pages.

Other utilities and PIM tools include Adobe Reader, a Zip Manager, a calendar, notes, a calculator, a clock, a voice recorder, and a currency converter. Of course, with the openness of the Symbian platform, you have access to a large library of third-party applications. There's Download Catalog on the device or you can check CNET Download.com for more titles. The Nokia E90 has 128MB of user-accessible memory, and the microSD expansion slot can accept up to 2GB cards.

Performance

We tested the quad-band (GSM 850/900/1800/1900; GPRS/EDGE) Nokia E90 Communicator in San Francisco using AT&T service, and call quality was good. We enjoyed crisp sound and good volume on our end, and had no problems interacting with an airline's voice-automated response system. Our callers also reported good results. The speakerphone presented more of a mixed bag. While our friends were impressed by the clarity, voices sounded a bit weak and hollow on our end. It wasn't anything that prevented us from having a conversation, but it will pose a challenge if you're trying to talk on the speakerphone in noisier environments. On the bright side, we had no problems pairing the E90 with the Logitech Mobile Traveller Bluetooth headset or the Motorola S9 Bluetooth Active Headphones.

Armed with a 330MHz Texas Instrument OMAP2420 processor, general performance was pretty swift. We did notice some lag when activating the camera and other multimedia applications, but we didn't experience any system crashes during our review period. Of course, the Web-browsing experience could have used the speed boosts from 3G support, but we were able to get by on EDGE. The device also had no problem finding and connecting to our Wi-Fi access point, and the E90 is equipped with an excellent Web browser. Multimedia performance could have been better. Music playback through the phone's speakers was weak and one-dimensional, though it's improved when you used the wired headset. Meanwhile, video clips looked pixilated and blurry, but it should be fine for short diversions.

The Nokia E90 is rated for 5.8 hours of talk time and up to 14 days of standby time. In our battery drain tests, we were able to get an impressive 11.5 hours of continuous talk time on a single charge. According to FCC radiation tests, the E90 has a digital SAR rating of 0.59 watt per kilogram.

Finally, the smartphone is equipped with a decent music player. It plays back MP3 and AAC files and can sort songs by artist, album, genre, or composer. You can also create playlists right on the device, set songs on random or repeat mode, and tweak the Performance
We tested the quad-band (GSM 850/900/1800/1900; GPRS/EDGE) Nokia E90 Communicator in San Francisco using AT&T service, and call quality was good. We enjoyed crisp sound and good volume on our end, and had no problems interacting with an airline's voice-automated response system. Our callers also reported good results. The speakerphone presented more of a mixed bag. While our friends were impressed by the clarity, voices sounded a bit weak and hollow on our end. It wasn't anything that prevented us from having a conversation, but it will pose a challenge if you're trying to talk on the speakerphone in noisier environments. On the bright side, we had no problems pairing the E90 with the Logitech Mobile Traveller Bluetooth headset or the Motorola S9 Bluetooth Active Headphones.