The Nokia E52 is a new business handset, designed for those who want a no-nonsense cell phone with a standard candybar form factor and numeric keypad. It packs a huge battery, and active noise reduction for clearer calls, which should make it a formidable tool in the business environment. Read on to find out how the E52 handles itself in the hustle and bustle of daily life.
Physical Aspects
In terms of hardware, the Nokia E52 is almost identical to the E55 that we recently reviewed, except for the keypad. Where the E55 has a 20-key QWERTY keypad, the E52 instead has a standard numeric keypad. Other than this, the hardware of both handsets is identical in all but color. Despite this, Nokia list the E52 as being .5mm shorter and 3g heavier than the E55. In reality, the phones are identical in size, and there's no tangible weight difference, either. Nokia list the dimensions of the E52 as 116mm x 49mm x 9.9mm (4.6in x 1.9in x .4in) and its weight as 98g (3.5oz). Our E55 review can be found here.
The E52 is a candbar-style handset with a 2.4" display that has a 320 x 240 pixel (QVGA) resolution and the ability to display up to 16 million colors. This display's bright sunlight legibility isn't great, but it's far from the worst I've seen. Below the display are a pair of softkeys and the 5-way d-pad, which has an integral LED that pulses intermittently whilst the phone is on and flashes to notify of new events. (This can be turned off in the settings menu.) Set astride of the d-pad are a handful of one-touch keys dedicated to specific functions. There is a home key and calendar key on the left, and a messaging key and backspace/delete key on the right. Below these keys are the call send and call end keys.
I found the E52's numeric keypad very easy to type with, which could be attributed to the larger than average keys that allowed me to type more quickly and accurately. Tactile feedback was good, but the color of the keys made it difficult to read the white text on them. However, this didn't actually cause me any problems during our tests.
Toward the top of the front panel you'll find the device's earpiece, ambient light sensor, and a forward facing videocall camera. Surrounding the front panel is a metallic band that gives the device a classy look. On our E52 there were some slight creaks and movement from this band at the bottom of the handset, but otherwise the build quality was top notch. The rear and sides of the phone are a darker metallic silver color, except for the metal battery cover, which is a greyish color and has an engraved pattern for enhanced styling and grip. Beneath this cover is the battery, SIM card slot, and microSD slot. Battery removal is required to access the SIM card, but not the microSD card.
Toward the top of the E52's rear you'll find the 3.2 megapixel camera with its single LED flash, and the device's loudspeaker grille. The left side of the phone is home only to the micro-USB port for charging and data, and the right side is host to the earpiece volume keys, the microphone mute key, and the camera shutter button. A micro-USB wall-socket charger and USB data cable are both included in the sales package, giving you two ways to charge the E52, which is handy. The top of the handset features a chromed power button and 3.5mm headphone port, and the bottom just a microphone pinhole and lanyard fixing.
