Nokia's E-series handsets have traditionally been aimed solely at the corporate market. In recent years, however, we've seen a raft of extra features creep in and, as a result, models such as the new E72 catch the attention of both business and home users alike.

Support for messaging services such as Mail for Exchange and Lotus Notes Traveller will appeal to IT managers looking for handsets to roll out to staff, while extras such as built-in GPS, range of media playback tools and a 5-megapixel camera boost its appeal to the home user.

Going by looks alone, very little has changed from the hugely popular E71 that it succeeds. It features the same 2.34-inch screen (320 x 240-pixel resolution) and QWERTY keyboard, while it's also almost identical to the E71 in terms of both size (114 x 59.5 x 10.1mm) and weight (128g). However, look a little closer and there are some subtle improvements to be found.

The row of buttons situated just above the main keyboard has been given an overhaul, with the most useful addition being the new touch-sensitive D-pad. Whereas the E71 D-pad required you to push physical buttons to navigate through the menus, on the E72 you can simply swipe your finger over the centre button in order to move up, down, left and right. The physical buttons remain as an alternative, but we found this new method to be far superior and of particular use when browsing photo albums.

With such small keys, the QWERTY keyboard takes a bit of getting used to, but it's far better than using predictive text on a numeric keypad. The only change compared to the E71 is the bottom row, which welcomes two extra keys at the expense of a reduced-size space bar.

The 5-megapixel camera sits at the rear and is capable of taking decent snaps. As with all camera phones, the images aren't quite up to the standard of those taken by a dedicated digital camera, but they're certainly good enough for party photos and the like. An LED flash is also included and, by holding the space bar on the keyboard, the phone can be turned into a low-powered but nevertheless useful torch.

Audiophiles will be pleased to hear Nokia's upgraded the 2.5mm headphone socket found on the E71 to a standard 3.5mm model, which means there's no need for a fiddly adapter if you want to use your own headphones. The socket has also been relocated and is now found at the top of the handset as opposed to the side.

The phone is driven by the popular but ageing Symbian S60 series operating system. While this means Nokia fans will have no problem whizzing around the menus, it is looking a bit long in the tooth and doesn't compare well to the iPhone's ultra-stylish OS. We were frequently greeted with short but frustrating pauses between pressing buttons and the phone reacting, while the bewildering array of settings is rather unhelpfully split between various different menu screens.

As far as connectivity goes, the E72 is well-catered for. HSDPA and HSUPA support mean data transfers zip along (providing there's a strong 3G signal), while the built-in web browser makes a decent fist of converting web pages to best fit the small screen. 802.11g WiFi is also built-in, as is Bluetooth.

Nokia quotes slightly improved battery life over the E71 (492 hours standby compared to 408 hours), but in reality you're unlikely to notice the difference. How long you get out of it will, of course, depend on how much strain you put on the phone. Hammer it with extended Wifi, GPS and HSDPA web browsing and you'll do well to get much more than a day out of it. Go a little easier on it, though, and four or five days is just about possible; something of which the iPhone is incapable.

Company: Nokia

Contact: 0161 868 0868

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