The E63 is aimed at those who prefer the E71's form factor but find it too expensive, which is why Nokia has dropped some of the features of the E71 while retaining the design and form factor along with all the essential features that made the E71 such a success. So will E63 perform just as well as the E71? Well, let's find out.
Bundle:
Nokia E63 handset
Battery (Li-Po 1500 mAh)
Charger
Headset
Data Cable
1 GB microSD card
PC Suite CD
User Guides
Design and Construction;
The E63 looks almost identical to its elder brother, the E71. The only difference here is that now the body is all plastic compared to the part metal body of the E71. This is obviously to reduce the price of the E63 but it also makes it look less upmarket. In fact, when placed beside the E71, the E63 does look quite bland. Also, the E63 is thicker than the E71. While the E71 measures a stunning 10 mm, the E63 adds 3.0 mm more to its waistline. However, the E63 does weigh 1 GM less than the E71 at 126 gm, which is partly because of the lighter plastic body and the lack of GPS receiver. Overall the E63 may not have the sleek upmarket look of the E71, but it still looks nice. The weight and the dimensions are quite manageable considering it has a full QWERTY keypad.
On the front of the phone we can see the call speaker at the top with the light sensor on its right. There is no video camera as seen on the E71 though. Below the speaker is the 2.36" display in the landscape orientation. Below the display is the D-Pad in the center with shortcut keys on its left and right and the Menu key, along with the soft keys and the Call/End keys. Below that is the full QWERTY keypad, which has undergone minor modifications since the E71 (more on that later though).
On the left side of the phone is the microUSB port and the microSDHC card slot (supports up to 8GB) protected by plastic flaps. The right side is completely bare.
The top of the phone houses the loudspeaker and the 3.5mm headphone jack and is protected by a rubber plug, which however is not attached to the phone and hence easy to lose. The move to 3.5mm from 2.5mm headphone jack is a welcome change and people who might be interested in listening to music on their E63 will definitely be pleased.
On the rear side of the phone we can see the lens of the 2 megapixel camera along with an LED flash and a self portrait mirror.
The build quality of the E-Series phones has always been the best among all Nokia phones. In fact Nokia ensures that the E-Series phones are well built as they are meant for businessmen who are likely to abuse their phones (like throwing their phones at a wall) when things don't go right! Well, at least that's Nokia's theory.
Display
The display on the Nokia E63 is the same 2.36" QVGA displaying up to 16M colors as the one found in E71. The display quality is good, however I wished it were a bit bigger as well as brighter. Under direct sunlight the slight lack of brightness is felt. Overall the display is not bad with good color reproduction and adequate brightness for indoor usage. The landscape orientation is ideal for image and video playback.
