Keyboard
One of the most important features of the E61 is the QWERTY keypad that gets the BlackBerry comparison going. Unlike the SureType keypad found in the BlackBerry Pearl, the E61 has a full QWERTY keypad where each key is individual and not clubbed with the adjoining one. The keys are very decently arranged and large enough, and they feel much more comfortable than the older BlackBerrys. The soft keys and the call/end keys, on the other hand, are a little too slim and wide for comfort, but the 5-way navigation pad is just about perfect. It’s not as good as the Pearl, but it works!
The number keypad is on the R/T/Y/U, F/G/H/J and V/B/N/M keys. While the backlight of the keypad works fine for the rest of the keys, the ones with the numbers take a beating because the numbers are silver-on-blue and aren’t very easily readable in the dark. In addition to the keys on the front, there is a voice recorder shortcut on the left of the phone along with keys for adjusting the volume.
The shortcut for keypad locking is the same as other Nokia phones – topmost left key with the bottom most left key. In the E61, it’s the left soft key and the number shift key together. Interestingly, older shortcuts also work—so you can use Menu + U (which is the *) also. Switching silent/general profile switching is a bit dicey—you can’t hold down the bottom right key (Chr in the E61) – you’ll have to hold down the J key (which is #). Internet shortcuts are either the cornermost P key, or the 0 key. This is getting a bit tedious, so I’ll move on to...
Display
The display on the E61 is a lovely, proper 4:3 aspect ratio QVGA (320x240) resolution display. The display is excellent and the UI makes good use of the resolution resulting in very clear and sharp text and icons. The display is effortlessly readable in sunlight, too. It also comes with a light sensor that automatically adjusts the display brightness based on ambient lighting conditions, just like the BlackBerry Pearl.
Compared to Pocket PC phones and the Sony Ericsson M600i, etc., the E61 lacks a touch screen, so there’s no stylus and no handwriting recognition. The device is mainly competing with the BlackBerry, which also doesn’t have a touch screen, so this can’t exactly be put down as a shortcoming.
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