I received Nokia E72 three days ago, thanks to WOMWorld Nokia. This is my first E series device so I’m very excited about using it. The first thing that stuck me was it’s very slim and sexy and it’s gonna turn heads. The cold metal back feels great in my hand. The light sensor in the front panel is very powerful and detects slight change in light and adjusts the screen brightness and QWERTY keypad backlighting.

The volume rockers and dedicated voice command key on right works very well. Voice command key is sunk lower than the volume controls so you are not going to press it accidental. MicroSD card slot and microUSB port are on the left side. On the top we have, as usual, power button and 3.5 mm audio jack. Power jack is at bottom left.

On back there are the speakers (very loud and clear), 5 Mpix camera – There is no cover for camera lens but it’s a tiny bit recessed so it won’t scratch easily. The camera works good according to my initial tests, more on this later. (and) steel battery cover which can also act as mirror. Although it is supposed to be fingerprint resistant mine was picking up fingerprints and smudges but they can be easily cleaned with a cloth. The 1500mAh BP-4L Li-Ion battery is a great performer, N97 also has the same battery and I can safely say that E72 will last for many days with a single charge.

The screen – Landscape 2.36″ 16M-color display of QVGA resolution – is crisp and clear but a little small for surfing full blown desktop websites. A higher resolution would have been better. Anyway it has excellent sunlight legibility.

Keypad – This is the first time I’m using a QWERTY keypad and I love it. I’ve been replying to emails, tweeting, and chatting with my Gtalk buddies with absolute ease. One-touch keys makes everything faster, long pressing the one-touch key brings extra functions (I discovered it by accident ;p ) The breathing light looks very good and notifies missed calls and new messages. I am not very satisfied with the Navi key, it’s a little hard to use even in High sensitivity setting. But it works well while using camera. E72 doesn’t have a dedicated camera button, touching the Navi key activates the auto-focus and locks it and a full press captures the image.

In the Box – I know I should have written about the stuff in the box first but I was so excited at receiving the E72, I just played with the handset for few hours before looking into the box.

Let’s start with the box, the box is small and eco friendly, it has the standard charger, a leather case to protect your precious device, a cleaning cloth to wipe that smudges and fingerprints off the steel back, leaflets and manuals, leather lanyard, a good quality earphones and data cable.

I did not understand why data cable was this short, it is ok if I’m going to connect E72 with my laptop but what about when I connect it with my desktop? it’s going to hang like this.

For now I’m using my N97’s data cable to connect E72 to my desktop.

This was part one of my two part review of Nokia E72. In the next part I’ll review the software side of E72 and try to reach at a conclusion.

P.S. Watch out for the N97 vs E72 camera test.

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Here is Camera test and Part two review – E72 -The E series Flagship