Palm and Telsta were, perhaps, the first to debut a true budget smartphone. The Palm Centro came with Palm OS and for $300 on a prepaid plan (which then want down to around the $200 mark) you could walk away with a rather handy and not too basic smartphone. Although well priced and stylish, it didn’t seem to catch on. How many Palm Centro’s have you seen being used while you’re out and about? Regardless, one of the big boys has decided to join the party. Nokia has unleashed the E63.

The E63 is slightly thicker than the E71 but aside from this it is a rather handy smartphone. In blue or red, it features a Symbian OS and comes with your standard smartphone features, such as document editing and creation, music and video playback, space for a microSD card, email sync and a whole heap of other stuff. We should probably be more specific but this is a preview and we haven’t yet gotten around to testing the entire phone.

So far the E63 is performing well above what we expected. The form is brilliant and it’s a stylish piece of kit to look at. Operation is smooth and the full QWERTY keypad is a godsend. Being that it’s a budget smartphone, Nokia have cleverly included some really simple instructions on how to set up more complex operations such as email. In just a few minutes we were online with the E63 and using our work email as well as GMail in its mail folders.

There are plenty more options for us to go through but for those looking for a smartphone with a smart price tag, we would already recommend one of these. Look around and you can score one outright for under $400. That’s a bargain.

Technical specifications

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Physical features, power and memory
Physical features, power and memory

Size

* Form: Monoblock with full keyboard
* Dimensions: 113 x 59 x 13 mm
* Weight: 126 g
* Volume: 87 cc
* Full keyboard
* High quality QVGA display

Display and 3D

* Size: 2.36"
* Resolution: 320 x 240 pixels (QVGA)
* Up to 16 million colors
* TFT active matrix (QVGA)
* Two customisable home screen modes

Security features

* Device lock
* Remote lock
* Data encryption for both phone memory an microSD content
* mobile VPN

Keys and input method

* Full keyboard
* Dedicated one-touch keys: Home, calendar, contacts, and email
* Speaker dependent and speaker independent voice dialling
* Intelligent input with auto-completion, auto-correction and learning capability
* Accelerated scrolling with NaviTMKey

Colors and covers

* Available in-box colors: Ultramarine Blue and Ruby Red

Connectors

* Micro-USB connector, full-speed
* 3.5 mm standard AV connector

Power

* BP-4L 1500 mAh Li-Po standard battery
* Talk time (maximum): GSM up to 11 hours; WCDMA up to 4h 40 min
* Standby time (maximum): GSM up to 18 days; WCDMA up to 20 days;WLAN idle up to 170 hours
* Music playback time (maximum): 18 h

Memory

* microSD memory card slot, hot swappable, max. 8 GB
* 110 MB internal dynamic memory

Communication and navigation
Communication and navigation

Operating frequency

* E63-1 Quad-band EGSM 850/900/1800/1900, WCDMA 900/2100
* E63-2 Quad-band EGSM 850/900/1800/1900, WCDMA 850/1900
* E63-3 Quad-band EGSM 850/900/1800/1900, WCDMA 850/2100
* Offline mode

Data network

* CSD
* HSCSD
* GPRS class A, multislot class 32, maximum speed 100/60 kbps (DL/UL)
* EDGE class A, multislot class 32, maximum speed 296/177.6 kbps (DL/UL)
* WCDMA 900/2100 or 850/1900 or 850/2100, maximum speed 384/384 kbps (DL/UL)
* WLAN IEEE 802.11b/g
- WLAN Security: WEP, 802.1X, WPA, WPA2
* TCP/IP support
* IETF SIP and 3GPP

Local connectivity and synchronization

* Bluetooth version 2.0 with Enhanced Data Rate
- Bluetooth profiles: DUN, OPP, FTP, HFP, GOEP, HSP, BIP, RSAP, GAVDP, AVRCP, A2DP
* MTP (Multimedia Transfer Protocol) support
* Bluetooth (Bluetooth Serial Port Profile. BT SPP)
* File
* Network (Raw). Direct TCP/IP socket
connection to any specified port (a.k.a HP
JetDirect™).
* Network (LPR). Line Printer Daemon
protocol (RFC1179).
* Support for local and remote SyncML synchronization, iSync, Intellisync, ActiveSync

Call features

* Integrated hands-free speakerphone
* Automatic answer with headset or car kit
* Any key answer
* Call waiting, call hold, call divert
* Call timer
* Logging of dialed, received and missed calls
* Automatic redial and fallback
* Speed dialing
* Speaker dependent and speaker independent voice dialing (SDND, SIND)
* Fixed dialing number support
* Vibrating alert (internal)
* Contacts with images
* Conference calling
* Push to talk
* VoIP

Messaging

* SMS
* Multiple SMS deletion
* Text-to-speech message reader
* MMS
* Distribution lists for messaging
* Instant messaging with Presence-enhanced contacts
* Cell broadcast

E-mail

* Supported protocols: IMAP4, Mail for Exchange, POP3, SMTP
* Support for e-mail attachments
* IMAP IDLE support
* Support for Nokia Intellisync Wireless Email
* Integrated Nokia Mobile VPN
* Easy Email set-up

Web browsing

* Supported markup languages: HTML, XHTML, MP, WML,CSS
* Supported protocols: HTTP, WAP2.0
* TCP/IP support
* Nokia browser
- JavaScript version 1.3 and 1.5
- Mini Map
* Nokia Mobile Search

GPS and navigation

* Nokia Maps application

Photography

* 2.0 megapixel camera (1600 x 2020 pixels)
* Image formats: JPEG/EXIF
* CMOS sensor
* digital zoom
* Focal length: 4.5 mm
* Focus range: 10 cm to infinity
* LED flash
* Flash modes: Automatic, Off, Forced
* Flash operating range: 1 m
* White balance modes: automatic, daylight, incasdencent, fluorescent
* Capture modes: still, sequence, self-timer, video
* Colour tone modes: normal, sepia, black & white, negative
* Viewfinder
* Active toolbar
* Share photos with Share on Ovi

Video

* Main camera
* 320 x 240 (QVGA) at 15 fps
* 176 x 144 at 15 fps (QCIF)
* digital video zoom
* Video recording file formats: .mp4, .3gp; codecs: H.263, MPEG-4 VSP
* Audio recording formats: AMR
* Video white balance modes: automatic, sunny, incandescent, fluorescent
* Scene modes: automatic, night
* Colour tone modes: normal, sepia, black & white, negative
* Clip length (maximum): 1 h
* RealPlayer
* Video playback file formats: .Flash Lite 3, mp4, .3gp; codecs: H.263, MPEG-4 VSP
* Video streaming: .3gp, mp4, .rm
* Customisable video ring tones

Music and audio playback

* Music player
* Media player
* Music playback file formats: .mp3, .wma, .aac, AAC+, eAAC+
* Audio streaming formats: .rm, .eAAC+
* FM radio 87.5-108 MHz with RDS support
* Visual Radio support. Read more: www.visualradio.com
* 3.5 mm Standard AV connector
* Nokia Music Manager
* Nokia Music Store support
* Nokia Podcasting support
* Customizable ring tones
* Synchronize music with Windows Media Player
* Navi™ wheel support
* Voice Aid

Voice and audio recording

* Voice commands
* Speaker dependent and speaker independent voice dialling (SDND, SIND)
* Voice recorder
* Audio recording formats: AMR-WB, AMR-NB
* Speech codecs: FR, EFR, HRO/1, AMR-HR, and AMR-FR
* Text-to-speech

Personalization: profiles, themes, ring tones

* Customizable profiles
* Customizable ring tones
* Customisable video ring tones
* Support for talking ring tones
* Customizable themes
* Customizable home screen content in Business and Personal modes