Nokia E90 cell phone review - Making/Receiving Calls
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Mark Brezinski Published on September 17, 2007 Comment on this |
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Dialing Speed (8.47)
To test dialing speed, we begin with the phone in the closed, unlocked position, and time how fast it takes us to dial a number. We use five different test numbers in order to better approximate the user experience; no one is just going to key in the same number for their phone's entire life. Once we've accrued our five trials, we average the times. We found the E90 could get an outgoing call started in 2.36 seconds. This is fast, due to a responsive OS and a good external keypad. If you were to open the phone and instead use the internal keypad, it would take 4.65 seconds to make a call, which would have earned it a 4.3 for a score. While doing this test, we noticed you could still input the phone number even before the internal screen displayed anything; useful for fast dialers.
| Cell Phone | Time (sec) | Score |
| Nokia E90 | 2.36 | 8.47 |
| HTC Mogul | 6.16 | 3.25 |
| BlackBerry 8800 | 4.35 | 4.60 |
| Nokia N95 | 4.62 | 4.33 |
| Helio Ocean | 3.10 | 6.45 |
| Apple iPhone | 3.96 | 5.05 |
Talk and End Buttons (5.5)
The E90 has two sets of talk and end buttons, and they are different. In the rare instances where there's two different sets of buttons, we score each individually, then average the scores. We do this as opposed to taking one score over the other, or weighing them differently. Accurately calculating a weighted score would need to take into consideration frequency of use and other variables that are largely dependent on the individual user. We do mention what we would have scored each set individually.
The external keypad's talk and end buttons are great. They have a ridge running along their center which makes them easily identifiable by touch. They also have a crisp snap to them and good play. They are located to the bottom left and right of the d-pad and directly above the keypad, meaning they're very accessible. We gave the external set a score of 7.
The internal talk and end buttons are the worse of the two sets, but by no means horrible. They have adequate play, and a bit of a snap to them so you'll know when you hit them. They're flat with only a small indentation between them, so there isn't much in the way of tactile feedback. Their biggest problem, however, is their location. They're placed to the left of the screen, completely by themselves.This means you'll need to shift your grip in order to hit them from the keypad. It also means they're right near your eye line. This actually makes their lack of tactile feedback less important, since you'll probably have them in your peripheral vision at all times. We gave the internal set of send/end keys a score of 4.
Call Management (8.0)
Recent calls are stored in the Main menu, under Log. Clicking on your log will give you three options: recent calls, call duration, and packet data. You can also press right to access the next tab, which displays all transfers (voice calls and data) your phone has been involved in. Each item in this list contains three parts: an arrow to represent incoming/outgoing, a description of the transfer, and a brief description of the other end of the transfer (phone number, MEdiaNet, Easy WLAN, etc.). Clicking on an item provides a more detailed transcript, including the amount of data sent/received and duration of the call or transfer. Recent calls is split up into missed, received, and dialed. Each entry on the list contains the phone number and the time. Clicking on an entry brings up a menu allowing you to call the number, add it as a contact, send it a message, or use Push-to-Talk. Taking a step back in the nested menu, the call duration tab lists the times of your last call, dialed numbers, received calls, and all calls. It also keeps a separate set of timers for Internet calls. There is an option to reset the timers. The last tab, packet data counter, is short: all sent and all received data.
In-call, the right soft button mutes and the left soft button pulls up the Options menu. The menu could be ordered better, since the first option, mute, makes the soft key redundant. Next in the menu is loudspeaker (speakerphone), end call, hold, lock keypad, new call, open active standby, send DTMF, and help. We're pleased how easy conferencing was: just start a new call and a conference option will appear under the menu. Once conferencing, you will have access to two additional options: private and drop participant. When the phone is open, you'll also have the option of switching to a video call. Active Standby mode puts the call in the background, giving you access to all the phone's features while you talk. This includes the ability to add contacts, make calendar entries, take notes, or record the call. Overall, the E90 provided a lot of functionality with a good layout.
Startup to Call (3.11)
This timing test is a lot like the dialing speed test, except it takes boot up time into consideration. We begin with the phone closed and off, then time how long it takes to enter one of our test numbers. We have five trials, then average our results.
There are a few things to know when attempting to dial after a startup. First of all, pressing a key during the Nokia hand-holding animation will stop it and bring you to the home screen faster. Once there, you can key in numbers immediately. After we got in a few digits, however, the home screen's background went blank for a few seconds, after which we could key in the rest of the number. The blank screen is a bit annoying if you don't know it's coming, because you'll likely just finish keying in the number and be left with an input number missing the middle few digits.
Keeping the above in mind, we were able to guide the E90 to a 32.12-second finish time. The vast majority of this time was waiting for the phone to boot up. Many advanced phones take longer to start up than more basic phones, at times a minute or more. Given this, the E90 was on the faster side of phones with comparable complexity.
| Cell Phone | Time (sec) | Score |
| Nokia E90 | 32.12 | 3.11 |
| HTC Mogul | 55.00 | 1.82 |
| BlackBerry 8800 | 6.50 | 15.38 |
| Nokia N95 | 36.40 | 2.75 |
| Helio Ocean | 9.50 | 10.53 |
| Apple iPhone | 26.12 | 3.83 |
Ring Volume (8.56)
To measure a phone's ring volume, we play back all the phone's ringtones at the loudest setting and measure the decibel output of each. At its maximum, the E90 scored 85.6 decibels on our meter. This is about average. There are a few that are quite shrill or ear-catching that you'll most likely never miss, even if the phone is in a bag or purse.
| Cell Phone | Volume (decibels) | Score |
| Nokia E90 | 85.4 | 8.54 |
| HTC Mogul | 85.7 | 8.57 |
| BlackBerry 8800 | 84.0 | 8.40 |
| Nokia N95 | 105.3 | 10.53 |
| Helio Ocean | 85.4 | 8.54 |
| Apple iPhone | 84.9 | 8.49 |
Ringtone Customizability (8.0)
We were impressed with both the number and quality of ringtones included with the phone. Some of the tones lead us to believe Nokia hired a band to play the 30-second clip. If none of the built-in tones suit you, you can also set any of your music files or voice recordings as a ringtone.
Non-Audio Alerts (6.0)
The E90 has a weak vibrate given its size. You'd think you'd notice a brick shaking around in your pocket, but we missed it a few times. If it's in contact with your body, you'll feel it, but if it's in the pocket of your cargo shorts, in a bag, or in a purse, you'll miss calls. On top of that, the screen doesn't look particularly different when a call is coming in. There's a tiny logo at the bottom that doesn't move around much. To be fair, if you're getting a call while the phone is idle you'll notice, as the phone reverts to the home screen.
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