Nokia E72

Touch-screen phones such as the Apple iPhone are fine for some things but composing emails can be awkward.

Nokia’s new E72 is a slim – less than 1cm – phone with a full Qwerty keyboard. It has a 2.4in screen, which was readable even in bright light, wireless network connectivity and a five-megapixel camera. It uses the Symbian operating system, which has lots of add-ons available.

Many users will not need those, however. The E72 comes with Quickoffice, which allows users to create and edit Word and Excel documents, and view PDF files you are sent, together with a lifetime subscription to Nokia Messaging, so your email will be automatically sent to the phone.

Nokia Maps is built in too, with lifetime access to walking navigation (driving directions cost extra) - it works well, and found our position very quickly.

There is a good web browser on the phone, plus a World Traveller tool that can tell you exchange rates, weather and even flight information.

The phone itself felt solid and well-built and it has built-in support for making phone calls over the internet rather than the mobile network. The keyboard was surprisingly easy to master and, sensibly, it has separate keys for punctuation and the @ symbol.

Above it, quick access keys let you reach the diary, address book and messaging, and you can scroll by wiping your finger over the four way navigation pad, making for quick navigation round the menus.

There are some neat touches too. To silence ringing calls or alarms, just turn the phone over. Or hold the space bar to use the LED flash as a torch.

The camera is not as good as some others – the lens quality was disappointing – and the built-in speaker is mono only. Finally, the Symbian operating system is not as slick or straightforward as, say, the iPhone’s interface.

Set against that, it’s got all the phone features you need, such as different ringtones for groups of callers and you can synchronise with PC and Mac easily. Battery life was excellent, with over two days between charges.