July 25th, 2009
First impressions of the AT&T Nokia Surge
There have not been many Symbian smartphones in the US the last few years and one of the best devices, the Nokia E71x, was launched a couple of months ago on AT&T. AT&T and Nokia just started making the Nokia Surge available and I was able to get a review unit to check out for a while. You can read about my first impressions of this messaging-focused device. The $80 price point, with a contract like all subsidized phones in the US, is pretty low for a device running the full Symbian OS with S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2. It is quite a functional device, but the build quality is not the best and nowhere near what you find on the stainless steel E71x.
The device is a bit unique for Nokia with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard and rather odd front button layout. I do think it may appeal to the teen and younger crowd who are focused on text messaging and after sending about 30 text messages last night the QWERTY keyboard does very well. I was pleased to see Mail For Exchange on the device and was able to get up and running with my email, calendar, and contacts in just a few minutes.
Matthew Miller is an avid mobile device enthusiast who works during the day as a professional naval architect in Seattle. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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