The E90 has almost everything you could dream of and provides the fastest processor currently used in Symbian OS smartphones and the largest operating memory (RAM) capacity ever used in a Symbian OS based device, with the recently announced UIQ3 based Sony Ericsson P1i being the only smartphone to offer the same amount of RAM. Yes, it’s true, Nokia has finally created a Communicator that is as fast as other high-end Symbian OS devices and as powerful (and MORE functional) than high-end PocketPC Phone Edition devices! Read on.

Think of the Nokia Communicator E90 not as just another “boring” business tool, but as the keyboarded version of the incredibly full-featured and hot Nokia N95. Yes, this is clearly the newest member of the 10 year long Communicator line, but this ain’t your grandma’s Communicator. While we loved the Nokia 9300, Nokia’s last Communicator, it lacked all the bells and whistles of a high end NSeries device: things both fun and practical weren’t there. No camera (we can understand since some companies restrict phone use, but we missed it nonetheless), no WiFi, just OK multimedia features, and by the time it hit the US, an older version of the Symbian OS. In contrast, the E90 has it all: a 3 megapixel camera with autofocus lens and VGA video recording, full GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0, good multimedia and the latest versions of the Symbian OS (9.2) and Series 60 3rd edition Feature Pack 1. That’s another big change:

Nokia Communicators have always run Series 80, now put to rest since Series 60 has become powerful enough to handle the Communicator line’s features. From a US perspective, the phone is more practical being quad band EDGE rather than 2 triband versions (no having to do research to make sure you get the one that works on all US bands). The E90 gets HSDPA, but sadly for those of us in the US, it supports only the 2100MHz band used in Europe, so we only have EDGE to work with in the US. The phone is available in two colors: mocha and red, and it can sync to both Windows and Mac OS X computers. It’s available unlocked from importers but not carriers in the US. Our review unit came from the very reputable Dynamism, who includes their own 1 year rescue warranty and unlimited toll free tech support.

The Nokia E90 Communicator is a mammoth. The handset measures a whopping 5.2 inches tall by 2.2 inches wide by 0.7 inch deep and weighs 7.4 ounces, so you can pretty much forget about slipping this into a pants pocket, comfortably anyway. On the upside, the smartphone has a solid construction and looks like it could weather some rough treatment. It’s also got a decidedly no-nonsense, corporate look, which suits its intended audience of power business users.

A fantastic update to the Communicator line that’s more like a re-birth. While keeping the best of the Communicator line’s inventive and practical ergonomics, the feature set has been raised to the sky. HSDPA will thrill Europeans and quad band EDGE means the phone will work fine in the US as well as anywhere else in the world GSM service is available. WiFi will keep you connected when near an access point and Nokia’s Bluetooth implementation is as usual, excellent. The PIM applications are strong and the Office suite plus Acrobat Reader make for a good mobile office. The web browser is best in its class and the mail application is decent. BlackBerry users will appreciate BlackBerry Connect and the phone’s overall stability is excellent. For the first time, we get good multimedia and an excellent camera in a Communicator, which means down times won’t be dull.

Pro: Fantastic wide screen display with 800 x 352 resolution that’s very viewable outdoors. Very good camera, WiFi, Bluetooth and a GPS. Excellent Communicator design melds a mobile phone with a notebook. The E90 is extremely stable and reliable.

Con: In the US, the GPS and Nokia Maps is a mixed bag. Nokia has improved on the N95’s GPS with firmware updates, and we hope they do the same with the E90. Large by phone standards. No US 3G. The mobile office and strong PDA features feel a bit hobbled without a touch screen.