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>> Hi. I'm Bonnie Cha, senior editor at CNET.com, and today we're taking a First Look at the Nokia E63. Now, traditionally, the Nokia E-series has been very business focused and slightly on the pricey side, but Nokia wanted to attract more consumers to the family of devices, so it decided to offer the Nokia E63 here, which takes away some features but comes at a more wallet-friendly price. As far as the design, the E63 is very similar to the Nokia e71 here, but instead of a steel body, it has a plastic casing and comes in a more fun red or blue color. On the front, you get a 2.3-inch non-touch display. Would have like it if it was a little bit bigger, but it's still sharp and easy to read. And below, you've got a full QWERTY keyboard. I didn't have major problems typing messages. If anything, the keys are a little bit soft and mushy to press, but again, not a huge deal. A couple of other things to point on the E63's design is a micro SD expansion slot, here on the left side, and a 3.5 headphone jack on top. One thing we did miss from the E71 is the volume rocker, which they got rid off. You can use the navigation toggle on front to adjust the volume, but when you're on a call, you have to pull away the phone away from your face, so it's not very convenient. To cut some of the cost, Nokia took away the integrated GPS and lowered the quality of the camera on the E63. You get a two-megapixel camera instead of 3.2-megapixels. And unfortunately, it didn't take the best pictures. Other than that, you still get Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and support for AT&T's 3G bands. Nokia's web browser is also pretty decent with Flashlight 3 support, so you'll be able to view sites such as YouTube. And the Nokia E63 is a fast device in terms of performance, but the call quality wasn't the best. I didn't have any problems on my end, but I had more than one friend tell me that the audio kept cutting out and at one point we just had to end the conversation because they couldn't hear me. The Nokia E63 is available unlocked for $279.00, which is more affordable than a lot of unlocked devices, but it's a little hard to recommend when you can get similar smartphones with more features for less, especially now that AT&T has announced that it will offer the Nokia E71X for $99.99. But for those who don't want to be tied to a carrier and want the freedom of an unlocked phone, the E63 offers a good set of features for more casual users at a more affordable price. I'm Bonnie Cha, and this has been your First Look at the Nokia E63.
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