130MB of internal memory is built in for content downloads, although for extending the phone’s storage capabilities you can add Micro SD cards of up to 4GB in capacity, fitting them into a slot under the rear casing.

The E51’s Wi-Fi and HSDPA capabilities means the Nokia Web Browser doesn’t drag its feet. You can view web pages in their normal full screen format, with Mini Maps helping you negotiate the pages. Pages are completed quickly on the high-speed data connections.

Available in three flavours: shiny silver, bronze or black

The camera on the back of the E51 is a standard two-megapixel shooter that produces average quality photos. This is unlikely to be a selling point of the E51 - its user interface isn’t particularly camera-like, with most of the limited settings options listed in simple list format.

The camera achieves better results in bright lighting conditions outside, while indoors images aren’t as crisp – there’s no flash to help matters in low-light conditions. Video can be recorded too, though at a maximum 320 x 240 (QVGA) resolution, and is again fairly average mobile phone limited quality fare.

Nokia’s figures for optimum battery life suggests up to 13 days on standby or 4.4 hours' talk time. We managed to get around three or four days of standby with an average amount of usage, although this declined with greater use of Wi-Fi, the music player and other power-hungry features. Still, intensive business users shouldn’t find battery life an issue here.

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Verdict

The E51 has all the credentials to make the grade as a high quality business phone, but it has much more appeal than simply a work-day handset. It has a sharp and understated design and it's straightforward to use if you want to access key features easily.

The phone’s display isn’t going to be large enough for some users, and anyone looking for a top-end multimedia cameraphone, GPS-equipped mobile or BlackBerry-style keyboard should look elsewhere. But the E51 is a cracking handset that is more sophisticated than it looks, with excellent business-grade features.

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