The second video-capable mobile phone to become available for Hutchison's 3G network '3' is the NEC e808N, which comes complete with a QWERTY keyboard. Read our Australian review.

At the moment these are the only two video-capable phones available for the 3 network, but more are expected to arrive soon, beginning with the A920 in September. The NEC e808N has a very similar menu to the e606, and in fact is similar in most ways.

The main difference between the e808N and the e606 is the keyboard and corresponding layout of the mobile. The keyboard does make typing messages easier, although at the beginning we thought our thumbs were too fat to hit the keys accurately. After some practice you get the hang of it, but for normal messages it's not that much faster than a mobile keypad with predictive text. Of course, you don't have the problems of having to enter words into the dictionary, cycling through possible words or typing in six characters of a word and not realising you'd missed the second one.

The 26 letters of the alphabet are joined by a delete key (labelled BS -- we assume for back space), a return key and a 'symbol' key, which brings up a screen containing 167 different symbols that can be included. Commonly used symbols are printed above many of the letter keys, with numbers printed across the top line. Holding down a metallic shift key while pressing the letter brings up the symbol on top.

The other metallic buttons are the space button and the 'cap' button, which makes the letter pressed after it uppercase.

The normal mobile keys are included above the keypad. The answer call/reject call buttons behave normally, but the clear button deletes the character to the right of the cursor on the screen, which takes some getting used to. The other buttons are the same as the e606, but arranged in a line. There are two soft keys, a five-way navigator and buttons to bring up the phone menu and the 3 menu.

The keyboard makes the e808N quite large for a mobile phone, but about average for a PDA. Of course, despite the keyboard, the e808N is not a PDA, so the 104.6 x 80.2 29.5 mm seems big, and this is what most people comment on when they first see it. The phone weighs 206 grams, and Hutchison provides a carry case so you can sling it off your belt.

The extra size does allow for a screen that is around 30 percent larger than the e606, measuring 46 x 57 mm. However, it appears to house the same number of pixels (132 x162), and the screen of the e808N is not as bright as that of the e606. We thought this was a shame, since a screen with a higher resolution would have strongly increased the attractiveness of this mobile.

The screen is a 65K colour screen, but can only display images up to about 11 Kb. There is no software on board to shrink larger images down to screen size.

In keeping with the idea of being a mobile designed for messaging, the e808N has its own on-board e-mail client. It works the same as the online version, except that the e-mails are downloaded to the phone instead of stored online. Attachments aren't downloaded automatically, you are able to choose whether or not to download them.

Storing the e-mails on the phone allows you to download them and work on them when you have a chance, whether or not you have a 3G connection available, which is handy.

The e808N comes with twice as much dynamic memory as the e606 (64 MB as opposed to 32 MB), which will allow for more games to be stored, and of course e-mail. There is still space for 500 contacts on the phone, the same as the e606.

In almost every other way the e808N is the same as the e606. The phone does video calls, but the image is jerky and often breaks up. On our test phones the call disconnected a few times, despite still being in a 3G area, but this is probably a problem with the network rather than the phone. During a video call you can change which of the two cameras is used (one facing towards you, the other away), and other features include a 2x zoom, mirror image, mute, and video off (which keeps the call going but takes away the image you are sending).

You can also have a little picture of yourself in the bottom left corner, to see the image you are sending to the other person. You do need to have the earphone in during a video call.

The two-way camera works well in bright light, and has three different sizes and picture quality options to choose from. Taking the largest image at the highest quality will generate a 10Kb file, to give an indication of the resolution.

The menu folders are laid out in a three by three grid, and we found it easy to use. Out main complaint with navigation is the response time. Like the e606, there is a one or two second delay between selecting an item and having the new menu appear. That's really unacceptable.

There are no games embedded in the e808N, but a number of games are available to download from the '3' site. These games look pretty good on the phone, and are relatively diverse. Our favourite remains 'Poker Squares', where players get points based on the number of poker hands they can create.

The 3 site, which comes part and parcel with the e606, offers a variety of services as well as the Java games. You can also download video segments of news, sport, comedy and weather. A number of pictures and ringtones are also available for download, and we have been assured the number of downloads available will increase over time.

The battery life of the e808N is appalling, and the phone is unlikely to last much past a couple of MMS or downloads. Predicting this as a problem, Hutchison has included two chargers with the phone, so you don't have to carry one to work and back.

The mobile comes with a CD containing file transfer software, a USB cable to connect to a computer, two earphones and a user guide, which Hutchison provides so users don't have to read the manual.

The NEC e808N is sold for the same price as the NEC e606, so the choice between the two phones does come down to whether you want the keyboard and onboard e-mail client enough to accept the extra size of the phone.

NEC e808N
Company: NEC
Price: AU$768
Distributor:  3 Australia

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