There's no shortage of handsets that seek to entice the corporate buyer and the business user. In fact, if you take away a few models finished in pink plastic, then practically every phone in the market could end up being used by company executives. But some are definitely more fit for the purpose than others.

And although Communicators, BlackBerrys and Pocket PCs have their place, the cost-sensitive company accountant ensures that most workers that get issued with a work mobile get a handset that is rather more down to earth. It's no budget basement model but a no-nonsense and unpretentious number, that doesn't just cover all the basics, but covers them well.

When it comes to producing such reliable workhorses Nokia has always been the master. Hidden within the current catalogue, there are unassuming handsets such as the 6230i and the 6310i that despite their unflashy looks and specification fill this niche perfectly.

Now Nokia has a new contender to fill the corporate pocket - the E50. It sits on the bottom rung of the recently-introduced E-for-Enterprise range. But unlike the other models there's no typewriter keyboard. There's no Wi-Fi connectivity. And there isn't even any support for 3G networks and services. It looks reassuringly old school, and if you want to make a call or access information, then you must use a standard GSM link.

This phone is far from dull, and those that have doggedly been holding on to their 6230i may find it rather radical. Most significantly, this is a smartphone, using Nokia's favourite Symbian S60 platform. This allows the E50 to be customised to the needs of the office environment like no other handset in its class has been before.

It may not look like an alternative to a BlackBerry, but it supports a whole range of push email solutions none the less. It offers a full-blown web browser, and can open up and read standard document files and attachments. It can be customised with a company's or an executive's particular suite of apps, utilities and amusements.

Slim pickings

But despite all this it retains the slender monobloc look of its predecessors. It tapers along its length, but even at its thickest it measures just 16mm deep - making it the slimmest S60 handset that we have yet seen. And although it tips the scales at just over 100g, its thick metal cladding reassures you that this model will steadily gain a reputation for reliability and ruggedness.

The height of the phone is put to good use, housing a quarter-VGA 262,000-colour screen. The LCDs generous proportions make the onboard web browser workable, even without the WLAN and 3G connection speeds that other handsets may offer. The dimensions also allow sensibly-sized buttons that no one can complain about. Furthermore, the joystick provides perfect and easy navigation through the standard menu system.

The one feature that may come as something as a surprise on a phone that is meant to get corporate buyers excited is the onboard camera. There are enough companies out there that are jumpy about cameras in the workplace, that this may well be the one thing that discourages big orders. But Nokia has a simple solution for this.

The E50 comes in two versions - one with a 1.3- megapixel camera, and an otherwise identical version that does without. Buy SIM-free and you can expect the difference in price to be as little as a fiver.

The one contentious handling issue that users will face is that the memory slot is hidden behind that thick metal backplate. There's no need to reboot or remove the battery, but it is a fiddly operation all the same. The only defence is that the small microSD cards are so small that you don't want to be changing them every five minutes anyway. There is no card in the box but if you don't need to carry around masses of digital files the 70MB of integral storage may well be adequate.

Of course, the phone does make an excellent filing cabinet, or alternative to a USB flash drive, as it is capable of reading a variety of different file types. Its ability to display Word, Powerpoint and Excel spreadsheets will be of particular interest to those carrying around correspondence and marketing material. And just as useful is the ability to open up PDF and ZIP files.

Media players also mean that the handset can play most popular video and audio files too. The large screen is ideal for watching video clips, although the reliance on GSM technology means that this is not a great handset for video streaming. It's a touch awkward, but you can even get footage to fill the whole image area.