Nokia has released two very similar Symbian business-oriented smartphones recently, the QWERTY keyboard-packing E71 and this slim slider.

The phones have very similar specs – they both run on Symbian 9.2 OS, both have the same 3.2 megapixel camera, Wi-Fi and A-GPS, virtually the same on-screen display and a host of identical apps.

The only real difference in fact appears to be size (the E66 is less wide, but the E71 is slimmer) and the E71's QWERTY keyboard. They're even available for roughly the same price.

Sharp display

If you don't need a QWERTY keyboard, then the E66 is probably the one to go for. Available in black or white, it's the better looking of the pair, sleek and lean, with the upper part of the slide taking up just a fraction of the 14mm depth.

Beneath the large 2.4in screen is a tidy arrangement of two soft keys, call start and stop, a back button and a square D-pad surrounded by four shortcut keys for home, contacts, calendar and messages.

Like the E71, the backlit D-pad doubles as the message alarm, flashing when you've got mail.

The 16 million colour screen is admirably sharp and clear, and easily bright enough to read in sunlight.

There's a light sensor onboard too which automatically tones down the light when you don't need it to help save your battery.

Sturdy but slim phone

The sturdily constructed slide has a nicely robust feel to it as it glides out – not too readily, but certainly without the need for too much pressure.

The keypad beneath doesn't make a spectacle of itself by trying to be different but concentrates on functionality, with well-spaced, responsive keys in a tactile plastic that's not quite rubberised, but not quite smooth. It's just right.

It's packed with connectivity features including Wi-Fi (very easy to set up), USB, Bluetooth (fast data and stereo) and even infrared.

It's also got HSDPA-style 3G offering download speeds of up to 3.6Mbps, as well as an instant messaging client and Push To Talk capability.

Speedy connection

The Symbian S60 web browser may not be quite as smooth as those on the iPhone or HTC's Touch Diamond, but it's close, and for our money it's better than Opera (though you can of course download that too if you like).

The fast connection means you're never hanging around long for rendering and while the zoom is limited to 50, 75, 100 and 125 per cent options, in practise we found this was all that was necessary to read any pages.

There's a full screen option which comes in handy for watching streaming video and the page optimisation settings, though a little crude, generally worked well to render pages readable.

The built-in accelerator worked very well too, flipping pages between portrait and landscape modes quickly and efficiently.

Great camera

The 3.2 megapixel camera may not be the ultimate in cameraphone photography but even without one of those fancy Carl Zeiss lenses that Nokia's N-series is so fond of, it's no slouch.

It's quick to get into (about three seconds) and pictures were generally clear and sharp within their limits, and the autofocus seemed to work pretty well. There's also an extended digital zoom that will keep on magnifying even when the resolution is set to maximum (2,048x1,536 pixels).

The LED photolight is as good as most of its ilk, though of course it's only really effective within about a metre of the subject.

Nokia's photo editing suite however is one of the best around and it's all present and correct here, with a wide range of options for tinkering with your snaps.