Nokia smartphone fans in the U.S. can rejoice. Last year's Nokia E62 was a solid handset, let down only by a slow EDGE data connection and some music-syncing issues. But it paled in comparison with its foreign E61 counterpart, which included built-in Wi-Fi. Nokia's new E61i, now available in the U.S., is a shrewd, solid update to the E62. It's still not perfect. But with the added Wi-Fi support and slick redesign, it's a great choice for corporate mavens looking for lower-cost alternatives to the BlackBerry.

In addition to Wi-Fi, the new model includes a number of other significant updates, such as a 2-megapixel camera, a thinner shape, and a revamped D-pad, along with built-in Quickoffice 3.8 for document editing. This is an older version of Quickoffice. The more recent Quickoffice Premier 4 retains a document's complex formatting even after you save changes on the phone, a key feature to have.

Oddly, the E61i also works over 3G data networks, just not ours. It supports only UMTS, not HSDPA, and only on the overseas 2,100-MHz band. That means the otherwise high-flying E61i still kicks it down to EDGE speeds when used Stateside.

The E61i impresses with its sleek, thin, aluminum and black plastic enclosure. At 4.6 by 2.8 by 0.5 inches, the phone's thinness is partially offset by its width. Sure, it's a bit ungainly to hold to your ear, though not nearly as bad as the brick-like i-mate JAQ. It weighs 5.3 ounces, putting it in the middle zone between svelte 3.5-ounce BlackJacks and fat 6.4-ounce Treos. The 2.8-inch, 320- by 240-pixel widescreen doesn't come close to the T-Mobile Wing's or Motorola Q's in brightness, but it's sharp and easy to read. The menu backdrops are done up in a drab gray just like the E62's; a little extra pizzazz would go a long way here.

No smartphone is truly easy to type on. But the E61i's keyboard is the best one I've tested to date, with dedicated symbol keys, good resistance and no noise, leading to few mistakes while typing. The new D-pad that controls the cursor and redesigned soft keys are also nice improvements over the E62's miniature joystick. The microSD card slot is a little inconvenient, since you have to slide off the battery cover to access it. At least you don't have to remove the battery itself.

Calls through the E61i sounded good, with clear reception, though voices took on a somewhat brittle timbre at higher volumes. I paired my Plantronics 510 headset with the E61i on the first try; it took much less time to do so than with my benchmark Motorola Q. The E61i sounded great through the 510, with instantaneous voice response and a warm sound.

Like its predecessor, the E61i runs Symbian S60 3rd edition, missing out on the latest Feature Pack 1 enhancements. Symbian S60 phones are not known for their blazing speed, but the E61i was responsive enough to my commands, feeling almost as fast as a Palm OS Treo or a new BlackBerry. The built-in Web browser is essentially Apple's Safari, recompiled for Symbian and with a zoom function. It's easy to use and presents full-size Web pages well. Surfing was speedy even in EDGE mode, with the E61i scoring an average 177 Kbps download rate on my JBenchmark test.

Nokia smartphones have always made great business handsets, and the E61i is no exception. It's certified for Good Mobile Messaging, Visto, Nokia Intellisync, Mail for Exchange, and BlackBerry Connect. There's also a built-in e-mail client that supports POP and IMAP accounts.

For multimedia, the E61i includes a music player for MP3 and AAC files, but Nokia clearly doesn't expect anyone to use it. The phone doesn't support stereo music playback over Bluetooth headsets, such as the Etymotic Ety8s I had on hand. And Nokia includes only a mono earbud in the box. You'll need to purchase a proprietary wired stereo headset because there's no 2.5mm jack or mini-USB port—at least, Nokia's wide connector is relatively common. Incidentally, there's no mention of any of this in the manual. All the documentation tells you is how to operate the music-player software, with no help for how you're supposed to listen to anything.

Oddly, the music player wouldn't play any of my unprotected iTunes Plus tracks. These are supposedly in straight 256-Kbps AAC format, though the phone played 256-Kbps AAC tracks imported from CDs without a problem. Further testing revealed that a number of other Symbian phones have the same issue. Apple is looking into it.

The E61i's 2MP camera is responsive and easy to operate. But it lacks an LED flash and takes middling-quality pictures, with horrible graininess in low-light situations. On the plus side, there's actually a decent video recorder. At 352- by 288-pixel resolution and 15 frames per second, my test videos were surprisingly watchable, with clear sound. There's also a built-in voice recorder you can access with a single key on the left-hand side of the phone. As expected, battery life is a strong suit for the GSM-based E61i; it lasted 12 hours 42 minutes on my talk-time rundown test with the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth radios turned off.

The E61i has lots of competition. The BlackBerry Curve tempts with its small size and popular BlackBerry OS. But that model lacks the E61i's built-in Wi-Fi, larger screen and keyboard, and much more robust third-party Symbian app market. The BlackBerry 8800 is larger and includes built-in GPS, but it too lacks Wi-Fi. The older Nokia E62 has no Wi-Fi and feels slower in day-to-day use, but it's still a good handset if you can score one cheap. On T-Mobile, the Dash has Wi-Fi and a smaller design, but even Windows Mobile 6 is no match for Symbian's ease of use and killer built-in browser.

In short, the Nokia E61i's sleek design, responsive operating system, built-in Wi-Fi, and great keyboard put it a step ahead of other business-focused handsets. It's our new Editors' Choice for unlocked, keyboarded smartphones.

Compare the Nokia E61i with several other mobile phones side by side.

Benchmark Test Results
Continuous talk time: 12 hours 42 minutes

JBenchmark NET over Wi-Fi
Download speed: 2,015 Kbps
Upload speed: 379 Kbps
Response time: 62 ms
First connection time: 21,056 ms
Testing took 27 seconds
Traffic generated: 632KB

JBenchmark NET over EDGE
Download speed: 177 Kbps
Upload speed: 67 Kbps
Response time: 534 ms
First connection time: 27,926 ms
Testing took 79 seconds
Traffic generated: 504KB

JBenchmark Ace
ARM9-based processor running at 222 MHz.