Top 10 Nokia E52 & E55 Accessories

The Nokia E52 and the E55 are the latest E-Series smartphones and have both been introduced to replace the popular Nokia E51. The E52 and E55 are almost identical, they both larger screens, faster processors and more memory than their predecessor, with the only difference between them being the keypad. The Nokia E52 retains the classic 1-9 numbered keypad and gains a new row of shortcut keys, where as the E55 has a brand new “half qwerty” keypad that promises faster text entry than using the standard T9 predictive texting.

To really make the most of your new E-Series smart phone, there are a number of accessories you can get. Choosing the right one accessories can be a bit of a mission as there are so many to choose from. To try and help you decide for you I’ve compiled a list of 10 accessories that I’d recommend for the Nokia E52 and E55.

1. Martin Fields Screen Protector
The last thing you’re going to want to do the the screen of your new phone is scratch it. When I bought my N82 last year I managed to gouge a nice chunk out of the screen within an hour of having it, but back then I’d not really heard of screen protectors. Martin Fields are the just about the best quality screen protector you can get for your phone. They’re precision cut to size and can be removed easily and leave no residue behind. They claim that they’rere-usable too, so if it ever gets dirty, just take it off, run it under the tap and re-fit it. I tried this and found it didn’t stick too well and I ended up with a lof of dust and bubbles under the screen.

A Screen Protector is the best way to stop your screen getting damaged

A Guide to Nokia Car Kits

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If you were to think of a fully fitted car kit, chances are two brands will spring to mind – Nokia or Parrot. Both of these companies make some great kits, Parrot have their awesome MKi range that you can connect your phone and music player to and Nokia have just recently updated their car kit line up to add more focus on music & mapping integration and to make installation quicker and easier.

I think I’m right in saying that the most popular Nokia Car Kit ever was the CARK-91 – the one that had a cradle for the old Nokia 6110/ 6210/ 6310. Since Bluetooth arrived on the scene a few years ago, car kits have moved away from having bulky cradles that are screwed to your dashboard, to more discreet remote controls that blend into your dashboard and don’t draw attention.

The Classic Nokia Carkit & Nokia 6210

When it comes to car kits, the question I’m asked the most is “Can I just change the cradle?” The answer unfortunately is no. If you’ve already got an older Nokia Car Kit installed in your car and are looking to upgrade it to work with current Nokia handsets, unless your car kit is a bluetooth one, it’s not upgradable and you’ll need to replace the whole kit. Even the microphone.

While this might sound like it’s going to be expensive, fitted car kit prices have come down in price considerably over the past few years, so replacing your kit might not cost as much as you’d think – not only that, but Nokia have changed the way that the kits connect to your vehicle, so depending on the car and stereo that you’ve got, you might be able to install it yourself. Now before you get too excited, Installing a car kit yourself isn’t that easy – even with the newer ISO Car Kits. You will still need to remove some fascia panels from your car or dashboard, remove the stereo and possible connect wires to the car power supply. I tried to install my own, got 90% of the way there and had to give in and call the professionals, so if you want an easy life (and a car that still starts) get it installed professionally. Shop around for installation though, realistically you shouldn’t need to pay much more than £50 for a standard installation and you’ll probably find that small, independent companies will be able to fit it to the same standard, but for half the price. I had my Parrot MKi9000 installed by www.myvehicle.co.uk at their workshop for about £45.

On to the Car Kits then. Nokia now offer 3 car kits, the Nokia CK-100, CK-300 and CK-600. Each one offers different levels of integration with your phone, and as the model names suggest, the higher the number the more features you get. All three have now dropped the external speaker and will now route all calls and music through your Car Stereo as standard.