Nokia's E-Series family of devices target business users first and foremost, but that doesn't mean they aren't stylish. The Nokia E72 once again uses a combination of gloss chrome edging and brushed black highlights, and its build quality is superb. The design results in an unconventional display that’s a little smaller than most smartphones'.

The top rear and bottom of the Nokia E72 have now been fitted with matte black plastic instead of metal; the handset still looks nice but doesn't pick up grubby fingerprints and smudges. Unfortunately, the same can't be said of the etched stainless steel battery cover.

The Nokia E72 includes a full QWERTY keyboard that is comfortable to type on. It's almost identical to the E71's, except the space bar is a little smaller and there are dedicated exclamation mark, @ and question mark keys, and a symbol shortcut. The spongy feel of the keys may not suit everyone and the keys on the left and right sides are quite close to the edges of the phone.

A new feature is the optical navi key. Looking like a regular five-way navigational pad, the centre button can also be used to swipe your finger in four directions. It works in a similar fashion to the optical trackpad found on the BlackBerry Curve 8520, though your fingers scrape the edges of the navigational pad when you swipe. The optical navi key is most useful in the E72's Web browser, where a mouse cursor appears on the screen. It's rather sensitive, though, and clicking links is often a hit-and-miss affair.