There are lots of hardware QWERTY mobiles out there and in two major form factors – QWERTY bars and slide-out QWERTY devices.

However, in some cases, hardware QWERTY lovers are also interested in a top-specified camera on their mobiles. In this mixed scenario, there are not many options available.

I went searching, and have come up with a list that some might find helpful. 8 megapixel cameras are the rave these days, so I have used that as the yardstick for drawing up my list.

These are devices that are available in the Nigerian environment. For those who live in other markets, you will be able to easily add to this list.

Symbian
1. Nokia E7
2. Nokia E6

Android
1. Sony Ericsson Xperia Pro

Sadly, there are no 8 megapixel phones from Blackberry yet. Crazy; isn’t it? I wonder when (or if ever) RIM will step up their game in the camera compartment? The lack of top-range cameras on BlackBerry devices is one of the reasons why I find it difficult to use a BlackBerry as my primary smartphone.

I just got my hands on the Nokia E75 slider QWERTY smartphone. The E75 runs on Symbian S60 3rd Edition OS and is being marketed by Nokia as a descendant of the Communicator dynasty (I’m not convinced yet).

Here are my first impressions:

• Very good hardware build; feels solid in the hand
• QWERTY keyboard is good; though quite different from the E90, last of the communicators
• Nokia has made efforts to touch up the interface, and it is beautiful in some places, but still relatively sluggish and of course comes nowhere close to what you find on the iPhone or an Android device
• Email interface is better
• Firmware update OTA is sweet; updated to the latest firmware in 3 minutes right on the phone
• The E75 auto-detects your SIM network, configures and uses the corresponding internet connection
• Good battery life

Those are my first impressions for now. I am playing around with customisation and will have more detailed reviews available ASAP. If you have questions about things you’d like for me to test out on the phone, post them below.