Walmart and Straight Talk to Launch Nokia E5 on Sunday, July 17th (Updated)

According to the latest Walmart weekly circular, the world’s largest retailer along with the Straight Talk service will launch the successor to the Nokia E72 in the Nokia E5 for $199.99 this Sunday, which is intended to replace the E71-2 in the current Straight Talk smartphone lineup. Update: First live image of E5 in stock at Walmart.

The E5 features Symbian S60 Feature Pack 2 and makes a few compromises in build and finish in order to keep costs down, such as the omission of a front facing camera, cheaper LCD and plastic bodyshell compared to the stainless steel body and higher quality of the LCD of the E71-2.

Improvements over the E71 include more internal memory, a 5.0 megapixel camera with VGA resolution video capture and flash as well as the addition of a 3.5mm headphone jack. The Straight Talk website has also been updated with a full portal dedicated to the E5 with tutorials and specifications available for customers interested in learning more about the phone before making a purchase.

Update: The first live image of the StraightTalk Nokia E5 package has surfaced, with select Walmart locations making them available for purchase ahead of the official launch tomorrow.