This is a good assessment, to be honest.
I myself wouldnt have bought the metal black E50, except that the silver E50 I had at the time was a Middle-east sourced phone and the english letters were shrunk down to share keyboard real-estate with the Arabic ones, which I didnt need or use. Just a bit too small and disorienting.
But if I was gonna get a new E50, metal black was same price as a silver one over here, so it was a no-brainer.
I will say though that the blue backlight is prettier and more sriking than the straigh white one. I wonder if Nokia changed the backlight on the metal black because the blue backlight was not enough contrast to the black keys? But definitely the blue LED's rocked!