E71 Impressions So Far
I thought that it would be good to give something of an update as to how I am getting along with the Nokia E71 smartphone from Nokia Blogger Relations. As I stated before, this is the European variant - E71-1 - and so any 3G action I'd not be able to do here in the US.
About the Design
Litereally anyone who has seen this mobile as said that its the best looking BlackBerry that they have ever seen. Of course, after correcting them that it is not a BB but a Nokia, they got more impressed.
The device is smaller than just about any mobile phone out there with this much power and ability. Its just over a centimeter in thickness and not much more than that wider than the Palm Centro.
Made of metal, its heavy. But not ungainly so. I am starting to forget that its in my pocket and having to adjust my pat-down routing to account for the weight of the device.
The keys are taking me a bit longer to get used to than I expected. I had various Treos for nearly a year and a half and so I expected similar in respect to the keyboard, but I am doing more aiming to get to the letters. There's also an issue with one of my application buttons where it seems depressed and so I have to press extra hard for it to register the button press to the contacts application.
Overall though, this is a heck of a well designed device. Despite having a metal body, wireless of all kinds, and a battery of the same size as the one in my Internet Tablet, this baby s slick. Its a nicely made device.
Something About Use
In terms of software, the E71 uses the Symbian S60 operating system; the same one that was in the N95 that we had last year, albeit with several tweaks and enhancements, its solid and just gets the job done. Here are a few highlights of things I've noticed.
- This is the first Nokia mobile that I've reviewed that does a contact lookup just by dialing from the Active Standby (Today) screen without 3rd party software. Thank you!
- The browser is F-A-S-T. Whether on EDGE (cellular) or Wi-Fi (via coffeeshops and the like), pages load fast and cleanly with the Nokia Web browser. This browser, based on the same Webkit engine as Safari, also shows the Flash content of many websites. For that I was impressed as well. There's also an auto-complete option that makes it easier to revisit sites that require logging in.
- I downloaded the Mobile Web Server, Nokia Email, and Nokia Chat applications and there is still over 85MB of memory left to install more stuff. Yea!
- I've crashed it one time, and that was due to software, other than that, its been as rock solid in the software as it is in the design.
- Battery life is absoutely incredible. I get more than one day's use with it. That's crazy impressive.
Initial Conclusions
Only initial conclusions as this is just a piece until the full review gets to Brighthand. The Nokia E71 is a very impressive mobile device. The design, the battery life, and the software make it easily the best device Nokia could offer to those who wish to remain communicative to their audiences. The design will take knocks and drops, and the software is mature enough to do more because its seen some time in the oven.
At this point, I have very few reservations in recommending this device. You can also find it well under $500, making it a very smart choice as a purchase when you are not in a contract, or ending a contract, and want to keep the rates but update the mobile device. And its really one of the smallest, thinnest, most powerful devices of its kind.
Stay tuned for more about the E71 later on. If you have any questions, do ask and I will answer what I can.
About the Design
Litereally anyone who has seen this mobile as said that its the best looking BlackBerry that they have ever seen. Of course, after correcting them that it is not a BB but a Nokia, they got more impressed.
The device is smaller than just about any mobile phone out there with this much power and ability. Its just over a centimeter in thickness and not much more than that wider than the Palm Centro.
Made of metal, its heavy. But not ungainly so. I am starting to forget that its in my pocket and having to adjust my pat-down routing to account for the weight of the device.
The keys are taking me a bit longer to get used to than I expected. I had various Treos for nearly a year and a half and so I expected similar in respect to the keyboard, but I am doing more aiming to get to the letters. There's also an issue with one of my application buttons where it seems depressed and so I have to press extra hard for it to register the button press to the contacts application.
Overall though, this is a heck of a well designed device. Despite having a metal body, wireless of all kinds, and a battery of the same size as the one in my Internet Tablet, this baby s slick. Its a nicely made device.
Something About Use
In terms of software, the E71 uses the Symbian S60 operating system; the same one that was in the N95 that we had last year, albeit with several tweaks and enhancements, its solid and just gets the job done. Here are a few highlights of things I've noticed.
- This is the first Nokia mobile that I've reviewed that does a contact lookup just by dialing from the Active Standby (Today) screen without 3rd party software. Thank you!
- The browser is F-A-S-T. Whether on EDGE (cellular) or Wi-Fi (via coffeeshops and the like), pages load fast and cleanly with the Nokia Web browser. This browser, based on the same Webkit engine as Safari, also shows the Flash content of many websites. For that I was impressed as well. There's also an auto-complete option that makes it easier to revisit sites that require logging in.
- I downloaded the Mobile Web Server, Nokia Email, and Nokia Chat applications and there is still over 85MB of memory left to install more stuff. Yea!
- I've crashed it one time, and that was due to software, other than that, its been as rock solid in the software as it is in the design.
- Battery life is absoutely incredible. I get more than one day's use with it. That's crazy impressive.
Initial Conclusions
Only initial conclusions as this is just a piece until the full review gets to Brighthand. The Nokia E71 is a very impressive mobile device. The design, the battery life, and the software make it easily the best device Nokia could offer to those who wish to remain communicative to their audiences. The design will take knocks and drops, and the software is mature enough to do more because its seen some time in the oven.
At this point, I have very few reservations in recommending this device. You can also find it well under $500, making it a very smart choice as a purchase when you are not in a contract, or ending a contract, and want to keep the rates but update the mobile device. And its really one of the smallest, thinnest, most powerful devices of its kind.
Stay tuned for more about the E71 later on. If you have any questions, do ask and I will answer what I can.
Labels: E71, Nokia, review, smartphone
posted by Antoine @ 8/13/2008 11:00:00 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
hey i love the phone i just bought it and so far all i can say is brilliant, i got the white and silver model sweet.... hwat bible software can we put on this phone? any clues plz
Cheers Tristan. australia
I'll be sure to cover your question in depth in a future article.
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