The biggest question is whether the E71 can surpass the success of its predecessor, the E61. Or, can Nokia live up to the hype?
In itself it’s quite daring that the Finns have decided to release the E71 around the same time that the iPhone 3G will hit the stores here in Holland but I really can’t say whether that’s just a coincidence or a well thought out marketing strategy.
Over at the Dutch version of MobileCowboys, Cowboy Menno had the chance to play with the E71 a couple of days before it hits the stores. He made the following review.
Way before the ‘smartphone’ was invented, I had a Nokia 9210. After years of loyal service I changed to the 9500. Wow, with this phone you could surf the Internet through the build-in WLAN interface. It was slow, but the fact alone that you could do that made it an awesome cool device.
But after years of loyal service, I exchanged my for an E61. When my E61 became old and slow I went for the E90, back to the ‘Communicator’ form factor so to speak. A beautiful device with lots of features (WiFi, 3G, 3.2 megapixel camera, GPS) but after a couple of weeks I realized that I really missed my E61 and it’s relatively compact form factor. So from that moment on I’ve been waiting for the real E61 successor.
Well, that wait, after months and months of rumors and speculation, is finally over. I have to admit that I had trouble sleeping the last few nights before my E71 was due to arrive but hey, here it is and of course I made a review of the device so sit tight and hold on for the ride ;-)
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Unboxing
The design on the box isn’t very nice. Just a picture of the device and nothing else. What’s inside though is what I’m really after and the E71 comes to you as a very complete package:
- The device itself
- battery
- Manuals
- Leather case
- Leather hand strap
- Data cable (USB)
- 2GB microSD card
The E71 is a very compact device. A lot smaller than the E61 and a lot less bulky compared to the E90.
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Also very striking is the proper construction quality. This is truly sublime, the Nokia E71 has a steel and aluminium finish which makes it a cool but very durable device. Still, it’s a relatively lightweight phone. If you look at the device from the front, then it is noticeable that it has 4 new buttons, compared with the E61.
The ‘symbian’ icon has been replaced for a ‘home’ but it has the same function as before. There’s also a calendar symbol that, when clicked, opens the much improved calendar application. The annoying joystick has been replaced for a similar 5-way key as seen on the E61i. Other buttons on the front are for opening the contacts or mail folder.
On the right side of the E71 you’ll find the volume control buttons (usually Nokia puts these buttons on the left side of its devices but apparently they changed that while designing the E71) and a 2.5mm headphone input.
On the other side you’ll find the microSD slot and microUSB connection. Unfortunately Nokia decided to use microUSB in stead of miniUSB. Why? Normally, almost every ‘household’ has one or more miniUSB cables lying around. So that would have been a better choice in my opinion.
The micro SD card slot is a so-called SDHC format, this means that the E71 also supports the new MicroSDHC cards (with a maximum of 8GB, for now).
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The Phone
The problem with most high-end phones, I think, is the fact that they often lack calling comfort because of a bulky (E90) or ultrawide (E61) form factor.
The E71 has no such problems. First of all the phone is a whole lot smaller then its predecessors which makes handling a lot easier and user friendly. Furthermore the quality of both the standard- and the handsfree speaker are excellent.
The fact that the E71 has a QVGA (320 x 240 pixels) display in stead of a WVGA or full VGA made me wonder if this relatively older type of display would live up to my expectations for a new ‘2008’ Smartphone. Well, since the E71 is a lot smaller than the E61 anf E90 it turns out this display is perfect for this phone. A higher resolution would have made the display a lot less ‘viewable’, I think.
Texting with the E71 is fun. Of course the qwerty keyboard has something to do with that. In fact, that keyboard handles well and is easy to use. The spacing between keys is sufficient and the feedback while typing is perfect. It’s even better than the E90 keyboard which is a whole lot wider.
The LED indicator at the front (in the directional button) of the device flashes when you receive a text message or after a missed call.
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Since the E71 runs on symbian you would expect that little has changed compared with its predecessors, but this is not entirely true. The E71 runs on S60 Platform Series 3 which is smoother and even more user friendly with a slightly different GUI.
Internet on a E71 works a lot smoother than for example on the E90 or N95. This makes the mobile Internet (as long as you have 3G coverage) a lot better. Nokia didn’t change the browser version (compared to the N95/E90) and that’s just fine with me. In my opinion I see no reason why you would install and use Opera.
The E71 browser works with a sort of "quick view" window. This means that while you scroll a small window appears on top so you can easily see what part of the webpage you’re browsing. This feature is standard on newer Nokia models.
Email with the E71 works great. It supports POP, SMTP and Exchange mail. But there’s also a down side. The E71 can’t open every mail message. I found that a lot of messages, particularly ones sent through web forms, when trying to open, came back with a "unable to display message" error. I can imagine that this will especially be annoying for people who want to use their E71 as a mobile office.
The calendar application for the E71 is much improved. Exchange compatibility is one of the most important new features.
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Despite the fact that the E71 is a business model it’s equipped with a good and complete set of multimedia features like a MP3 player, Youtube movies (via the Realplayer) and a Radio Tuner.
Unfortunately you can not connect your favorite headphones because the E71 has a 2.5 mm plug instead of a 3,5mm plug. On the other hand, the E71 does support Stereo Bluetooth.
The built in Radio Tuner works just fine, as to be expected. It’s a feature Nokia already uses for quite some years in a lot of its products.
But the E71 also has some new multimedia features. Well, at least to me they are new. The Nokia Music Store is one of them. I tried to download a song but got a server error. I don’t know why, but it didn’t work (yet).
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To release a Phone without a camera these days would be unthinkable, so the E71 is equipped with a 3.2 megapixel camera. In itself, there is little wrong with the camera on the E71, and he does what is to be expected.
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However, it doesn’t have the superb quality of, e.g. the N82 camera. Pictures taken tend to have more grain and the colors sometimes differ a lot from the reality. A grey car (see pictures above and below) came out white and the cobblestones in my driveway are actually light red instead of brown. Pictures taken indoors tend to ‘grain’ quickly.
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Video recording with the camera is also possible but the best it can do is 320x240 at 15 fps. Nothing fancy compared with other Nokia devices who have the possibility to record video with 640x480 pixels at 30fps. Still, we have to bare in mind that the E71 is a business model and no multimedia device.
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All in all the E71 is a very nice phone and in my opinion it scores 8 out of 10.
Plus:
+ + + Design / construction
+ + Speed operating system
+ Screen
Minus:
--- Camera (without the camera, the E71 would have even been thinner)
-- 2.5 mm audio connector instead of 3.5mm (mini-jack)
-- Micro USB instead of Mini USB
The black version of the Nokia E71 will be availably in various webshops in the Netherlands from July 9. The white version will arrive a few weeks later.
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