Nokia E71 Review
A sleek smartphone and an improvement on the E61, the Nokia E71 captivates at first sight. It is slimmer and more powerful, and those who have used the E61 will agree, except for the screen which is a bit smaller. Its stainless steel casing literally shines, exuding a radiance that catches the eye.
Initially the full QWERTY keypad seem a little tightly spaced (what else can one expect on a phone), but on using it one does not mind the same. It is said to be one of the slimmest smartphones and the slimmest Wi-Fi and GPS handset available in the electronics marketplace.
Those who are looking for a slimmer smartphone may not find one packed with the features that come with this suave piece of pocket friendly device. Its Quad-band GSM support and 3.6mbps HSDPA protocol support in sync with Bluetooth technology allows good 3G telephony and quick data transfers.
Wi-Fi connectivity allows easy and quick browsing and emailing experience. GPS ensures that you have real-time maps at your disposal and never get lost. When it comes to email, the E71 has a dedicated key keeping in mind the professional’s need. The usual POP3, IMAP4 and SMTP protocols are supported for email.
The full QWERTY keypad allows intelligent input with auto-completion, auto-correction, and auto-punctuation capability. So no need wasting time going back on mis-spelt words; auto-correction suggestions can be accepted by just pressing the spacebar. Those who do a lot of typing (and who doesn’t), may find this gadget very handy. SMS helps to stay in touch and text-to-speech reader saves botheration of reading each and every word.
In case a message is waiting or something has been left undone, the notification light glows in the navigation key gently reminding without irritating. Calls can be made with the speaker dependent and speaker independent voice dialing facility.
The E71 almost works as a mini camera with its 3.15 megapixel camera equipped with LED flash, auto focus, white balance mode, flash modes and other preset modes. Video and audio recording and playback, FM radio, Real player and Media player adds an entertaining element.
What’s more, the phone memory is perfectly expandable with the microSD card slot just above the microUSB port, where you can fit in a microSD card for added memory. With two home screens and fully customizable features this smartphone is retailed at $419 onwards.
Although the Blackberry Bold 9000 may have a display with higher resolution, the E71 beats it hands down when it comes to size. Other full QWERTY phones like the Samsung i600 comes close but loses out on features.
On the downside, the camera performance is not very satisfactory since the pictures are grainy, and there is no dedicated camera key. Video recording with QVGA@15fps is the maximum one can get. Speaker sound could be a little screechy and lacks base. Having RDS for FM radio could help; but how much can you get in a 10mm thin device?