08 February 2009

Nokia E71 - Smart Slim Business
Some Thoughts About the Nokia E71

So today marks the last Day I can spend with the Nokia E71, this slim little Business Helper which Nokia introduced back in June 2008.

I've had a really great Time with it and haven't really found much I can complain about. Since a Lot of the Ongoings are already covered in my Nokia E66 Review, I just thought I point out a few Things that I kept in my Mind.

Hardware: When I first got the Nokia E71 in my Hands, I was really REALLY surprised about the Feeling. Why? Pretty simple, because the Nokia E71 is very un-typical for Nokia, it's THIN! Yes you read right, it's a thin Smartphone! Something I would not say that Nokia is doing very often.

114 x 57 x 10 mm according to the Spec Sheet, but on the other Hand, 127g is not really a Lightweight, but that explains the very good Materials, similar to the E66. Steel is everywhere on the Phone and it looks oh so good! Underneath the Keyboard, some of the Chrome is gone, but I think that someone who had the Phone before me dropped it.

The Display is a 2,36" Wide Screen, with the outdated 320x240 Resolution. I found this Solution nice for Web-Browsing and Messaging, but my Wishes for a higher Resolution were still not fullfilled. The Back of the Device comes in this shiny perforated Steel which a) looks good and b) gives it a very good, grippy Feeling. I would highly suggest the N-Series Department to have a good Look and learn a little Lesson from the E-Series Guys!

The microUSB Connector, along with the MicroSD Slot is located on the left Side on the Screen sitting underneath the Infrared Eye, which is still present on the E-Series Line. Useful or not!? Judge for yourself.. The Charger Connector is sitting on the Bottom, while the right Side sports the Volume Buttons and the Button for Voice Commands etc.

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The Top of the E71 contains the one and only Speaker on the Phone, and the E-Series typical red On/Off/Profile-Button! Only Thing missing in this Orchestra, is a Camera Button. I'm used to the N-Series Phones, but otherwise, the Camera shoots Pictures in Wide Format, so it would be confusing to turn the Phone like others. The T-Key on the Keypad does the focussing, while the Button on the Navi-Pad shoots the Picture!

Keyboard/Navigation Area:

Let's start off with the Navigation Area: Same as the E66, the E71 also has these very useful dedicated One-Touch-Keys like Nokia likes to call them. The Home Button replaces the N-Series Menu Key with the Difference that if you are browsing through the Menu, it brings you back to the Home Screen first, THEN back in the Menu - whereas the N-Series Menu Key just brings you in the Menu another Time. I find this quite handy, as it's always good to check your received Mails or Messages while exploring my Phone.

The Calendar Button starts the Calendar (that surprised you, didn't it!?), while a long Push opens a new Meeting Task. Needless to say that the Contacts Buttons fires the Contacts Menu up, while a long Hit starts a new Contacts Sheet. And finally the Messaging Application, which is started via the dedicated Messages Button, a long Hit could start a new Message!

Why I say "could"? Simple, cause those 3 special Buttons are fully customizable, so if you wish to start up the Camera Application due to the missing Camera Button via long Hit on the Calendar Button, then it's your Choice to do so! That's something what I really like about this Device, cause with the Lack of a Multimedia Menu Button or dedicated Music Keys/Camera Key it's different to use, at least for me as a well-known Multimedia Freak!

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The full QWERTY Keyboard on the Nokia E71 gave me the biggest Thoughts, when I knew I would get one to trial. From the Pictures I’ve seen on Symbian Freak and the Web so far, the E71 looked, well not really small, but at least very handy, so I had the Feelings that the Buttons might be too small. I normally don't have Problems with smaller Keypads, cause I have quite small Thumbs, but one have to admit that the E71 is really tiny. But, and that surprised me a Lot, it turned out that the Keypad is suddenly good! I was surely not as fast as on the Numeric Keypad/T9-Combination I’m normally used to, but the writing Experience was a good One for sure!

With the Addition of the QWERTY came a few extra Buttons, which you just find here. For Example, the Shift-Button which adopts the Copy/Paste-Function. Left lower Corner contains the "Grey" Button, which activates the Numbers in Text Messages. They Keyboard over all gives a very good Feeling, the Feedback is excellent, a slight Space in between the Buttons could come useful for Users with bigger Thumbs, but that would make the Device wider, which I would not wanna see.

A little Quality Flaw (yes I found one!) is a Light Leak between Screen and Keyboard Part. It's noticeable when the Keypad is lighted, with the left Side being slightly wider than the right One. Check this Picture to see what I’m writing about! Apart from that, Nokia did a very good Job with the Keypad/Navigation Area Part of the E71, no loose Parts, and just good Quality Keys with excellent Feedback.

Battery:

Definitely one of the Highlights of the Nokia E71 is the Battery. It's the BP-4L Nokia Battery, with a whooping 1500 mAh Capacity, which is something I want to see in EVERY Mid- to High-Price Range Nokia Smartphone? Why? Simple: While my N82 for Example only lasts for about 10hrs with hourly Connections to my IMAP Postbox via Profimail, a few SMS and Calls, some Internet Browsing using EDGE/HSDPA/WLAN and some Pictures and mp3s, I was EASILY able to do the same with the Difference that the Battery lasted TWO DAYS on the Nokia E71.

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I was really surprised how good the Battery performed with all those Tasks!! I repeat that once again and I just hope that Nokia finally takes Notice how important a good Battery in every Smartphone is. It's definitely not funny to charge twice a Day!!

Camera/Multimedia:

Nokia decided to upgrade the crappy 2 MP Cameras on the E-Series Line to the new and certainly better 3,2 Megapixel Part, with Autofocus and a LED Flash. I didn't expect 5 Megapixel nor Xenon Flash, cause I don't think the Camera is something a real Business User, on whom the E71 is aimed for, will care much about. Still pictures are shot with 2048 x 1536 pixels Resolution, with the Display operating as Full Screen Viewfinder. I had a hard Time to find out how to focus on the desired photographing Object, until I realised it's the "T"-Key on the Keypad, while the Button in the Navi-Pad shoots the Picture.

Nokia has decided to spice the Camera Solution with some Scene Modes like on the N-Series Devices, like Close-Up, Portraits, some Flash Modes, White Balance Modes etc. At least a small Approach to find a Balance between N- and E-Series, which I certainly appreciate! The E71 is also capable to do Video Clips, but only in 320x240 Resolution at 15 fps and an average Digital Zoom Function. The Front Camera supports Video recording at up to 128 x 96 pixels (QCIF) and up to 15 fps for Video Calls.

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Oh yes, I nearly forgot, a slight Thing that is missing on the Camera Application is automatic Geotagging. I found geotagging a very useful Thing, especially on Sites like Ovi. I like the Fact that everyone can see where I shot my Pictures, so all that's left is using a third Party Application like locr, which can be downloaded at the Download Application or Nokia's own Location Tagger, which does a very good Job! And of course after you shot and geotagged your Pictures, you're also able to upload your Pictures to your preferred Photo Album, using Share on Ovi!

To enhance the Multimedia Joys on the E71, the well known Music Player has also been built in, capable of playing mp3, wma and aac Files, as well as the Radio Function with Visual Radio Support. Music can be listened via Headphones, connected on the built in 2,5mm Headphone Jack, unfortunately no Standard 3,5mms, but otherwise still better than the crappy Pop-Port Connectors, like I have it on my old Nokia E70.

Messaging/Mails/Connectivity:

Messaging is something that the E-Series Team has focussed on, if we consider the full QWERTY Keypad. I usually fire up the Messaging Menu via Message Button OR start a new Message via predictive Dialling on the Front Screen, which I can't mention often enough. Definitely one of the Highlights of the great E-Series Software which I have covered already in my separated Software Part of my E66 Review! The SMS/MMS Messaging doesn't really give much more Options than on other S60 Phones, while Emails are a much more enjoyable Part on the E71.

The built in Mail Reader can handle IMAP4, POP3, SMTP and, downloadable from the Download Catalo, Mail for Exchange too. I have already tried and review the built in Mail Reader in my E66 Review, it's a good Choice, but still not able to handle HTML Mails. On the other Hand I’m a big Fan of the Notification Options that the Standby Screen gives us, especially the Header/Pop-Up Combination is amazing and another Thing the N-Series Department can take a Leaf out of this Book!

I also gave Nokia Messaging a Try, but was not really satisfied with the Way it worked out, mainly due to the still present 3 Line Notifications on the Standby Screen - considering that the E71 Screen is not very vertically high, it takes a Love of the available Space away. I also noticed some Problems with the IMAP Handling, and, same like the built in Mail Reader, it does still not support HTML Mails. So inevitable my Way went back to my good old Profimail, which is in my Opinion still the best Mail Reader so far.

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Connectivity is a large-written Thing of the Nokia E71! I found it amazing, what a huge Range of Features that are available and ready to use on this Business Bomber! Not only that the Phone supports Quad-band EGSM 850/900/1800/1900, WCDMA 900/2100 HSDPA, you have also the very useful WLAN 802.11b/g on Board. I don't know much about other Countries but HSDPA is growing bigger here in Austria and it's always good to stay connected in this fast Way, with 3,6 Mbit in nearly every bigger City which definitely rocks! If nothing else, you're also able to connect your E71 to the PC and use it as Modem, which worked very well when I tried it!

While Bluetooth is present in nearly every Phone nowadays, Infrared is something you won't find very often any more. I don't know really how much this is needed, better decide for yourself. I never used the Infrared Eye, not on the E71 nor on the E66. There are several other Connectivity Features like Network (Raw). Direct TCP/IP socket connection to any specified port (a.k.a HP JetDirectTM) or Network (LPR). Line Printer Daemon protocol (RFC1179). Honestly I don't even know what this is (yeah laugh at me!) but it just gives a good Example how multifunctional the Nokia E71 really is.

Software:

The Software, same as on the Nokia E66, is S60 v9.2 3rd Edition, Feature Pack 1 with the already covered E-Series Additions, which, once again, are completely awesome! Every time I switch back from E- to an N-Series Device, I miss the active Standby from the E-Series! The Message/Call-Notifications with its smart Menu Options which enable you to directly answer on a Question or call the Person you got the Message from! Predictive Dialling was also something, I immediately felt "at home" with, I’ve seen this on the Blackberrys already on my Company and honestly I spent Hours and Hours to find something similar from Developers, but nothing could really copy it!

For those of you who don't know: The recent E-Series Devices can dial predictive, which means that, if you dial a Number, it also suggests you Contacts resulting of the respective Number you dial. For Example: If I write "Teo" on the Standby Screen, I immediately get Teo's Contact in a small Insert Window, with the Possibility to call Teo, send him a MMS/SMS or a Mail. This is definitely one of the Highlights of the whole E-Series Line and again, I wanna see this on upcoming Devices as soon as possible!!

Another Thing I wanna mention shortly is the Mode Switcher, which gives you the Option to switch between a predefined Work- and Business Mode, with different Profiles, Themes etc. Strange Thing is, that I hardly ever used this Option, don't ask me why, but it is like it is. I never felt the Need of making 2 separated Options, but I'm probably not a real Business Type of Guy as well.

Some random Things I wanna add:

Navi-Key: Same like the E66, the Navi-Key on the Nokia E71 uses accelerated Scrolling, this basically means that if you scroll, it starts slowly and the accelerates until you get to your desired Menu Point or so. It also has this great Notification Light, which slowly pulsates in Standby Mode, with a faster Blinking in Case you have missed a Call or received a SMS/MMS/Mail. Small Suggestion to the Nokia Developers: Use different Colours for different Happenings, like red Light for missed Calls, blue Light for SMS etc.!!

GPS: Yes, GPS is also present in the E71, although not as versatile as on the N-Series Phones. Navigating is a Joy on the Wide Screen, giving you a great Overview about the whole Area. A Thing I miss is geotagging as mentioned above, it's something I really started to enjoy lately and nothing I wanna miss ever again. LocationTagger does a really good Job, so I highly suggest this small Helper to everyone who feels like me!

Download Application: I was really surprised when I had a short Look in the Download Application on the E71. Nokia offers a wide Range of Applications for the E71. A small Portion of what I got there: Multiscanner, which is an Application that scans Text Passages and copies them into your Phones as a Note. This also works with Pictures you already shot, just go to your Gallery and hit "Send" in the Options Menu, which contains the new added Options "To Text Recognizer" and "To Business Card Reader". The second App I wanna mention is the SmartConnect, a Connectivity Client from Birdstep, which creates a new Access Point, which you can configure with favoured Access Points. This basically means that you can set your Home WLAN Setting before your Network Connection. If you wanna browse the Internet then, simply hit the new Access Point and the Phone connects with whatever is available at this Time. Great Little Application!

Office: QuickOffice with the Possibility to edit Documents, Calculator, Nokia's Search Option, an improved and extremely feature-rich Calendar, Active Notes, a Dictionary, Converter for a Lot of different Types, Adobe PDF, ZIP, ... do you need anything more!?

Conclusion:

With the Nokia E71, the bigger but thinner Brother, Nokia has again scored big Time. The E71 continues the very positive Impression I’ve had from it's smaller Bro, enhancing the Messaging Experience with a useful and surprisingly easy-to-use full QWERTY Keyboard! The fully customizable One-Touch-Keys, the Navi-Key with accelerated Scrolling and the pulsating Notification Light are Additions I’m sure not only Business Users will appreciate.

The 3,2MP Cam with AF and LED Flash does a decent Job, probably enough for the Business Man of today - or Not!? Who knows .. The definitive Highlight of the Nokia E71 is the S60 V9.2 Software, with this priceless E-Series Additions like Predictive Dialling and the improved Standby Screen! Combined with the Web Browser, which I still consider one of the best Available for Non-Touch Devices, the Music Player, the built in A-GPS Unit, and the excellent Material Quality, my Review is concluding with a big Thumbs Up for the E-Series Department and an absolute Recommendation for every smart Business Person!

Downsides?

You know I’m critical, but this Time it was quite hard to find some, at least some I couldn't accept. If I’d really have to tell some, then it's probably the missing second Speaker, 2,5mm Headphone Jack and the slight Light Leak underneath the Display. Ah yes, higher Resolution on the Display would also be very appreciated, to enhance the browsing Experience! Now it's Time for E-Series and N-Series to move closer together and try to find a good Deal between the both Brands! We Poser Users would surely appreciate it!

A huge Thank you goes out to Katie, Donna, Steph and all the other Guys from WOM World. Thank you for your endless Support throughout the last 2 Years, you're just amazing!

SF Review: Some Thoughts about the Nokia E71
Originally posted: 03.02.2009
Last Updated: 08.02.2009
Author: Michael Hell (a.k.a MichaelSF)
Copyright: Symbian Freak 2008; all rights reserved