first a comparison to the e61i: i had both the e61 and e61i and this is a major improvement over both. the form factor is incredible as it is only 10mm thin, much narrower than its predecessors, and feels very solid and sleek with its all metal body. the phone is just beautiful to look at. nokia has improved its processor greatly and the phone has almost no wait time with all its functions now. when i went back to use the e61i, it was unbearably slow compared to the e71. the keypad on the e71, although a little cramped, feels good on the fingers. one of my biggest complaints about the e61i was that earphone speaker was hard to hear out of, but the e71's narrower body and seemingly louder speaker solves the problem. the e71 has also added a microUSB port, and 2.5mm earphone jack. in terms of software, the e71 has an updated symbian os that includes some additional features and programs that were pleasant to see. the biggest program improvements for me was the updated organizer and the shortcut key options. for all e61 and e61i users out there, the e71 is a must update to nokia's wonderful line of phones.comparison to competitors: function-wise, it has all the features blackberry's and the iphone 3g have. however, the e71 is much smaller than both (just put the e71 side to side with the blackberry curve and the iphone and they both look like monsters compared to the e71). i have no complaints with the 3g and 3.5g (umts/hsdpa), and I'm not sure what the other reviewer was talking about-it must be a network/area dependent problem. i live in the SF bay area and i almost always connect to the 3.5g network with att and the internet is extremely fast, comparable to web browsing on a computer with broadband cable access. i really dont like the all touch screen of the iphone, so i would never consider it. i was debating between the curve and e71, but e71 beats it in both function and form-factor. the e71 has a umts/hsdpa, 3mp camera, and better battery life. all the rest (OS mainly) is just up to personal preference.
concluding remarks: if you ask "why should I get the e71", i would answer with these points based on what "I" feel is most important:
very fast 3G capability
excellent size, feel, and look,
speedy processor with no lag in navigation
improved OS and great computer connection software (nokia pc suite)
long battery life
3MP camera with flash
comes with carrying case, carrying strap, stereo earphones, and data cable
and lastly, did i mention that this is the most beautiful i have ever seen? see one for yourself (i know its hard b/c they dont really have them in stores) and you will love the look and feel of it.
3G -Despite Amazon saying this is the US Version of the phone (which it is,) this phone does NOT work with T-mobile 3G in the US. T-Mobile 3G in the US uses the 1700 mhz spectrum (you can read on wikipedia as for the reasons why) and there are no 3G roaming agreements with AT&Ts 3G spectrum like there is with EDGE. That being said, I have found that EDGE is fast enough for my web browsing and e-mail use (220 kbps+.) Using GSM/EDGE only also more than doubles your battery life, so this is not an entirely bad thing for T-Mobile users. The 10 hours talk-time and 17 day standby is no joke with GSM either.
Network Settings -Nokia has a great website that will text you all the internet, voicemail, and MMS settings for your carrier to the unlocked phone.
Bluetooth Tethering -This phone does not tether with Mac OS 10.4 Tiger. It does tether perfectly with 10.5 Leopard. It tethers with Windows XP via included Nokia PC Suite. It would be nice if a Mac suite were included from Nokia but Apple provides everything necessary with Leopard. It obviously tethers perfectly with Nokia N800/N810.
GPS -The GPS in the phone is first class with both an actual GPS receiver and assisted GPS through cell tower. It works much better than my TomTom One especially indoors. The phone comes with a great program called Maps but the only drawback (and it is a HUGE drawback) is that you have to pay a monthly fee to use any sort of route guidance. You're allowed to see your position and browse maps for free but if you want to plan a route it costs extra. It comes with a 7 day trial that you should save for emergencies in my opinion.
Networks in General -This phone works great on both AT&T and T-Mobile but each has their drawbacks. AT&T has the faster network but limits you to 5Gb/month bandwidth and charges extra to tether. T-Mobile allows actual unlimited data on EDGE and allows free tethering to any device but has the slower "2.75G" EDGE data network. Wifi is available on the phone and works flawlessly.
Third Party Apps -Two must have apps are the S60 Divx player and the Slick IM client (AIM, Jabber, Etc.) The Nokia mail client works great and a third party solution is not necessary.
All in all this is a first class phone whose only missing feature is a touch screen. Depending on your need for a QWERTY keyboard I would say this and the N95 are battling it out for best phone in the world right now.As the first phone to run on the US 3G network (and in some areas even faster 3.5 G), I was wondering how well this would work as a modem for my laptop for accessing the internet.
Guess what? I'm using this regularly now to connect my macbook to the internet! I'm giving up my mobile aircard (which costs about $ 70 per month) and I'm just using my unlimited mobile internet. Another positive no need to take out the usb aircard dongle and insert it into the side of the laptop each time I need to use it!
The connection is fast enough to download video and music (you tube etc. will work fine both on the phone and the tethered mac) but the phone gets hot when it's used as a modem. It also uses a lot of power so for long time use as a modem, I'd keep it plugged into the charger.
Joikuspot is the software I used ($ 25 for a perpetual license) to tether my phone to the macbook so I can use internet.
I'm happy that MS office comes built in. I'm able to import my financial worksheets (even big ones where I do financial modelling) and it still works fast.
Fring works well on these phone much better than on the Nokia N95. With Fring and my Skype call-out account, I can carry on telephone conversations with almost as much clarity as using my skype on the laptop. In the N95 (which is also a great cellphone), the processor isn't fast enough to allow phone conversations the voice quality is so degraded that it's barely understandable. Apparently, Nokia placed a very powerful processor in this machine.
And since it has a fast processor, all the applications open almost instantly and my cousin, a Blackberry curve user was so impressed with the speed he said it's the next phone he'll get.
Another excellent software I like using with this phone is my Salling Clicker. I use it for remotely controlling itunes in my laptop (like when there's a party and I was to change albums or artists from my phone) or clicking to the next slide in my powerpoint presentation or fast forwarding my DVD player to the next chapter.
This is a lot of technology for the money and I highly recommend it to everyone!Ive used this E71 for three months now. Im over my initial high, so here are comments from after the honeymoon:
1) keys are small; needs practice. better to type in one hand. it's like learning to use a typewriter for the first time, but youll get used to it in about three weeks of constant use. set aside the backup phone in the mean time. cant practice by instinct if you have a second phone, for that second number, with conventional keys. youll just be confused.
2) leather case is badly thought of. awkward when you take the phone out. high probability to drop the phone when you pull it out in a hurry. dropped mine several times while driving... i know it's bad to do this but there you go.
3) the red dot for the power button is weirdly misplaced. seems Nokia ran out of same-colored plastic while making this phone, then suddenly saw red plastic remnant from another model. weird but I LOVE IT. brings character to this model.
4) there's a nifty autofocus feature. while in camera mode, press letter t. it substitutes for the half-press in digicams (why is this instruction not in the manual?)
5) there's also a white balance option in the camera. amazing to have that shade option.
6) signal seems to be fluctuating in this phone. I have a second phone, under the same network, which reads a stable high bar, while E71's reception is jumping from 1 bar to four wildly. (is this a hardware or software problem)
7) no blackberry support. demmit, you two companies get your act together.
8) great for internet browsing.
9) i wish there is an indication somewhere to make sure that youre using wifi while surfing; not the expensive network.
10) FANTASTIC battery juice.
11) after charging from power off, do not power on immediately. seems to hang (coming from power off) that way.
12) definitely reasonably priced
13) when you open your appointment note and clicked again, does not automatically turn to edit note (unlike in the e51)
14) should have had that separate ctrl key to have that full ctrl+v, ctrl+z, ctrl+x, full-keyboard experience.
15) not much annoying lags. very responsive.
16) i like very much that the screen turns off after some time to save power. just have to press middle button to see time or if there are any missed calls and messages.
17) also do not turn on while charging. (coming from off). seems to hang.
Great investment overall. But as you can glean, still has a big room for improvement... some of it just firmware-based perhaps.This is the most versatile smartphone on the market but it isn't for everyone. It took me a month of trial and error and of Internet searches to learn how to make all the features work. But for what I wanted, nothing else on the market compares.
The Nokia E71's competitors are the iPhone and the Blackberry, but unlike its competitors, Nokia makes unlocked phones. This means the E71 can be used on any GSM network and, more importantly, it means you don't have to sign up for the expensive data plans of cellular phone companies unless you are sure you need them. This was important to me because I wasn't sure that I did. And after two months, I have found that I almost never do. Owning the E71 is like picking from the ala carte menu at a restaurant rather than ordering the full course meal. You can pick which services you want from your cellular carrier on a daily basis, if you want, without committing yourself to two-year contracts and hundreds of dollars in fees.
As with other smartphones, the E71 serves as phone, PDA, MP3 player, GPS device, and low-resolution video camera all wrapped into a cellphone-sized package with Internet access, email, and games thrown in to boot.
Let me give the specifics that were important to me. First is GPS. After you buy the phone, you go to the Nokia Web site and download for free the mapping software and maps you need. I downloaded a complete U.S. map. This means, when I walk outside and invoke the GPS function, the E71 will spend a few minutes calculating my location and then track my movements on a map. I was on an Interstate the other day and the phone announced that I was exceeding the speed limit. If you want turn by turn directions, you have to subscribe on a monthly basis either from Nokia or from your carrier, but if you are like me and can get close to where you want on your own and only need help with the last few blocks, the E71 will does that for free. Or, if you are lost, it will show you where you are on a map and you can take it from there.
Second, if you want to go online over WiFi at hotspots, the E71 can do that. I wanted something to carry in my pocket at home to alert me to email so I wouldn't have to keep checking my computer. The E71 can use "push" email through WiFi, so whenever you establish a WiFi connection it will check your email and play a tune of your choosing when email arrives.
Third, there are times when having a cellular data connection comes in handy. The E71's can calculate its GPS position in seconds with a few kilobytes of download from the cellular carrier instead of the minutes needed to make that calculation on its own. Or if you are bored and want to check your email and there's no WiFi around, you can tell the E71 to use a cellular network. Now, if you take an unlimited data plan from your carrier and AT&T requires this for the iPhone and Blackberry the cost is $30 per month. But AT&T sells kilobytes for a penny. So, getting my GPS position quickly cost me 6 cents and downloading five emails cost about the same. This is why I concluded that I don't need an unlimited data plan from my carrier. Someone who regularly needs Web access is probably better off with an unlimited data plan.
Fourth, the quality of Nokia products has always been unsurpassed, and the E71 is no exception. The MP3 player is better than the Sansas I own. The camera shouldn't be compared to a dedicated digital camera, but it's perfectly fine for a cellphone camera. The screen is smaller than the iPhones, but I shouldn't need to tell you that. The E71 is somewhat smaller and a lot more rugged. Its battery is user-replaceable and lasts longer than most other smartphones. Plus, a battery costs about $10, so you can carry a spare if you want.
There is a learning curve with the E71 that many will not like. As I said, it took me almost a month to get the features I wanted functioning. What is more, not all those functions are intuitive, and some take too many button presses. But the phone seems less dumbed down than its competitors, so that although it may take some time to figure out how to make it do what you want, you don't have to fork out more money for special software applications to do these things for you.
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