The Nokia E series has traditionally been an uninspiring collection of boxy phones, but last year saw a dramatic upturn in its fortunes. The Nokia E51 and E65 took the market by storm -- and it wasn't just businessmen buying them. The E series is beginning to look as attractive as its multimedia N-series siblings.
The Nokia E71 is the Finnish giant's latest addition to the E series and will be available in July. Pricing is set to be around €350 (around £280) SIM-free, and it will most likely be free on a monthly contract. But will it be another email knockout?
Design
The E71 is one of Nokia's most attractive smart phones to date. Many phones with Qwerty keypads lack a certain finesse, but the E71 wouldn't look out of place in an Aston Martin. Not only does it look good, its attractive metal casing feels very classy and it's not too heavy or too light.
A 10mm thick profile ensures it fits inside a pocket comfortably, even though it's wider than your average handset. The screen and Qwerty keypad are well laid-out -- a series of shortcut keys below the screen make it easy to access your emails, calendar and contacts. Although the keys are small, they're very usable, because each is raised, making it easy to distinguish between them. In fact, the E71's keypad is one of the best Qwerty keypads we've ever laid fingers on.
We inadvertently dropped the E71 a few times from waist height and it carried on working as if nothing had happened, thanks to its resilient casing. It truly is a stunning looking phone that will stand the test of time.
Features
Email-centric, business-oriented phones can be dull as ditchwater, but the E71 isn't lacking exciting features. Like the Nokia E90, this smart phone boasts more features than your average Nokia.
Having said that, it gets the basics right first. We can happily say that setting up your personal email, such as Gmail or Yahoo, is really easy. All you have to do is put in your email address and password -- that's it. The E71 also supports Microsoft Exchange, although it's a little harder to set that up, so you might want to get some help from your office IT guy, depending on your phone skills.
Connecting to the Internet to receive emails and browse Web sites is possible almost everywhere you go, via HSDPA (3.5G) or Wi-Fi. Using the built-in Wi-Fi scanner, it's easy to find a hotspot and connect to it. To save battery life, you should turn off Wi-Fi scanning when you're not using it.
Surfing the Net is better than with most built-in browsers. Pages are displayed in full and, interestingly, the E71's browser supports Flash and lets you watch YouTube videos, although it's fairly sluggish -- audio streams faster than video.
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User reviews32
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Omar Hanif 17 August 2011
Good: Battery life, QWERTY keyboard/ Texting, and organisational features.
Bad: back cover some what weak and bends quickly.
Comment: Battery life is very important in a phone especially in day to day use, what’s the point of an amazing phone if it lasts 6 hours. Nokia E61 has been the perfect phone in battery use as it manages to last for 3/4 days with med/high use. This is particularly impressive as I have a HTC HD2 which drains the battery and I’m lucky to get 8+ hours of low-med use.
Picture quality is okay nothing special moreover the flash is a great feature which complements the camera. Pictures seemed crisp and sharp with good lighting however, in dark scenes the phone tended to have trouble making shapes even in night mode. Music and video is pretty standard nothing to talk about they both are easy and simple to use.
Email and internet play well together. The phone easily picks up network reception on Orange/T.mobile rendering pages quick and in detail. The Nokia E71 lacks email features and its basic design and template makes a very dull email experience.
The nokia E71 however, should not be put down by lack of excitement. The phone performs well in every department and gives real value for money especially the texting. Nokia E71 is tailored for business people with more features like adobe reader, quick office, planners ect.
The nokia E71 build is really good it looks sexy and stylish. Solid build however, the back covers metal hinges did tent to bend easily which causes problems when putting the case back. The phone is packing great features no glitches or bloadware but is let down by the lack of excitement and range of games/email/multimedia/web browsing features which well all want.
Kelly6145 19 July 2011
Good: The whole package is great!
Bad: Small Qwerty keyboard is a small, But the raised letters make it work
Comment: My Wife has had this phone for about 6 months, and I really liked hers, so I bought one for myself. VERY happy with all that this phone can do!
Rckrzboyz Desi Munday 31 May 2011
Good: Design
Bad: camera
Comment: I want it
See all 32 user reviews