After a couple of weeks with the Nokia E71, I can certainly say it’s the best and most equipped smartphone coming out of Nokia’s doors for the longest time. The smaller form factor has some drawbacks but is something to be expected due to size constraints.
The Nokia E71 (see unboxing pics here) is the successor of the popular Nokia E61 & E61i but follows the same features from the candybar Nokia E51 (see review here). Click on thumbnail images to see larger pictures.
Nokia has shrunked the E71 to just 57mm (E61i is 70mm) and trimmed it down to an amazingly 10mm (E61i is 13.9mm) thickness. That’s slimmer than the E51 at 12mm and as slim as the Nokia 5310 XpressMusic (9.9mm) and Nokia 6500 Classic (9.5mm). The size of the E61 was the primary reason I chose the Samsung Blackjack over it.
Because of that, the display screen got narrower a bit at 2.36 inches (320×240 pixels) from 2.8″ with the E61. That includes the QWERTY keyboard with the keys a little too crowded. However, I think Nokia made a good trade-off by making the keys more embossed so you don’t accidentally hit neighboring keys. Typing becomes comfortable when you’re fingernail-oriented rather than thumb-oriented. The number keys are all positioned at the center so you can easily type in single-handed.
In the connectivity department, the Nokia E71 offers everything imaginable in its form factor — 3G/HSDPA 3.6Mbps, WiFi 802.11 b/g, built-in GPS receiver and A-GPS function, microUSB, infra-red and Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP. The internal memory of 110MB is a little small considering the E51 has 130MB, but a dedicated 128MB RAM and ARM 11 369 MHz processor makes the phone responsive. Besides, you can add in 8GB of storage via hot-swappable microSD card.
The only disappointing feature with the E71 is the 3.15 megapixel camera (2048×1536 pixels). It’s supposed to be auto-focus but there’s no way I can see it working The autofocus will have to be manually toggled each time you make the shot. You need to press the “t” or “4″ key to do this.I made several sample shots here (click on thumbnail) — can’t even make a single decent and on-focus shot had a more decent shot here but if you’re going to take moving pictures with this camera, forget about it.
There’s no dedicated camera button on the side too, so you’ll need to use the middle button to take photos and videos. Video quality is no better as it maxes out at 15fps. There’s secondary front-facing camera for video calls.
I guess Nokia didn’t bother to make improvements in the optics considering that this is mostly a business phone. I once had a chat with the Nokia N78 Product Manager and he told me that the camera is on the top of the list of features that affects the thickness of the phone (so is the cost).
The audio quality is decent and sound volume is good even if the speakers are placed at the top side. There’s support for 3D tones and MPEG4 video playback is smooth.
A bunch of mobile office productivity tools are pre-installed — QuickOffice, Dictionary, Adobe PDF reader, Zip and printer manager. There’s an intranet feature to securely connect to your office network via VPN. You can also enable the built-in encryption feature to secure files in your phone’s memory or external memory card.
Battery life is good and the BP-4L lithium polymer is rated at 1500 mAh. Nokia suggests a talk time of a whooping 10.5 hours! Just make sure to turn off WiFi scanning to conserve more juice. From experience, usage lasts 2.5 to 3 days with normal 3G and WiFi usage.
All-in-all, I’d give the Nokia E71 a good buy for data/connectivity dependent users. This is not for the multimedia fans though. The list price of about Php21,000 to Php23,000 makes it an even attractive purchase.
Note: Updated the part on the camera with newer sample photos.
The E71 does have auto-focus but you have to manually invoke it (I know it sounds stupid). To manually invoke Auto-Focus, press the “T” or “2″ Button. Once the focus area turns green press the Select button on the D-pad to take the shot.
It’s clunky but that’s the way things are until the next Firmware Update.
thanks mikey, got it now. will do another test tomorrow afternoon. yeah, kinda illogical why one has to do the focus manually. by the time you take the shot, it could still go off focus. will update that part of my post/review once i’ve re-done testing.
I hope you could feature affordable HSDPA phones. Any brand would do as long as it has HSDPA and worth buying with its features.
so it’s not “fully” autofocus, but it is autofocus?
I guess we can call it manual autofocus. *hehe*
@dapeke – that’s coming out soon.
Thank you very much sir Abe… I’m really an avid fan of your blog. I really think that your blog is the pinoy version of cnet.
I want to change my e61i after reading your review. I really like qwerty phones.
BTW, is the HSDPA capability of Nokia e71 is the same with the HSDPA device that globe are selling to connect to the internet?
i had this phone three weeks ago and i’d say it’s the best phone I had.. though it’s a bit expensive. The good thing I love about this phone is that I do not have to bring my laptop everyday, coz his serves as a laptop for me. it has all the programs i need, word, adobe reader and wifi..
Can this be synced with Nokia Photos/ Lifeblog?
I’ve been using the e71 for 3 weeks now and I can also say it’s the best phone I’ve used.
I have been using SE phones since they were still just ‘E’ and I’ve been frustrated to no end at their seemingly endless line of slow, clunky PDA phones.
I jumped ship when I saw and tested the E71. Amazing phone with real multi-tasking functionality (with its own alt-tabbish function). I have a call manager, browser, music player, email synch working at the sime time and the hardware is still more than enough.
Probably the best Nokia business fone out there right now.
Yes, indeed one the best E Series Phone
don’t forget to mention the horrible sound coming from the earpiece. i mean you are forced to use the loudspeakers because talking to someone using the conventional earpiece feels like there’s a wooden wall between you and the caller.
also, the damned thing hangs, freezes, and shuts down by itself while you are using the phone. and to top that, nokia is keeping silent and not releasing any patches!
save your money and just buy a 3210.
[...] Update: Read our Nokia E71 Review. [...]
Got one about a week now and it’s great!
hi kuya yuga! long time no hear…
i’m interested to know if i can install blackberry to e71. i know for a fact nokia canceled the blackberry for this particular model… but i read to some forums, its possible. would you know how to do it?
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[...] looks like the Nokia E71 business phone is a huge hit that Nokia is looking into making a cheaper version for mass market [...]
Twitter: marcnengasca
says:
nice!!! i hope i can have that 1….
had this unit for more than 3 months and all i can say is wow until now! the switch to QWERTY was a good decision for me.. Speakers are just enough when i play it during office hours with low volume.. The screen is great, camera is just average as this is a business phone..
I will still keep this phone, though i will get an N96 as a back-up phone.. I will get it for only Php2,000 with a plan 1800 on Smart’s retention package!!!
I’m excited to have a business phone and a multimedia phone within the week!!!
Is it worth it to upgrade from e51? I’m not really business oriented person.
i bought the Nokia E71 the 1st week it came out at a nokia store and 7days later the bottom part was starting to chip and they told me that the whole phone is stainless steel<———–NOT!! it was only chromed dipped. i returned to the store and they refused to replace it nor return my money… i had to write to the main office about their rudeness and unreasonable refusal of my request and told them i’m going to the proper authoritites because i had it all documented… a week later.. they called me up to change the chipped panel.. so i think this isn’t the best phone nokia ever released..
Magkano kaya to sa shops is it really 21k? thanks ^_^
i mean what shop yugn may 21k ^_^ hehe thanks!!!
Dotyczy Noki E71.
Chciałem mieć GPS, bo potrzebuję go czasami i… kupiłem Nokię E71.
W końcu nie za małe pieniądze, gdyż za taką kwotę dostałbym porządną nawigację (i telefon).
W rezultacie mam mało intuicyjną nawigację, z wyłączonym głosem, bo za to muszę znowu parę setek dopłacić i w rezultacie brakuje mi jeno… poroża, bo przerobiono mnie całkiem na jelenia.