Nokia E71 SIM-Free Mobile Phone - Grey Steel

 

 

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I've had this phone for 3 months on contract, it's the exact same phone.

I was trying to reduce the number of gadgets to charge and have with me. I used to carry a mobile phone, a PDA (Dell Axim) and sometimes an iPod mini. This one thing has managed to replace them all without too much compromise.

For the features on offer and the slim profile of the phone, the battery life is really impressive. I get 2 days usage before requiring a recharge with 3G switched on with probably.
- checking mail around 10 times a day
- sending around 20 SMS's
- around 30mins to 1 hour talking per day
- using the web for around 2 hours
- listening to audio (podcasts and music) for around 2 hours per day
- checking calendar, around 30 mins per day

The headphone socket is 2.5mm which is a small pain, I bought a set of Seinheusers with a 2.5mm jack to solve this. I notice a background 'hiss' from the phone using headphones, I'm fairly sure it's the phone causing it and not the headphones, but can't be certain. Many other people reported the same problem via the web, it's not too bad when you get used to it. I notice that music from my iPod is far far cleaner and better to listen and appreciate music with. It's a trade off I made which I think was right for me but might not suit everyone. Recommend trying to listen to one if this sounds like a problem for yourself. The speaker is good and loud, I listen to music from it in the kitchen making food, it's good enough to hear over my pot banging and chopping!

The screen is bright and big enough to read. Yes I do sometimes which it was as pretty as the newer, larger screens on recent devices, however the display is really sharp and clear and probably contributes to the battery life.

Sound quality for phone calls is good. I haven't had too much experience of other phones, but I can hear callers perfectly well. In louder places, I have noticed I have to slightly press the phone to my ear to catch everything being said.

Navigation around menus is excellent. Nokia really thought hard and provided lots of little expert user shortcuts. For example, on the home screen I can type a name of a person and their contact name appears allowing a short leap from there to sending them an SMS, email, text, photo.

The camera is a much poorer affair. Low light pictures are poor, bright outside ones are OK. Anything inbetween is usually disappointing. For me, I only capture snaps for sending to the web or other phones, I wasn't too bothered about this but recommend watching it if you are used to good quality pictures from your phone.

As with all Symbian phones there is a strong software market which is easy to access. Much software is free, some more corporate based software obviously costs. I've found that the software provided on the phone really captures almost everything you'd want, however I installed a few packages which were all free from the Internet (Google maps, Fring, Opera Mini, Twibble, Smart Connect).

I added an 8Gb micro SD card to the phone for around £10 from Amazon which allowed me to fit around 50 CD's worth of music. I also have podcasts which download their music to the 8Gb card too, I've found this plenty of space to get by. Other higher capacity cards exist, but I haven't personally justified the extra cost of the bigger cards.

The keyboard takes a while to get used to. I had a Nokia 6300 before this model and yearned for the predictive features and numeric keypad. But I'm now much more used to this keyboard QWERTY layout. I would note that the E71 supports predictive entry which helps, but I find I have to use two thumbs to really speed out messages on it. The keyboard itself is really good quality, easy to use and forgiving when I press the edge of a key.

I am not a fan on the dust which has started to gather behind the screen. It's slightly distracting when the backlight goes off and you can see the dust, but it's a very minor quibble.

The GPS feature isn't a killer feature for me, but it's very useful. I rarely find myself wondering what's in the area because I frequent the same places. However it was handy on holiday trying to get around the area. I've also used it a few times to find a nearby coffee shop when I have time to spare.

The phone is very smim and fairly light, certainly when you consider the features in the phone it's very impressive.

This phone doesn't play back movies at a great quality, it's nearly good enough but not quite. The screen is too small to make this sensible, but that's not what I bought this phone for.

Applications have crashed perhaps in total around 10-15 times since I've had this phone. I don't think this is uncommon given all phones are increasing in their complexity. I couldn't rule out 3rd party apps I've installed being the cause. I just live with this and have come to tolerate this in these more complex devices.

I've not taken it abroad, but it is quad band meaning it should work in other countries.

This phone is my ideal package at the moment. I purchased this with a data package allowing me to use limitless Internet connectivity. I'd recommend doing the same to get the most from the phone.

If you note my negatives above (music hiss, camera not too great) and pick up the strong points (3G, Wifi, Bluetooth, lots of features in one device, 2 day battery, good UI) you should be very happy with this phone.

Also take a look at the E72, it loses a few features and has a lower price, I suspect it reviews similarly to the E71.

This is without doubt not only one of the best phones Nokia have ever produced, but the best I have ever owned.
It is literally crammed with features, like support for Office documents, 3.5g (HSDPA), WiFi, Bluetooth, IrDA, GPS, a Sat Nav ap, 3.2mp camera with AF and Flash, full music playing software with support for 8gb Micro SDHC cards, QWERTY keyboard etc etc... the list really does go on.
The size of the thing is a source of confusion. Quite how they've managed to fit all this tech into a device less than 10mm thick is beyond me... Normally feature-rich smart phones of this type tend to drain the battery at a rapid rate, and particularly in a device this thin you might imagine that standby/talk time would be poor. But oh no, Nokia have managed to squeeze a 1500MaH battery into the E71, which gives it a real edge over other phones in this class. In light to moderate use, it will last 7-10 days. Heavy use of all the features will shorten this time to 4 or 5 days, which is still mightily impressive.
Overall, an inspired piece of technology, which every business user or consumer should have on their mobile phone wish list. Highly recommended!

My trusty IPAQ 6910 was nearing the end of it's life after 2 years of okayish service. The IPAQ did everything but nothing well, if you know what I mean.

I had decided that I was either going to go for an IPhone or the (at that time) new Nokia E71. I decided on the E71 due to the fact that it had a keypad and could therefore handle 'one handed texting'.

This has turned out to be the best decision of my life. This is an absolutely incredible bit of kit. It is loaded with features but is also really really easy to use. The mobile Internet is superb and hooking it up to a laptop to use as a 3G modem couldn't be easier. Battery life has proved to be excellent. The 3.2MP camera, speaker and recorder are all superb. It has also proven to be reliable with no faults or bugs. The screen isn't as big as the IPhone but it's perfectly adequate.

Unlike the IPAQ, this phone does everything well and in my opinion has few peers. As a business tool, it's streets ahead of the IPhone whilst still providing a host of leisure facilities.

Can't recommend this highly enough.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Nov 2011 and its still up there with the best of them!!
Where do i start??

I had a all singing and all dancing HTC Desire and it was brilliant but I was on a 2 year contract, so when it broke last month, I was devastated, as... Read more

Published 2 months ago by Mr. Marcus Westlund

5.0 out of 5 stars Great but...
I have this phone for just about 2 years now and I have to say that in my opinion, this is the best phone that I've owned from Nokia. Read more

Published 10 months ago by A.T.C.

3.0 out of 5 stars Good phone, but the software...
I've had this phone for over a year and have been generally very pleased with it - it's my first smartphone - and I've used it extensively with Skype mobile, and Opera mobile for... Read more

Published 10 months ago by N. Batcheler

4.0 out of 5 stars Great physical quality, little weak on the software
I've had the Nokia E71 now for more than 2 years, so this is rather a longterm review. Even after all this time and all these touchscreeen smartphones on the market, I still love... Read more

Published 15 months ago by Topher089

1.0 out of 5 stars One of the worst phones I have ever owned
The Nokia E71 is a very smart looking phone. It has a nice metal back, and the front looks purposeful and classy. Read more

Published 15 months ago by Monkspeed

3.0 out of 5 stars Prefer Wifes Blackberry
I am a big Nokia fan, I went for the E71 as a replacement for my E52 which went through the washing machine!! Read more

Published 16 months ago by Mr. R. Acourt

1.0 out of 5 stars UNETHICAL BEHAVIOUR OF THE SELLER
This product was not delivered and the seller did not refund my money in full. I wrote the seller, but no reply.

Published 16 months ago by Femi Fatoyinbo

3.0 out of 5 stars good features
looks good and is a good organiser, with excellent features (internet, camera), the camera was not very good which loses a star, and the keyboard is difficult to use, which loses... Read more

Published 16 months ago by Mr. D. A. Sykes

5.0 out of 5 stars Best phone i have ever had
I have used this phone since it was first released, so over 2 years and i have only positive comments to share. This is simply the best phone i have ever used. Read more

Published 20 months ago by Gadget Steve

1.0 out of 5 stars terrible
do not buy from sp computer supplies i never got the item from them and i contcted them with no reply ended up paying the extra few quid and bought the phone off pre pay mania had... Read more

Published 22 months ago by Mr. John Donnelly

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