Image via CrunchBase If you follow me on Twitter, you know that I just bought a shiny new Nokia E71, sometimes dubbed iPhone Killer. After several days using this device, I am very happy with it, though it could have been much better.
Keyboard: the keyboard is great though it is a little small for my fingers. The predictive text feature can be annoying, but in general it is helpful. I am not up to speed yet in writing long emails, but it is more convenient than the horrible HTC Tytn I had.
Email and messaging: good and bad at the same time. Some of the features are excellent - you can have your mailbox status on the home screen, and if there are unread messages you can see their subject and sender without opening the email application. Configuring an account on Gmail or private POP3 service was very easy, but it automatically set it to IMAP protocol. I am a POP3 kind of guy, and I found it very annoying. Also, there is no one click SMS sending - you need press some of the buttons several times in order to send a SMS. Email speed is ok - but data services might be expensive, which leads me to the next section.
Connection manager: huge disappointment. Though WiFi works great, there is no way to configure applications to choose the cheapest connection. For example, I'd like to configure the email client to use WiFi if possible, then to try to connect to a free APN, and only then to try to connect to the high cost APN of my operator. This basic requirement is not met by E71.
Menus: I am probably spoiled by Mac user experience but the menus are extremely confusing. It took me ages to understand how to change shortcuts in the home screen.
Stability: in this sense it is a very solid device. Didn't crash too much (I managed to crash it once), responds quickly and the user experience is great.
Camera: definitely a weak point, which is a shame, cause Nokia integrated flickr sharing service in the camera application.
Video and audio quality: good enough for calls, you can watch some videos, and I listen to podcasts with it when I commute. However, the earphones are of low quality, so it is a cost effective replacement for iPod, but doesn't match it. The podcasting software is very nice as well.
Synching with Mac: in order to sync E71 with Mac you need to install E71 Plugin for iSync. It took me several tries to make it work properly, and couldn't sync using bluetooth. Nokia Multimedia Transfer is another application, that is used for, well, multimedia transfer from and to the device. After pairing the phone with the Mac it worked great.
Other applications: I am using Fring for IM, Opera Mini as a backup browser, testing Emoze for push email, but still looking for a good RSS reader and twitter application.
Is it an iPhone killer? No. it is not a media phone. The screen is great but no match to iPhone. the audio is pretty good but no match to iPod quality. If you are a businessman who is always connected, wants to use your phone as a modem, traveling a lot and looking for a strong, stable device, E71 is a great choice. But it is not as fancy nor friendly as an iPhone.
Overall - between 1 to 10 it certainly gets a 9.3 (mainly due to the connection manager).
12 Comments
Re. Rss reader – I really like the mobile version of google reader. (btw- this comment was written from a phone (: )
Great device, I’m a little concern about it’s SAR level (1.33).
To be more specific with my previous comment:
E71 SAR level in Israel is 1.33/1.53 where the FCC recommends cell SAR level to be < 1.6.
would also like to point out the gps capabilities are somewhat weak and it may take up to 10 mins to get your initial location
Can you sync the calendar with ical?
re SMS – I mapped the right multi-button to “send new text message” so I DO have a 1-click new sms opened up.
re setting connection priorities – this is truely a shame… but if you use IMAP for email and set it to 30 mins auto-update, it becomes idle, which means it won’t eat up your cellular bandwidth plan $$, it will only download the email headers when they arrive even though it renmains connected, so not to d/l unneccessary data. and so, you don’t need Emoze…
just found this software that handles connection priorities:
http://connect.psiloc.com/
try and review – it should work
hey,
i am also a mac user and got e71 yesterday. i am also pop3 people.
i got a tricky solution to change to gmail pop3..
intended to type the email wrongly… i.e. louiskkchan@ggmail.com so it can’t determine the type of services… so it will ask you to setup manually.
good luck.
ps. e71 is a good phone
hey, glad to know I’m not the only e71 and mac user out there!! I just got my e71 the other day and am lovin’ it so far!! email works great, even though yeah, it uses imap, grr…I didn’t even think to try and type the email address in wrong so I could configure it manually. I’m thinking about checking out fring cuz I hear you can use it to call skype contacts, although not sure how much of my data plan that will eat up, lol.
I’m glad there are mac alternatives to the horrible nokia pc suite…I did my original set up on a pc cuz I wasn’t sure of any mac syncing aps, but will definitely have to look at these!! any reason to not use the horrible toshiba laptop I have is a good one.
I’m also totally blind, so use an application on my e71 called talks that makes it accessible to me. the only thing that doesn’t seem to be accessible is checking the time, which is strange, but there’s an ap called hour power that will do that even though the time is spoken in a horrible loud voice, lol.
over all I really like my e71, although I’m still holding out for apple to somehow get the IPhone away from touch screen or make some kind of keyboard overlay or something? then they could easily probably put voiceover on it and it would be accessible. but until that happens, e71 is the next best thing.
I have been using “Psiloc connect” to automatically switch between wifi and gprs/3g on my E71. Works a treat.
I initially tried the “Smartconnect” software available in the “download” menu in the e71. This will choose the wifi (If available) over the gprs/3g connection, but after connecting to gprs/3g, it doesn’t connect back to my home wifi network. Psiloc connect will automatically connect and disconnect to the fastest available network. Used in conjunction with the push email from “Seven System” and a gmail account…its a Blackberry killer. Only downside is that Psiloc Connect is around $13.50, but its worth it if you never want to miss an email.
The Nokia E71 is the best business phone i've ever met.
It fits me very much.
looking forward to E72…