Review by Michal Jerz
Announced
today and scheduled to start shipping in July, the Nokia E71 is a new,
long awaited phone belonging to the business-oriented Eseries line.
Even though its name suggests that it is a successor to the E70
(equipped with large, unfolding, two-part QWERTY keyboard), the E71
follows the E61 and E61i design, offering large, 320x240 pixel, 2.36"
screen and monoblock QWERTY keyboard of the "Blackberry" type.
What
comes to your mind when you touch this phone for the first time is its
high build quality and a feeling of sturdiness. Taking the device to
your hand, you get the feeling that it has a durable and solid
construction, and it's not just a feeling but it's true. Plastic parts,
so common in previous models, have been limited in E71 to minimum, with
the only plastic elements being the keyboard and small fragments of the
back side, but even those parts have been made from a hard and durable
plastic that doesn't creak or bend when squeezed. The front side of the
casing, containing the large screen and keyboard, is surrounded by a
stainless steel frame painted with glossy, dark-silver colour. The
battery cover, taking most of the back side of the casing, it also made
of durable metal.
The E71
weighs 126 g and it's very skinny (114 mm x 57 mm x 10 mm). It's
noticeably smaller than the E61i it replaces, which is generally a good
thing as it's simply easier to carry, except for that it also affects
the size of its screen (down from 2.8" to 2.36") and keyboard. But as
(IMHO) both still stay within tolerable range, it's not really
something I'd complain about too much. Instead I'd rather praise that
the E71 is finally a true world phone with full quadband (GSM/EGSM
850/900/1800/1900) and also all WCDMA frequencies (850/2100, 900/2100,
850/1900), which is something really important in this quickly
shrinking world.
It's
hard to assess the design of the keyboard as it's very much a personal
thing. Blackberry type keyboards have small keys so people with fat
fingers may have some problems with using them. One thing, however, is
unquestionable: the keyboard of the E71 as regards its mechanical
parameters works really great and provides almost perfect tactile
feedback. The keys have well chosen "way", pressing them is not too
long and not too short, they're resilient and provide clearly
perceptible "click" feeling. The same applies to the d-pad, which is
firm and stable. Compared to its "younger brother" announced at the
same time, the E66, d-pad and other keys of the E71 work definitely
much better. Even though, as mentioned, the alphanumerical keys of the
QWERTY keyboard are quite small, they're strongly convex, which
provides good separation and clear feeling of where one key ends and
another one starts. I'd risk saying that from the build quality and
mechanical operation point of view the keyboard of the E71 is one of
the best I've used, especially the d-pad which is simply perfect.
When
the phone is on standby and the screen is turned off, it notifies you
that it is alive by blinking the white LED placed inside the d-pad,
which looks very nice, much better than if there was a separate diode
located somewhere on the casing. The LED can also notify you about
selected events like missed calls or new messages. The d-pad also has a
useful function: press and hold it while the screen is turned off to
show a large clock along with some device status information.
The E71
is equipped with BP-4L battery of 1500 mAh capacity, the same as found
in e.g. the E90 Communicator, Internet Tablets and the E61i. It's the
"strongest" of all currently offered Nokia batteries, providing much
more power than commonly used BP-6MT (and such) batteries. So E71 users
shouldn't have much to worry about when it comes to battery life.
The
phone uses ARM11-based single-core Freescale processor running at 369
MHz, the same as found in many high-end Nseries phones. The Freescale
CPU doesn't offer hardware 3D graphics acceleration like the OMAP2420
processor used in N82 or E90 (so sorry, the full OpenGL ES version of
Quake won't run on it :-) ) but its faster clock (369 MHz vs. 332 MHz
of the OMAP) should compensate for it and even provide additional
performance in some tasks like e.g. UI speed.
After
the E90, the E71 is another Eseries phone model that brings Eseries
closer to Nseries when it comes to non-business functionality like e.g.
multimedia. It also has a built-in Assisted GPS receiver and
preinstalled Nokia Maps application (the new version 2.x). Even though
high-end Nseries phones now offer 5 Megapixel cameras, the 3.2
Megapixel one in the E71 is still a lot for a business phone. And now
it comes with LED Flash (E61 had no camera at all and the 2 MPix one on
the E61i had no Flash). Because of the phone's form factor and the
aspect of the display, one takes pictures holding the phone "normally",
i.e. in the portrait mode (as the screen itself has horizontal aspect),
without having to tilt it as it's usually the case with phones having
240x320 pixel screens. There is also no separate camera button and the
central button of the d-pad is used to take pictures and start/stop
video recording. It's good and it's bad at the same time. Good, because
I hate having to rotate the device to take pictures, and the central
button of the d-pad is in good location making it easy to take
pictures. Bad, because, unlike separate camera "shutter release"
buttons which are usually two-step ones (press halfway to obtain focus,
press all the way down after obtaining the focus to take the picture),
the d-pad button is obviously one-step only, so it's not possible to
carefully autofocus on the object in the viewfinder, see the results,
re-AF if needed, etc., but instead the camera does everything instantly
as you press the d-pad. This often results in pictures being out of
focus or the focus being set on something different than what you
wanted it to be on. OK, you can use the "T" key to autofocus in the
viewfinder and only then press the d-pad button to capture the image,
but it's far from being comfortable and it's hard to avoid any movement
of the camera while doing so, which, especially in low lighting,
affects proper focus the same way as when using the d-pad alone,
without using the "T" key.
Even
though the E71 has the same camera resolution (and probably the same
camera sensor) as the E66 announced at the same time (to be reviewed
later this week), there is a huge difference when it comes to colours
of pictures and videos taken using these two phones. While pictures and
videos made using the E66 are well saturated and vivid, the ones coming
from the E71 have faded, washed out colours and lower contrast. But
it's most probably a software thing (different image processing) and
the tested phone did not have final, commercial firmware, so it may
change before the E71 starts shipping.
Another
slightly disappointing thing is that video recording quality is limited
to QVGA / 10 fps. It's definitely not because of hardware limitations
(as there are Nseries phones with the same hardware, providing VGA / 30
fps video recording) but it's most probably meant to reserve this
feature for the Nseries. However, as Nokia already made an exception
with the VGA/30 fps capable E90 Communicator, I expected the same from
the E71. Fortunately, even though low resolution, the recorded videos
are of good quality, with no apparent compression artefacts and such.
10 frames per second is, however, too little to fluently reproduce fast
movements, which is quite apparent on the sample videos of quite lively
moving dogs below.
There
is also no TV Out connector, but it's not present in any Eseries
device, not even the E90, so no suprise here. However, I think that
Nokia should not consider the TV Out as purely multimedia/entertainment
feature as it can be of great use for business purposes as well
(presentations, etc.) and they should think about adding it in future
Eseries devices. Some business oriented Windows Mobile devices, like
e.g. the new HTC Advantage X7150 (to be reviewed in comparison with the
E90 in the upcoming weeks), have the TV Out function by default, so why
not enrich Symbian OS-based business devices with it?
While
we're still at the camera, I'd like to say that I consider the lack of
protective, manually controlled lens cover in the E71 a huge advantage.
Why? Because it's actually a myth that it protects anything. Devices
without it still have a protective glass/plastic over the lens (so no,
it's not the lens that may get scratched or get dirtly if there's no
cover, it's an additional plastic). Maybe it's not the case with you,
but I forget to close the damn cover all the time (e.g. in the N82) so
it doesn't do any good anyway, and even if I remember to close it, then
I have to open it prior to taking a picture, which annoys me like hell.
So until we see AUTOMATICALLY controlled lens covers in mobile phones,
I rather prefer devices without ones and the E71 scores a point here.
Decent
camera (with crippled video recording and slightly washed-out colours)
is not all the E71 offers when it comes to multimedia. It also has FM
radio and standard 2.5 mm audio jack. It generates high-quality stereo
sound via headphones but there's only one speaker located on top of the
device, so in the loudspeaker mode it's actually monoural (but very
loud and clear). It's also worth mentioning that the built-in ringtones
are very nice, of high quality and properly chosen for a device of this
type, something I always miss from UIQ 3.x phones, including the new
G900 to be reviewed soon.
Another
thing that distinguishes the E71 from high-end Nseries phones (but also
from its "younger brother", the E66), is lack of the accelerometer.
It's probably because Nokia decided that with that shape of the phone
and the design of its keyboard it wouldn't be of much use when it comes
to automatic screen rotation, but now with so many 3rd party applications making use of the accelerometer for so many different purposes than just auto-rotating the screen it's actually a pity that it's not there.
The E71
also brings some news when it comes to software. It includes
QuickOffice (version 4.1.xx.xx with possibility of paid upgrade)
supporting both viewing and editing/creating new documents.
Another
news is the "Encryption" application letting one encrypt all the
contents of phone memory and/or the memory card, preventing data stored
in them from being accessed by unauthorized persons. Just select the
disks to be encrypted and how/where you want to store the encryption
key and that's it.
The E71
also has a new "Modes" application (integrated with Profiles) which
basically allows you to quickly switch the phone between two modes:
"Business" and "Personal" (names can be changed). In both these modes
one can configure the theme, wallpaper, Active standby (Home screen)
functionality (application shortcuts, plugins) and with just one key
press switch all these settings at once. It's a very nice idea letting
one have two separate configurations, e.g. for bussiness and private,
after-work use, affecting not just the look of the UI but also e.g.
shortcuts to applications or active Home screen mailbox you use at work
or after it, and switch between them in no time. This way during
business hours you can have e.g. shortcuts to QuickOffice, VPN,
Calculator, Calendar, To-do etc. and your company email account set as
standby screen mailbox, and all this with some 'seriously looking'
theme and wallpaper suitable for your work, and then, right when you're
leaving your office for home, you can switch the phone to your
favourite theme, some crazy wallpaper, Active standby shortcuts to
applications you use after work (e.g. Maps, some games, weather
forecast, etc.) and your private email account. Great idea!
like
all new Eseries phones, the E71 has four "One-Touch" keys located under
the soft keys, on both sides of the d-pad. The leftmost one is the Home
key, which works like the Menu key in Nseries phones (short press
toggles between the Home / Active standby screen and the main menu,
long press invokes the task manager). Assignments of the three
remaining keys (Contacts, Calendar, Messaging) can be changed in
Settings for both short and long press, which lets you configure six
favourite applications you can launch with just one key press from
within any screen or application.
It's
also worth noting that the number of Active standby (Home) screen has
been increased to fifteen, with the inclusion of Search, Music Player,
email and so on. However, as the number of visible plugins hasn't
increased, you'll have to choose what you really need. But thanks to
the "Modes", you'll be able to have a different set of them for your
business and private uses...
Another
new thing is Smart Dialling. Start typing first characters of the
contact name on the Standby screen and a popup window will show up with
contact entries from your phone book matching the entered string. It
seems that the function is somehow unfinished at the moment as it shows
digits and symbols as you type (and not corresponding letters) but it
works OK and correctly matches your Contacts entries.
Contacts
and Calendar applications have been tweaked a little bit to provide
better functionality and make better use of E71's screen. In Contacts,
when you select a contact, there is a pop-up menu providing quick
access to the most frequently used communication methods (voice call,
SMS, email, MMS, video call, audio message). Calendar got an E90-style
redesign, with screen split into two panes and some layouts in the
Outlook style. Screens also fit more data at time, so that you don't
have to scroll back and forth when editing an entry.
Among
preinstalled applications one can also find "Dictionary" and
"Intranet". The latter provides support for Virtual Private Networks
and the former is a dictionary application coming with the English
database (and/or with the language matching the country of sale) and
with possibility of downloading additional languages from the Internet,
directly from within the application.
The E71
comes preloaded with Microsoft Exchange (Mail for Exchange mobile email
client), Nokia Intellisync Wireless Email solution as well as third
party email solutions like System Seven and Visto Mobile.
On
the multimedia side, the E71 comes with preinstalled Podcasting, Music
Store and Ovi Share clients. It also supports Flash Lite 3, including
YouTube videos. It's only a pity that Gallery hasn't been updated to
what's shipping with NSeries devices. Audio and video capabilities
(compared to the E61i) have been improved with the support for WMA and
MP4 and there is also an equalizer letting one adjust audio to own
preferences and take advantage of bass boost and loudness settings.
Other
features and technical specs of the E71 match those of the currently
available high-end Nseries phones: it has 128 MB (about 110 MB
available) of internal storage memory (disk C:), microSD memory card
slot (up to 8 GB), 128 MB of operating memory (RAM), USB 2.0 Full speed
and Bluetooth 2.0 EDR (with A2DP and such) connectivity and is a 3.5G
(HSDPA 3.6 Mbps/UMTS) device. Nothing's missing here.
To
recap, the E71 is a very efficient and highly functional device, coming
really close to high-end Nseries phones when it comes to technical
specs and non-business features. Especially worth mentioning is its
highly elegant look and design and very high build quality, providing
the feel of durability, sturdiness and simply high value of the device.
It's definitely NOT one of those cheaply looking phones that you don't
even have to touch to imagine how they creak and squeak when squeezed
just a little bit. The keyboard also deserves a praise regarding its
mechanical quality. The screen's resolution is the same as in the
E61(i) although it's now a little bit smaller (2.36" compared to 2.8"),
but it's still very large compared to other S60 phones and it's legible
and crisp even in direct sunlight, which is also a huge advantage, but
when I look at it, it actually makes me sad that it's still QVGA only
as at this size it could easily be a VGA one, providing if not more
detail then at least smoother font.
The
camera with its 3.2 Megapixel resolution is, I'd say, quite sufficient,
although limited video recording resolution and frame rate disappoints
a little bit, and while it's understandable that Nokia wants to reserve
VGA/30 fps video recording for its multimedia range of phones, they
already made an exception with the E90, so one could expect doing the
same with the E71. As mentioned in the review, using the d-pad button
for taking pictures, although quite convenient, affects the autofocus
function as it's one-step only so it's not possible to first autofocus
and only take the picture when you find the result satisfactory;
instead it works in one go and results in higher probability of
out-of-focus pictures. Using the tiny "T" key to autofocus and then the
d-pad to take a picture doesn't help much, either, as it's quite
uncomfortable. But it's not a multimedia device, so let's treat this
complaint with a pinch of salt.
It's
really great that the E71 joins the camp of AGPS-enabled devices and
comes with the new 2.x version of Nokia Maps preinstalled. It also
retains E61i's 1500 mAh BP-4L battery which means that the E71 will
still run somewhere halfway its power resources when most of Nseries
devices will be running out of power. 369 MHz Freescale processor, 128
MB of RAM, 128 MB of internal storage and microSD memory card slot (up
to 8 GB) place the E71 on top of list of available S60 smartphones when
it comes to tech specs and so do its data transmission (HSDPA/UMTS) and
connectivity options. Aimed at business users, the E71 will also do
just fine after work (decent camera, GPS, high audio quality, FM radio,
etc.) and the "Modes" function will let you switch the device to
"Private" mode with one key press as soon as you shut the door of your
office. No accelerometer and no TV Out, well pity, but you definitely
can live without those.
The
reviewed unit was a pre-commercial model, which seemed to have final
hardware but not neccessarily final software. It was completely stable
and every function worked fine but further optimizations and changes
(e.g. when it comes to supported functions and/or preinstalled
software) may happen before the product starts shipping commercially.
Hence this review is actually meant just as an introduction and is
supposed to be enhanced and/or modified when I get hold of a commercial
unit. A similar note applies to sample pictures and videos contained in
this preview: please consider them as coming from a pre-commercial
device, i.e. not necessarily fully reflecting the quality of what final
units will deliver. Product pictures in this article show the black
version of the E71; a white version will also be available.
Pro's:
- very high build quality and elegant design
- QWERTY keyboard with great tactile feedback and almost perfect d-pad
- 3.2 Megapixel AF camera
- HSDPA, UMTS, WLAN b/g, Bluetooth 2.0 EDR, USB 2.0 Full speed
- large screen
- high capacity 1500 mAh battery (compared to batteries included with most of Nseries phones)
- 369 MHz ARM11-based Freescale processor, 128 MB RAM
- built-in Assisted GPS and Nokia Maps
- useful "Modes" and "Encryption" functions, built-in Dictionary
- FM radio
Con's:
- limited video recording resolution and frame rate
- no accelerometer, no TV Out
- VGA-resolution screen of this physical size would not be an exaggeration
- d-pad as Camera button doesn't let taking full advantage of the autofocus function
- Nokia, PLEASE, make it possible to open pages in new window in your browser!
The
only possible verdict I can give the E71 (taking into consideration its
target user type) is WARMLY RECOMMENDED, with the most points scored
for its elegant design and high build quality.
Originally published at My-Symbian.com
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