(Last edited: Jan 31, 2009)

Palm Discovery would like to extend a BIG THANKS to Shaun at PDA-247.com for the recent mention and link to my Part 2 review of the Nokia E71 smartphone.

This Nokia E71 review has been broken down into 5 parts:

Part 1 will cover an overview of the device including the specs, physical appearance, etc.

Part 2 will provide videos of the smartphone and the underlying Symbian OS.

Part 3 will make some camera comparisons with the Treo 650 and 750 smartphones plus some more videos of third party applications, the microUSB cable.

Part 4 will cover my observations of the device.

Part 5 will conclude the review with my final thoughts.

Welcome back. We are now in Part 4 of a 5 Part series on the Nokia E71 smartphone. In Part 1, we covered the overview of the smartphone, comparing it physically to the Palm Treo 650 and 750, showing its slim form in comparison to its thicker rivals. In Part 2, we covered the software and the underlying Symbian operating system, showing how it operates and navigating around the device. In Part 3, we provided some comparisons of the camera between the Nokia E71 with the Treo 750 and Treo 650. We also showed how easy it was to connect and transfer data from the computer to the E71 by using the supplied microUSB cable. We finished off with a video showing some of the 3rd party programs that I personally enjoy using on the E71.

This is Part 4 where I will provide some of my observations both good and bad about the device to give you an idea of why I personally think the E71’s good outweigh the bad.

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Again, please note that these are my personal opinions and observations of the Symbian OS and the Nokia E71 smartphone. You may disagree with some of my opinions.

Here are my observations:

To get down to the nitty gritty, here is the list of the negatives and positives of the device.

E71 Negatives

Non-touchscreen = no stylus

As mentioned before, the other thing I needed to get used to, was to rely on using the keys to navigate around the device. Coming from Palm devices which are touchscreen, it was at first very difficult to realise that I can’t grab my stylus and tap on the screen. I caught myself looking for the stylus in the top right corner only to realise that there’s no stylus. Darn! For the most part, having the selection/soft keys helped. The directional keys were used to go up or down or left or right in the pop up menu options. And of course, the center button is for selection or the Ok. For the most part, using the directional keys wasn’t too bad. That was, until I starting surfing the internet. Unfortunately, the directional keys have a strict set of distance it will go in any direction that you can’t select something in between.

Restricted directional movement with directional keys

Regardless of how lightly you press up, down, left or right, the browser pointer will go only to those predefined or strict corners of a square area. This becomes quite annoying when I NEED to select or click on a specific “point” and I can’t because the pointer can’t get to that “point” but only around it. This is one of those times when I am thinking that having a trackball, like what RIM’s Blackberry devices can solve this problem. On many websites, the browser will detect that there is a clickable button or a form field and will “select” it. For those sites, it’s okay. But for some websites, it doesn’t do it and I can’t click or get to the exact place I want to go. Again, having a touchscreen obviously then can solve that problem. This, in my view is one of the problems of not supporting touchscreen. I guess I was very spoiled with touchscreen devices.

Almost perfect grid-like keyboard layout with no spacing between keys

One other thing I’ve noticed with regards to the Nokia E71 smartphone that took me some getting used to is the keyboard. Again, I admit that I’m quite spoiled since the Treo 650 and 750 are so well designed that typing on the keys are very easy to adapt. On the Nokia E71, it was a bit harder. I think it has a lot to do with the layout of the keys and the keys themselves. On the Treos, the keys are clearly defined by being quite raised up and easy to feel and distinguish from the other keys. I could be blindfolded and easily feel the keys and type without mistakes. On the Nokia, it is difficult to NOT LOOK at the keys before typing because many times, I’ve made mistakes. Why? Let me explain.

The keys of the E71 are very close together and aside from a slight raising of the keys, it is very difficult to feel and distinguish between all the surrounding keys. There are very little space if at all between the keys on the E71. On the Treos, they are spaced slightly apart. Also, the keys are laid out in a grid-like pattern with keys aligned in rows and columns one above the other. On the Treos, they are aligned and in an upward curve. That makes it very easy to distinguish amongst the other keys. Thankfully, on the E71, they, like the Treos also have a slight bump on the number 5/F key that helps you determine what key are you are on. As you can probably figure out, I was experiencing difficulties typing on the keys. I did find that typing with my fingernails (although it doesn’t feel very comfortable) gave me better results. Over time, typing was a lot better but I still think that I personally need an external wireless keyboard.

Camera’s capture sound can’t be muted

It’s not a huge thing, I agree, but it can be a bit annoying. There is no way to mute or turn off the image capture sound on the E71. I was able to turn off the sound on the Treo 650 and 750 but the E71 only allows me to choose from 4 different sounds but no option to turn it off or mute it. A lot of times, I snap pictures of products at stores either for comparison pricing or for product comparison. I don’t want to announce that I’m snapping a photo because some stores will frown on that. Regardless, I would still prefer to have that option available.

Metallic battery door is slippery and attracts slimy fingerprints

One of the major complaints I have on the Nokia E71 is the metallic battery door. Although it looks very nice, it is not very functional for me. I found that it makes the E71 much more slippery (and I hate slippery casing). But what I really dislike is that the metallic door gets very oily and dirty due to my handling and it gets very yucky very quickly. I dislike needing to clean or wipe it frequently as I get very picky about having a yucky looking smartphone. For me, I needed to get a leather case to avoid touching the metallic door and getting all the oily fingerprints over it. Once I got the case, this is a non-issue.

3.2MP camera doesn’t live up to 3.2MP quality image capture

As many other people also noted, the Nokia E71, although it sports a 3.2 Megapixel camera with flash which looks great on paper, is quite disappointing in reality. Pictures snapped with the camera may be somewhat better than other camera phones like the Treo 750 or 650 but not that much better as you’d expect. Please read Part 3 where I have provided some comparison shot of pictures captured with the E71, Treo 750 and Treo 650 to get a better idea of what I mean. The colors tend to be somewhat “off”. And almost similar to the Nokia N810 Internet Tablet device which offers horrible lower lighting condition image capture, the E71 is somewhat better but still shows that it doesn’t take pictures well in lower light conditions. There is some “noise” in such conditions. This is where a lower resolution Treo is noticeably better. Apparently, the latest firmware offers improved camera rendering (but, it “seems” that some series of the E71-2 may not support the firmware?). I do not have the E71 smartphone myself so I can’t comment on this.

Symbian OS can be somewhat confusing to get used to

As I’ve mentioned previously (please see part 2), for a newcomer to the Symbian operating system, it can be quite confusing to navigate and figure out how to work the device. Since there is no way that that you can determine whether an icon is a program or a menu, the only way you can figure it out is to click on it and determine whether you’ve opened up an app or opened up a menu. With menus and sub-menus, you can easily get “lost” in the hierarchy of the folders and menus. This, unfortunately, may be something that can easily turn away new users to the device and operating system. I was a bit confused and lost at first, but as I continued to use the device, it got a lot better and easier. But, I still forget where certain settings may be hidden and do find that I needed to go through menus to look for it. Well, nothing’s perfect, as we all know. The Symbian OS certainly can be greatly improved upon with a better way to navigate around without “losing” people in the menus and sub-menus.

Lack of decent 3rd party PIM apps

Coming from the Palm OS and the Windows Mobile, it was shocked, simply shocked to be unable to find a semi-decent (mind you I didn’t really look THAT hard) PIM app. What I’m looking for is an integrated calendar/appointments app that will enable me to view a month’s glance of the tasks, appointments, etc with icons. For the Palm OS, there is the excellent Datebk5/6. For Windows Mobile, Pocket Informant is a very comprehensive PIM app. But, where are the ones for Symbian?

Unfortunately, the default Calendar app does not “do” for me. It makes even the aging Palm OS’s default Calendar app look good. This is definitely one area that needs a huge overhaul because it look way too simple and outdated.

Today Screen restricted to default layout

One of the things that I would personally like with regards to the Today Screen in Symbian is the capability to be able to have it customized or hacked so that it can be viewed and customized in the way I prefer. Look at the Palm OS with the Today Screen or other 3rd party programs that offer a customized Today Screen. In Windows Mobile, there’s way too many different themes and ways you can customize how your Today Screen looks like. I personally prefer to have lots of shortcut icons that I can easily run or jump into a program. The six offered in the default Today Screen isn’t enough. And I find that it’s a total waste of available space near the bottom or bottom left area. I could jam quite a number of shortcut icons there if that was a possibility. Perhaps there is a third party app that can do that? If anyone knows, please leave a comment below. Or better yet, how about something like TypeRight for the Palm OS, which enables me to press and hold a QWERTY key and it will run a specific application. What I really want is a quick and easy way to access and run apps, something that I can do somewhat in my Treos.

Now don’t get me wrong. Although so far I have mentioned a few things that I am not happy about, the Nokia E71 smartphone offers a lot of what I do like.

E71 Positives

Easy switch modes from Business to Personal

I like the Modes feature of the E71. There are two Modes you can have: Business and Personal. Obviously, being a business or corporate oriented device, this appeals to executives that need to have quick and easy access to business oriented and related programs at the Home screen. But, when you are home, you can easily switch the Mode to Personal and change the Home screen to reflect all the other programs that are more leisure oriented. All it takes is to launch the Switch Mode shortcut (black arrow pointing left and white arrow pointing right) located at the top right of the Home screen.

Java apps support

I also very much enjoy that a lot of Java based programs and apps that aren’t normally supported on my Treo devices are supported and run on the Nokia E71. Programs that I really love and enjoy include Qik (video streaming app), Mobbler (last.fm client), Twibble (twitter client), emoze (push email app). I really enjoy using Opera Mini on the E71, and I’m fully capable of composing my blog on Wordpress online (something that I can’t do on the Treo 750 since the page renders horribly on it regardless of browser). Fring, which I also have on my Treo 750, works much better on the E71 while on the 750, although it works, the sound quality was horrible. It seems that the E71 has a lot more power to run the programs, unlike the Treo 750, which for some programs are way too underpowered to do anything.

Decent call quality

The call quality both for receiving and placing calls are much better. On the Treo 750, as most of us are aware, due to the limitations of the operating system and hardware, call recording programs can only record my side of the conversation. Well, the other side of the conversation is so low that it is almost too soft to hear. Of course, a workaround would be to put the call on speakerphone but who wants the entire world to listen in on your conversation? With the Nokia E71, there is no such problem. And the other end isn’t complaining about how tin can I sounded.

Slim form factor

The E71, being such an amazingly slim device (I’m shocked at how slim it is!), offers such an amazing battery life! Compared to my Treo 750, which tends to require charging by the second day, the E71 can take a few days before I need to charge it. If you decide to enable 3G on it, however, the battery life will be greatly affected, draining it at a much faster rate.

Dedicated PIM app hardware buttons

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The E71 also offers a few extra hardware keys, offering a Home, Calendar, Contacts and Email button (similar to what the Treo 650 offered) that was lacking on the Treo 750. To me, it’s great because it makes it so easy to launch a specific program without going through many button presses to do so.

Decent speaker volume

The E71 offers a very decent volume for ringtones and music listening. I’ve always found it irritating that the Treo 650 and 750 were not nearly loud enough. The E71 to me, offers a much louder phone, although to some people, they still found it too quiet compared to other Nokia phones.

Built-in Wi-Fi = no timeouts

I really love the built-in Wi-Fi. Not only does it mean that I don’t need to pop in a Wi-Fi card and wait for the card to detect and connect to the network, but it also means that my wireless connection doesn’t “time out”. One of the annoyances of my Treo devices is that after a while of listening to an online radio stream, it will time out. Depending on the device, it could mean that I needed to do a soft reset or whatever. That is annoying.

Stable operating system

The Nokia E71 is a very stable device, rarely needing a soft reset. Actually, there is no soft reset button. The only way to do a soft reset is to remove the battery and put it back on and turn on the phone. I would have liked to be able to periodically do a soft reset via a virtual button. Does anyone know of a Symbian app that will do a soft reset? Also, the E71 can handle several programs running simultaneously without noticeable lags or delays, unlike what I experience on my Treo 750. On very rare occasions does the Nokia lag, crash or hang. That only happens when I launch the Maps application. I didn’t download and install the latest firmware so it’s likely that the problem may have been fixed. I don’t know.

Front and rear facing cameras

There are two cameras on the E71. The main camera is back loaded like most camera phones so that I can easily snap photos. There is a front loaded camera, although a much lower resolution, but mainly for web chats. Regardless, it’s nice to have both a front and rear loaded camera so that I can use the front loaded camera for internet chats and the back loaded camera for video and image capture.

Built-in flash for rear facing camera

The camera of the E71 also has a built-in flash, something totally missing in the Treo devices that is sorely needed. My main complaint of the E71’s camera, although it is 3.2MP is the quality of the pictures. You’d think that with 3.2MP that the quality be so much better, well, in some ways it is and in other ways it’s not. Much like the N810’s camera, when there isn’t enough light, or you’re not snapping a picture in bright conditions, the picture can be a bit noisy. Of course, it is not as bad as the N810’s camera. Also, it appears that the latest firmware does improve the picture quality of the camera. What seems to be the problem is the color rendering of the image. Someone has mentioned that if the color is somewhat adjusted afterwards that the picture will be much better. And, it seems that it does help.

Viewable reflective date and time on blanked screen

It’s very nice to be able to easily view the time and date on the device at any time, even without pressing a button. The Nokia E71 and other similar devices offers a special reflective display technology. View the smartphone at an angle and even directly with a little bit of light and you can easily view the date and time. Should you require to view it in a bigger size, press the center button and you should see the time and date very clearly. Release the button and it’s back. I really enjoy this feature as it saves me from having to “turn on” the device to see the time.

Quick and easy data transfers with microUSB cable

The microUSB cable supplied with the Nokia E71 device is not simply a cable, but quick and easy way to transfer your data from the device to the computer or access the files stored on the expansion card. Unlike the Treos where you need to use a third party program to have access, you simply plug and connect the microUSB cable to your computer and E71 and the connection is made. Wow!

Built-in GPS

Probably the most valuable feature of the E71 may be the built-in GPS. Of course, it’s not necessary to have GPS on a smartphone, but it greatly enhances it. As my review device was a European version and the maps loaded on it was US, I was unable to try it out with the maps during my trial. But I’m sure it will work perfectly fine if you purchase the local version for your area.

There are lots more that I haven’t discussed but I think you get the picture. As you may have figured out, there’s a lot to “like” with the Nokia E71 smartphone that tilts the scale to the positive side.

That concludes part four or a five part series on the Nokia E71 smartphone. Part five will focus on final thoughts of the device and the conclusion.

Enjoyed this review? Check out the many other Palm Discovery reviews of pda and smartphones and nokia related topics here.

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