Nokia E71 confirmed and oh-so-slim

Nokia's finally fessing up to its latest E series QWERTY phone, but took this one in a seriously surprising direction... for Nokia, anyway: thin. The E71 is one of the thinnest phones we've ever seen exit the doors of the Finnish giant, at 10mm thick, but there's still plenty of room for everything you'd expect out of an E series phone like WiFi, HSDPA, A-GPS and even a 3.2 megapixel camera and a front facing camera for video chat -- the main place the E71 differs on specs from its new E66 sibling is the 2.36-inch QVGA screen, just a fraction of an inch smaller. The E71 even manages to squeeze in extra battery, with 20 days of standby, 10.5 hours of GSM talk or 4.5 hours of 3G talk. There's 110MB of built-in storage and a microSD slot if you grow out of that, and the same business / personal switcher of the E66. Folks accustomed to previous Nokia QWERTY phones in the form factor like the E62 will find the screen noticeably smaller, but with the same number of pixels and an incredibly pocketable form factor there's plenty to love about this new entry. Unfortunately, the $500-ish pricetag isn't quite alluring, and like the E66, Nokia doesn't have any carrier subsidies lined up just yet. The E71 should arrive in the States -- and yes, with full 3G US bands -- sometime Q3 of this year, and will be available in grey steel and white steel.

Gallery: Nokia E71 confirmed and oh-so-slim

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[AJ in the East Bay @ Jun 16th 2008 1:15AM]

Nice but not sure about the $500. Hopefully the subsidized price (if they do it) will be more attractive.

[happy_penguin @ Jun 16th 2008 1:17AM]

Nice Finnish on the back.

[TareX @ Jun 16th 2008 9:12AM]

It's a great deal for a high-end Nokia phone. I paid more for my E65 last year, and it was worth every penny.

[TheGasMan @ Jun 16th 2008 12:13PM]

@TareX
Good job hijacking someone else's unrelated comment to get yours at the top!

But while I'm here, I guess I'll comment too:
The E71 is giving me a boner.

[Paul @ Jun 16th 2008 12:28PM]

"Finnish"...uugh (assuming of course the pun was intended).

[simon @ Jun 16th 2008 1:00PM]

@ russ_schroeder @ Jun 16th 2008 12:10PM

Russ you do make good points about unlocked being more than the average US customer needs. For your consideration I suggest you consider the advantages associated with manufacturer's firmware in an unbranded handset in comparison to what the carriers offer

Simon

[YpoCaramel @ Jun 16th 2008 1:34AM]

$500 is quite a good deal. Outside of the USA, that's less than the Touch Cruise, much less than the competitor TyTN II, and about the same as an iPaq 610c. It's also less than the no-contract iPhone 3G prices we're hearing about.

Inside the US, of course, the $200-300 iPhone 3G will forever be a comparison. But there's certain advantages to a unlocked phone - no need to sign a contract, and guarantee that it will work internationally with other SIM cards.

[blinkcowz182 @ Jun 16th 2008 8:27AM]

I have an iPhone and kinda want this phone...

[Frank Furter @ Jun 16th 2008 8:58AM]

I -don't- have an iPhone and don't want this phone. Though it's kinda sad, anything iPhone related garners 1,000 posts, yet this sad phone has a dozen. Gee, wonder what people are interested in.......

[russ_schroeder @ Jun 16th 2008 12:10PM]

I constantly see postings praising the flexibility of unlocked phones. While I can certainly see the benefit of having an unlocked device in Europe, i think it is unnecessary here in the US. Having the ability to drop in the SIM from another carrier is wasted here considering we only have 2 GSM carriers and each use different bands for 3G data (if tmobile ever gets their network rolled out, that is).

Since like most Americans, I do not travel overseas regularly and we have very limited options, I'm more than happy to pay significantly less for a subsidized phone. I'll probably be dropping $299 for a shiny new black 16gb 3G iPhone sometime later this summer.

[Mark Anderson @ Jun 16th 2008 8:03AM]

DO WANT.

@happy_penguin

oicwutudidthar!1!

[Mark Anderson @ Jun 16th 2008 8:07AM]

Alas poor comment, I knew him, Horatio.

This phone is stunning. Hope Nokia get their heads out of their backsides and allow it to be subsidised in the US.

[john @ Jun 16th 2008 8:44AM]

Is that Nokia's fault, or AT&T/T-Mobile's fault?

[john @ Jun 16th 2008 8:12AM]

*SWOON* YES BABY YES!!!

I love my easter-nokia.

[w @ Jun 16th 2008 8:18AM]

sexy cool phone, i want it.

[Rich @ Jun 16th 2008 8:47AM]

That's sound impressive battery life.

[zanchius @ Jun 16th 2008 8:57AM]

Very nice, I own an E61i and just hope Vodafone will have this baby on their list of subsidised phones.

[McBUNT @ Jun 16th 2008 8:57AM]

I wonder why Engadget posted these Nokia items hours ago and then removed them...

[Pete @ Jun 16th 2008 8:59AM]

The world has moved on Nokia!

I have an E61, nice hardware, good spec BUT clunky S60 interface. The problem for Nokia is that the iPhone has changed the game - the quality of the software and UI interaction is key - the iPhone is great at this - S60 isn't.

Nokia are still trying to win by designing great hardware (which they do well), but that's exactly what Sony did to compete against the iPod.

Nokia has struggled for year to get good quality developers on the S60 platform. Did you read about the recent worldwide S60 developers conference? - probably not, it was a small and un-eventful gathering (although with some dedicated developers). Nokia lack a consistent platform to develop on, even S60v3 isn't the same on every phone.

In the enterprise/smartphone space, the game has changed, can Nokia?

[TareX @ Jun 16th 2008 9:17AM]

The E71 and E66 are very high-end, elegant phones that do pretty much anything you want, and do it great. But I'll have to agree with your post.

Owning an E65, I realize how good and extremely functional it is, but the iPhone UI (and not the browser that doesn't download, not the no copy/paste, not that stuff), the UI has really changed the game.

And that's what directed my attention to other phones like the HTC Dream running Android (as smooth as the iPhone without the limitations) for my upcoming phone upgrade.

[Mark Anderson @ Jun 16th 2008 9:50AM]

Well since the Boy Genius video review show the interface to be fast as anything, capable of multi-tasking with no apparent slow down and to be pretty intuitive I'd say so.

As for WWDC, you do realise that's a conference for all Apple development not just the iPhone - which will have more developer activity because it has no applications whereas S60 has all the useful ones already written - right? So, in other words, S60 has its best of breed applications and doesn't need the same development community.

[Pdexter @ Jun 16th 2008 10:59AM]

Well the fact is that S60 3th edition is old and living it last days as we speak so just now it looks as old as it can, but it's really stable and the speed problem you have had with your E61 have been long gone with all the new S60 phoens.
S60 5th edition will be next.

[bachviet @ Jun 16th 2008 9:03AM]

I will pick this up once it's released (T-Mobile US version).

[john @ Jun 16th 2008 9:05AM]

read my comment after yours.. I'm starting to wonder if there WILL be a T-Mobile-USA version...

[john @ Jun 16th 2008 9:06AM]

read my comment after yours.. I'm starting to wonder if there WILL be a T-Mobile-USA version...

[john @ Jun 16th 2008 9:04AM]

Hm. The E71-3 was, according to FCC filings, supposed to be T-Mobile-USA 3G wasn't it? The frequencies listed by Nokia are:

# E71-1 Quad-band EGSM 850/900/1800/1900, WCDMA 900/2100 HSDPA
# E71-2 Quad-band EGSM 850/900/1800/1900, WCDMA 850/1900 HSDPA
# E71-3 Quad-band EGSM 850/900/1800/1900, WCDMA 850/2100 HSDPA

The E71-1 is clearly European/Asian based.
The E71-2 is clearly AT&T based.
WTF on the E71-3?? Is that supposed to say:

# E71-3 Quad-band EGSM 850/900/1800/1900, WCDMA 1700/2100 HSDPA

And they just made a typo, or what?

[RC @ Jun 16th 2008 10:52AM]

It's not a typo. I believe WCDMA 850/2100 is Australia.

[Fernando @ Jun 16th 2008 12:15PM]

enjoy your odd bands

[Shahryar @ Jun 16th 2008 12:35PM]

So no T-mobile 3G bands coming up on this phone? How about any upcoming phone from Nokia? I want to replace out my N76 sometime, but want to future-proof it for when T-mobile's 3G rolls around here in the DC/Baltimore area.

[Moonbright @ Jun 16th 2008 9:25AM]

concise?valiant!

[Raul @ Jun 16th 2008 9:26AM]

What's with the extra space on top of the screen and below the keyboard? Space is a premium on such devices and blank space like that apart from looking bad could have been space better used for more screen space or larger keys.

Oops forgot we are dealing with Nokia here, maybe we can expect that in the 2010 model.

[stefan @ Jun 16th 2008 9:42AM]

Top of screen: Needed for camera AF
Below of keyboard: I for one can't stand Querty-phones with keys going to the very edge. Makes it impossible to hold them and type with both thumbs.

[J @ Jun 16th 2008 9:36AM]

You know the thin phones look pretty and fit well in a pocket, but; those of us with large hands find those very thin phones difficult to use. Think Zoolander. I prefer a little heft to my phone.

[b @ Jun 16th 2008 9:54AM]

Pete, the U.S. isn't the only market in the world. Symbian has 65% of the smartphone market worldwide. According to Q4 2007 numbers.

http://www.canalys.com/pr/2008/r2008021.htm

[mitch @ Jun 16th 2008 10:28AM]

Whens the 3rd quarter?

[Kipz @ Jun 16th 2008 11:02AM]

Now

[russ_schroeder @ Jun 16th 2008 12:27PM]

3rd quarter is July to September

[Valgas @ Jun 16th 2008 10:35AM]

I'm in love with Nokia. The E71 was designed for me. Want.

[holycow @ Jun 16th 2008 10:57AM]

The flash is a great addition! (e61i user here)

[123 @ Jun 16th 2008 11:03AM]

The ultra weak dollar is again killing Nokia in the US. 350 euro is actually quite affordable.

[some dude @ Jun 16th 2008 11:55AM]

So it's the end of the line for my beloved E70's flip-action keyboard? Sad. The E70's keyboard far surpassed any I've used on a mobile device.

[Joe Anstine @ Jun 16th 2008 11:56AM]

sexy phone. puts my Ericsson to shame

[Johan S @ Jun 16th 2008 12:16PM]

Why does Nokia keep puking out QVGA phones?

It sucks.

Oh well, I'm getting a Sony Xperia when it comes out.

[kayn @ Jun 16th 2008 12:20PM]

Anyone know where you can (pre)order one of these puppies now? I'm all in...

[jeff allan @ Jun 16th 2008 4:15PM]

I've had the E62 for quite sometime now, using it along with RoadSync for exchange email and its worked really well for that. Also the call quality has been excellent. I have resisted switching to other Windows Mobile phones because I had several bad experiences with them.

So when ATT has called saying I am eligible for an upgrade I say no thanks. I will say that IF they carry this phone I would be tempted to upgrade based on the strong performance of the E62.

[Toledo Guy @ Jun 16th 2008 8:58PM]

I've loved everything about my E62 except AT&T's craptacular XpresMail product. It's gotten better, but still goes down on a regular basis. ATT doesn't care, just blames it on "the vendor". They've been more than willing to offer me the opportunity to move on to Blackberry e-mail, if I want to spend an extra $5/month. If this phone has a better e-mail program, it'll make the short list when I'm eligible to upgrade at the end of the year. If Blackberry is still the option, I'll probably just go back to RIM.

[johnny0 @ Jun 16th 2008 4:20PM]

Hope this is narrower than the e61i -- that thing was wiiiide. But great battery life and impressive SIP integration.

Unfortunately their ActiveSync implementation left a lot to be desired.

Nokia needs to kick up their application development program big time if they want to keep up with the iPhone...

[Phytonix @ Jun 17th 2008 12:59AM]

OK...next.

[Shahryar @ Jun 17th 2008 8:43AM]

How would this compare to the BlackBerry bold?

[khaw kheng joo @ Jun 19th 2008 10:30PM]

MediaRing's mobile VoIP supports E71. you could make free mobile to mobile calls thru' MediaRing's global IP network. You can register the service at www.mediaringmobile.com