Engadget Mobile's Nokia E71 review

They've got a bona fide, US 3G-friendly, Nokia E71 over at Engadget Mobile, all gussied up and reviewed for your viewing pleasure. The phone is a serious statement from Nokia, being that company's first 3G QWERTY device in the States, and the thinnest QWERTY smartphone in existence. Not too shabby for a little Finnish upstart.

[gad get @ Jun 19th 2008 4:47PM]

Looks hard to type on.

[holycow @ Jun 19th 2008 4:54PM]

i've got a Nokia e61i and the keyboard is a bit similar and it's really nice and easy to type on it.

[Kips @ Jun 19th 2008 5:58PM]

Go read the review and you will told it's other way around ;)

[Cornelius @ Jun 19th 2008 4:51PM]

Why does Nokia has such a small foothold in the US smartphone market? I doubt it's due to the weak dollar, or lack of demand (I've wanted the E90 for over a year now)... they just don't seem to be interested in us USians. Shame too, since I like symbian.

[Cornelius @ Jun 19th 2008 4:54PM]

*have

I lack proofreading skills and desire an edit button.

[cashmonee @ Jun 19th 2008 5:07PM]

I believe it has a lot to do with Nokia's reputation in the US. Most consumers see Nokia as the free throw away phones. Also, of course, the lack of carrier subsidized selection in the US.

[Mark Anderson @ Jun 19th 2008 5:21PM]

I think it's because they can't agree a subsidy model with the carriers and there's been tantrums over distribution.

They need to get their act together.

[James Cameron @ Jun 19th 2008 4:53PM]

Ugh, Nokia's turning into a Blackberry.

[Prokanda @ Jun 19th 2008 4:59PM]

blackberry have been business-centric from the start... they're just starting to have more mainstream consumers buy their phones because they're adding in features that everyday users want...

nokia has always and probably will always make awesome feature-phones.. they just want to pump up their business side while still including that nokia feature-phone flare.

I don't think your comment makes much sense.

(and wouldn't that be "Nokia's turning into Blackberry"? I'd be sad if nokia, the entire company, just vanished and all that was left was a single blackberry device on my desk.)

[Pdexter @ Jun 19th 2008 5:07PM]

Because world biggest mobile phone manufacturer Nokia got 3 phones with open qwerty? Dunno if it's news to you, but Nokia dosent have just one model a year. Moto and Sams got these too.
Btw this is world thinnest qwerty smart phone and world thinnest phone with gps.
Thought i'm passing this and getting E66 white... oh and E71 just looks horrible white, better go for black.

[marlboro @ Jun 19th 2008 5:10PM]

nokia has always had a QWERTY phone similar to a blackbery but it never been there most stand out phone


also many people in corporate world will not give up there QWERTY pads for a touch screen key pad


so i say this is nice job by nokia

[James Cameron @ Jun 19th 2008 5:22PM]

I have no problem with QWERTY keyboard. But they could've done a slide out QWERTY keypad instead of cramming ugly small keys and taking up the space that could've been for bigger screen.

[Pdexter @ Jun 19th 2008 5:39PM]

There's phone called E75 in the make from Nokia that should do just that, but that's other story.

[RS @ Jun 19th 2008 5:02PM]

Ugry.

[Soze @ Jun 19th 2008 5:13PM]

Trust me here, black looks 10x better. That white vers looks wierd as the qwerty looks out of place compared to other of the phone.
Hottest qwerty phone i have seen imo.

[K.L @ Jun 19th 2008 5:18PM]

Not to talk about that it's 10mm thin, got 3.2mp camera and mostly made of metal parts. Have been waiting this phone for some time!

[Mark Anderson @ Jun 19th 2008 5:22PM]

Stuprid.

[bachviet @ Jun 19th 2008 5:04PM]

I would buy one upon released if it comes with T-Mobile AWS.

Now I have to wait for either the BB Bold or the Android-based AWS phone.

[dansus @ Jun 19th 2008 8:23PM]

Why do you have to wait till it comes to Tmob?

Just buy it and stick your sim in no? Why wait to get ripped off by the carrier.

[bachviet @ Jun 19th 2008 10:12PM]

@ dansus

It doesn't come with T-Mobile 3G band (WCDMA Band IV = AWS = 1700/2100 Mhz) thus I am not getting it. I always want to buy unlocked/unbranded phones.

[Shahryar @ Jun 19th 2008 11:41PM]

So there's no version of this phone coming out with T-mobile's upcoming 3G band? But the BlackBerry Bold is coming out with T-mobile's upcoming 3G band? That sucks - I'm pushing my cousin to get this instead of the BB Bold because I'm a Nokia fan and want him to be too.

[Christy McGrory @ Jun 19th 2008 5:07PM]

Should be a good phone, considering Nokia is an epic company. Oh and it looks like ieye and clak have been replaced by a new annoyance who goes by the name of niki. Beware.

[KilgoreTrout @ Jun 19th 2008 5:57PM]

Just this month will expire my 6 months obligation (not 2 Ys like in the US) to keep my nokia N95 8GB.
It has been a good companion but I since I can have a new phone now I want one with touch screen which the (ugleey) N96 lacks.
No telecom in scandinavia offers the hi-end HTCs on a plan (just the cheap ones or the diamond which does not excite me); the Iphone 3g has a lousy camera (I'm used to my N95's exceptional 5Mpx cam & perfectly fine A-GPS ),so I´m left with the Viewty, or the new Sams' .
Yes, The Nuviphone looks promising but... who knows.

If SE doesnt let the x1 experia loose soon I´m afraid I might do something I´ll come to regret.

[Pdexter @ Jun 19th 2008 6:09PM]

One Finn here! What's the problem with diamond? And about that SE who knows how long it will take considering how SE have focked their hit phones lately by releasing them 1y late thought it might be different this time considering HTC is involved.
I'm going to get E66 white next to N95 8GB to keep me happy till we get more news about Nokia's 5800(tube) or rumoured high end TS phone released shortly after 5800 if it seems it will take some time i'm going to pick up X1.

[TareX @ Jun 19th 2008 6:50PM]

Excellent phone, but it's a bit last-gen to my taste. I don't think it's the "huge leap" from my current E65 that I expect with my next upgrade.

In my book the only announced next-gen phones are: Dream, iPhone 3G, Xperia, Diamond/Touch Pro, Tube and Thunder.

[PEZ @ Jun 19th 2008 7:38PM]

son of a motherless goat.

[twoboxen @ Jun 20th 2008 9:02AM]

scum-sucking pig.

[PVL @ Jun 19th 2008 8:02PM]

One hot device, but like someone already mentioned i'll pass with the white and get my self that black E71. Dunno why they even released white... more like E51 like colour options would have suited this phone better. Anyways black it is when it hit stores!

[Michael @ Jun 19th 2008 8:34PM]

Looks good but they should space out the numbers instead of putting them all next to each other. Also having # and * on the side is really weird

[CoolBug @ Jun 20th 2008 4:00AM]

I'm not tryna shoot nokia down or anything...

but that phone really looks horrible.

regardless of the features who would want something that looks like that?

[Pips @ Jun 20th 2008 7:12AM]

Pretty many at least by looking at the forums. E61 was a hit and no doubt will this be considering it got GPS, 3.2mp and so on all in 10mm thin packet.
Just google black E71 it looks much much better. No idea why they even sell it white.

[tekdroid @ Jun 21st 2008 1:51PM]

Contrary to popular opinion, I quite like the white. Not a fan of metal bling (or faux metal bling) in a phone, but quite fetching. It's just that we don't often see white and reflective metal in a phone (yes in black tho) so many have aversions to it, but we wouldn't think twice about using a beige keyboard...

I'd rather have my phone not heat up like hell in the sun, frankly. Of course that reflective metal would blind me, but...

[Dan Logan @ Jun 22nd 2008 10:57AM]

I have always liked Nokias, but have not always liked their upgrades...remember that big oval shaped model. Nice size to hold on to. Wish they would have kept tat.

When I put the new E71 right next to my E61i, I was suprised to find that the screen on the E71 is nearly HALF THE SIZE of its predecessor.

I also have big fingers and the E61i took some getting used to. So I am not so certain I will be making the move to the new model.

Besides GPS, I will be waiting to see if there are any great new features that entice me.

[syed gamal @ Jul 9th 2008 2:38AM]

say guys/girls..what say if we suggest to these blackberry type smartphone makers to improve on one obvious aspect of QWERTY layouts..ADDing a dedicated numbers row..numbers are waaay too important to be shared with letters like comma or semicolons...this one tweaking would win the race for the one that does it first :)..whoever it is..

[Ethan Hunt @ Jul 10th 2008 8:10AM]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3043/2655565110_c90e835521_m.jpg

Can anyone confirm if they have this same problem with the new Nokia E71? to emulate this problem, change the camera settings to 1mb then try zoom to about 50% - 80% then try taking shots within this range.

In 0.3mb range it comes out if you use maximum zoom with extended zoom activated.

I want to know if anybody else is experiencing this same problem.

[Silence @ Jul 22nd 2008 12:18PM]

Nokie e71-2 Nam has been lunched... and the interesting thing is that it is cheaper then E71-1 here is the deal
http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php?t=1404206

[F0nefan @ Jul 22nd 2008 12:21PM]

could any onee plzzz comment or give a good review on the sound quality , camera and speaker fone!

[gorge @ Jul 23rd 2008 1:03AM]

www.popularelect.com got them in e71-2 nam going tom to there store to pick it up

[daveiops @ Aug 21st 2008 2:50AM]

The E71....Seriously I wasnt into all this qwerty type phones until I saw this phone and I do have to say its very slim, light in weight, user friendly,do buy the black one only as the white isnt good looking, mostly made of metal parts and has a decent 3.2mp camera.. It comes with 3mths Nokia maps navigation which is voice guided. Erm what else. ha yes, the sound quality is perfect during calls, reception is also great, the music player is very good and produces loud sounds on par with the N73 ( if u have dis phone then u know hw loud it is). The Keypad is very easy to type on...
A very good phone in general.