Nokia E71x now available from AT&T
By Chris Ziegler 
posted May 4th 2009 12:41AM
posted May 4th 2009 12:41AM
[Thanks, Ivaylo]
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You're actually putting this in the same league as the Bold?
are you actually questioning internet sarcasm?
That was sarcasm? It's kinda hard to tell without certain audio/visual cues.
I can understand other viewpoints, but personally, I wasn't kidding. The E71x is sexier than any device RIM has ever produced, outdoes the Bold's camera, and delivers a totally open smartphone platform capable of supporting both Symbian and Java apps. It's not a solution if BES is an integral part of your life, but otherwise, I firmly believe it's worth a shot.
"The E71x is sexier than any device RIM has ever produced"
I've always found Nokias to be exceptionally boring styling-wise, although the E71x is certainly one of the better-looking ones. I also find the iPhone to be somewhat aesthetically uninspired, so I guess it's just a matter of personal preference. You say sexy, I say boring. Now the Niagara, on the other hand, *that's* sexy.
SEX
I think we can all agree though, that the Pre outdoes them all. What's that, half of you disagree?
Guys, sexy or not (and it is sexy), the E71 trumps the Bold in third party apps. Wins with a landslide.
Yeah it's nice have the Bold's screen and looks, but what use is it with the relatively boring 3rd party library.
Man, I hate to look like a flip-flopper, but the more I look at that picture, the better the E71x looks to me. Mind you, I'm still not sure it's better looking than the Bold, and it most definitely isn't as slick as the Pre. But it looks better than most devices.
The E71 is 50% thinner than the Bold and supports proper native 3rd party applications.
Hold one in your hand and you'll realize that it's a very sexy phone.
I got to play with one briefly, and it is an excellent piece of hardware. My only complaint is that the keyboard seems signifcantly harder to use than your average Blackberry or Treo. Despite being roughly the same size as the competition, the keys on the E71 just "feel" smaller.
I own the original E71-2 unlocked and Over all I love the phone. Its quick, has GPS, bluetooth, wifi, predictive text, etc. I can bluetooth my files to and from the phone (unlike apple) I'm betting you can change the product code on this to a regular US E71 download the firmware and reflash it to be unlocked without any issue, im guessing.
Its a great phone battery lasts a really long time, only issues i have is S60 has some great apps, they are just scattered everywhere, the nokia store is horrific , the camera quality isn't perfect on mine, but maybe better on this version.
check out www.dotsis.com for tons of nokia apps
Nokia Ovi Store is coming in May, that should solve your app discovery problems :-)
but not your wallet problem
Concur with everything @digitallysick said -- I also have an unlocked E71 and it is a really great phone. The battery life is tremendous. Camera kind of stinks. The keyboard looks small but it easier to type on than it looks and the predictive text is terrific. It works stunningly well one-handed. The apps are out there but there is no app store so they can be hard to find. Symbian/S60 takes some getting used to, and at this point it is starting to really show its age, but the phone is well built and definitely worth looking into as a blackberry/treo alternative. Its a good phone.
Can't wait to trade in my Bold company phone for this, really starting to hate that phone...
the stories are true. eff the e71x. i heard this morning that the 8900 is coming to att. i'll hold out a little longer.
Good for you. I think.
i never understood the "need" for this type of phones, sideway qwerty is better.
fugly.
Single-hand operability.... which makes a world of difference.
And, it's definitely not fugly.
Age of Empires is much easier to play on this type of screen than the "long and wide" sort of the 5800. But yes, one-handed operation is great.
Not having vbagX (virtual gameboy advance) on this phone would just be a waste.... I'd recommend Yoshi's Island, Metal Slug Advance, and Donkey Kong Country 1, 2 and 3.
wait what phones can you do that on?
Any s60v3 phone....
All E-series, N-series...etc. Get vbagx from mobilecastle.biz and google for the roms.
You can also get vSUN (SNES emulator) and play SNES games.
There are also Sega Genesis emulators...etc.
The E71 would be great because of the front qwerty + landscape screen combo.
Too late AT&T...E71 has already lost its shine. Please bring out N97 ASAP.
if only they released it on at&t in their silver/gunmetal color
As an old E62 user, I was looking forward to this phone. I got to mess around with the nonfunctional mock-up a few days ago...and came away utterly disappointed. Its so small that its utterly unusable. I'm talking Centro useless. Even worse, the d-button is like something from Bizzarro world - the directional parts are so skinny as to be nearly impossible to use, while the central button is so gigantic you'll be constantly pressing it by accident. Seriously, if you are a typical small woman with teeny fingers you can probably appreciate the E71x. The problem is that the majority of customers who want a phone like this are male, and not the skinny, limp-wristed neo-hippies but full-size geekboys looking for a solid, affordable smartphone. I'm sorry to say but this is NOT your device, fellas. Quite disappointing...try again, Nokia.
Speaking as a 6'1", 200 lb guy with bananas for fingers, I have had the E-71 for 8 months and I have no problem typing on it. It's not as easy as the E61i was, but not a problem.
The big thing with the '71 is the feel. As soon as you pick it up it screams quality (so put it down gently and apologize). Even die hard Slackberry and iPhoney owners are impressed.
The e71 is so much better than either my e61 or e61-2. Yes, it took a day to get used to the smaller keys, but overall, this is the best business phone that I have ever used.
whats up with this author hating on Symbian S60? "Of course, you'll need to be okay with S60 3.2 -- but if you can get past that" ITS THE MOST USED, MOST STABLE and MOST MATURE OS ON THE MOBILE PLANET! (smart phone market share over 60%) It's not perfect but compare it to any other mobile OS and you'll never turn back!
"MOST MATURE" ? I'd rather say most outdated. I had the E71 and traded it in for a G1. And while the E71 has certainly a nice hardware the Symbian platform is just outdatet crap compared to the ease of using a modern OS like Android and OSX.
Case in point: New apps. The new "boys" have an app store/market and with the Nokia you have to use the crappy browser to look for apps that are scathered all over the web. Nokia might change that in the coming months, but IMHO it just a confession of failure for the biggest phone company on the planet that newcomers on the market introduce this services 2 years earlier.
Another case in point, USEABLE touch-screens and capable software..... and so on....
@pannonicus
Maybe I'm being thick here but what does having an app store have to do with an OS?
S60 comes in for a lot of flak but, frankly, I'll stick with an OS I know can multitask and support common smartphone features as opposed to the apparently narrowly focused and half finished systems offered by other providers.
Yes Mr "no sub folders for apps" iPhone, I'm looking at you.
really like my E71 but the web browser is crap and i wish it had an analogue scrolling mechanism
go get opera. problem 1 of 2 solved.
actually, at this point, id recommend skyfire over opera for e series phones.
There's a ton of alternative browsers out there...Opera Mini, Skyfire, Bolt, ...
actually I thought Opera was just as bad, if not worse in some areas. I will check out Skyfire - makes me think of Jetfire.. who is on my desk atm :-)
I just got an N95s ($350) and an E71 ($330) both unlocked from Amazon and plan to keep only one of them. Haven't opened the E71 yet but am thoroughly impressed with the N95. Been using the Blackberry Curve 8320 for almost 2 years and think it's OK but wanted more (like GPS, bigger screen, WiFi). The 8Gb onboard memory is OK but really want a card slot. I don't know enough about smartphones to know if these two phones are similar or if it's 'apples & oranges' (no reference to iPhones intended). I'm not sure yet if Amazon will take back either phone if the box has been opened but will find out before I open the E71. Price wise, it looks like the N95 is the better deal. As far as looks go, the E71 is a fashion plate while the N95 is a 'tool'. This is the least of my requirements. I want function not fashion (if I have to choose, thank you!). Maybe I should have held out for the N96 or N97? Comments? Advice? By the way, I'm using AT&T at the moment but am not wed to them (that's why I got an unlocked phone, of course). Anyone like the Storm?
I don't think the E71 is a fashion phone? The only reason I am sticking with it so much is that i get push mail for my work and personal accounts on it and replying to email with that proper keyboard is just fantastic. It's easily increased my emailing and smsing from my handset and the length of messages.
@Dale
You should go with Nokia E71. Its not just the looks but the phone is a better performer owing to its 128 MB Ram, (Nokia N95 has 64 MB RAM) and the full Querty keyboard.
Few things thats better in Nokia N95 are the 5 MP Camera and the 2.6 inch (diagonal) screen. All the other specs are the same. So if get a Nokia E71, you get double the RAM and a full Querty keyboard which will be mighty useful than a mobile keypad.
Also Nokia N95 is a an old phone, it was released way back in 2006, Nokia E71 was released about a year ago. The fact is evident from the battery life, Nokia E71 (1500mAH, Lithion Polymer) has double battery life than Nokia N95 (950 mAH, Lithiom Ion)
is there any way for us E71 NAM unlocked users to get feature pack 2?
RE: The N95 does trump the E71 with it's 5mp Zeiss lens and the speakers are the best i've ever listened to on a handheld device. The larger keys on the numeric keyboard are easier for me to use than the tightly packed, hard to see qwerty keyboard on the Curve. Text entry is minimal for me so I'm OK with the phone pad. Haven't figured out the best way to hold the N95 yet and wish it had an 'Oops' strap on it. - OK,I just spotted the holes for the strap - Never mind!
I have the E71, and to be quite honest, this version seems like quite a rip off compared to my version. My E71 is sexy as hell, while that one looks like a Fisher Price version...Nokia has a long way to go to to be in the same position as Apple as far as apps goes. But the iPhone, G1 and HTC can't have the Nokia's touch, i.e. flawless international compatibility. And that's just why I have one in my pocket...
Getting it.
The E71 is probably one of the best phones AT&T has ever picked up. The black is incredibly sexy, even moreso than the steel gray. If I had $150, I'd lay it down for the E71, but I got a Bold back in November so something tells me I wouldn't get the full discount.
I'm waiting on the Pre anyway. Once that comes out, I'm hitting up Sprint for a cheaper plan and the best phone in the market.
I just got back from the AT&T store with a friend. She picked up the E71x to replace her very broken BB Pearl. She loves the E71 already. BAM.
The E71 is an excellent phone, 99 bucks is an extremely attractive price.
damn, amazon already has it for $.01 and free activation with 2year agreement.
If this Nokia E71x has WiFi, do I still need to purchase a data plan?
Can't I just find a "hot spot" in my city, or get access to the internet from my own home wireless network?
Locked or Unlocked. Arrgh ...this is bugging the (bleep) out of me.
I tend to find the WiFi on my device mostly useless, as it gets used for data when I'm nowhere near a hotspot - mostly in the car. (When riding, pulled over to the side, or in the hands of a passenger, I'm not crazy / stupid enough to try to use a smartphone and drive at the same time.) The majority of the use my phone gets is for navigation, since the library in my Honda's system is awful.