Nokia E71 The Hidden Gem

Nokia E71 - the hidden gem in Nokia’s range of mobile phones

It’s always the flashy phones that get the publicity, isn’t it. Consider Sony Ericsson; the X1 Xperia and the C905 get all the hype, while the W902, possibly the best Walkman phone ever made, gets none of it. It’s the same with Nokia, too. Phones like the N96, N97 and 5800 have got loads of people shouting, to the point where other phones don’t get a look in.

Which is a shame, really, because having had a play with the Nokia E71, today, it’s one of the nicest phones I’ve had a go on in absolutely chuffin’ ages!

Now, I know what you’re thinking; it’s a Blackberry, innit. Well, yes, it does share some design traits with the Blackberry form factor. I’ll concede that. Oh ok, and it’s made to fit into the same niche as Blackberrys do. That doesn’t mean the Nokia E71 is any less of a phone because of that, though. The QWERTY keyboard takes messaging to a whole new dimension, whether it be email or text messaging, and I found it really nice to use, after a learning curve that can be measured in minutes. It’s laid out cleverly, software-wise, too, with a new home key (with a house on it) replacing the old yin-yang menu key previous Symbian-powered Nokia phones have had. The E71 also lets you have two separate home screens, one for work, where you can set it to show emails and tasks, for example, and one for home, where you could set it to show camera and music shortcuts.

All of this is possible, because it’s powered by Symbian S60, making it easily as powerful as its more famous Nseries siblings, and although the screen’s smaller than on those, the fact it’s in landscape mode makes it incredibly appealing to look at, in a quirky kinda way. Kinda like Alyson Hannigan. And the fact I always preferred Alyson Hannigan over Sarah Michelle Gellar in Buffy should be a massive hint that I’m pretty much assured to prefer this to the N96.

Not sure how well it holds its own against the Nokia 5800, though…

Anyway, the Nokia E71 is powerful, it looks gorgeous, it’s got a 3 megapixel camera that really does produce some brilliant photos, and it’s downright lovely in every respect. Oh, and shockingly thin for a phone this powerful.

Ok, granted, it might not have the big star power of the Nokia N97, or be as all-round, jaw-droppingly awesome as the N97, but you can guarantee it’s a damn sight cheaper, and if you get a Nokia E71, I’m tellin’ ya now, you will not regret it. Just ask my compadre Gary. He’s just got one, and his only regret is letting me have a look at it, as I’m now refusing to give it back…

Do you love the E71 as much as Techy Markus? Or do you think it’s a cheap Blackberry rip-off? Leave us a comment and have your say!

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