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My new best friend - Nokia E71

People who know me know I love gadgets and geeky stuff of all kinds.
But I need to feel they have a constructive purpose and usefulness, and not just be a piece of frippery.

And it’s helpful if I think they can help me save money.
I really didn’t need a new mobile phone. The phone I had was a smartphone. A Palm Treo 680. It worked really well for me. It’s important for me to be able to sync key info from Outlook to my phone for when I’m out but don’t have the laptop with me, and the Treo worked fine in that regard – I prefer the old Palm o/s to Windows Mobile variations. And I did love the qwerty keyboard, which made txting and emails s-o easy.
But it wasn’t 3G and the phone side was a little lacking. Especially battery life. I couldn’t leave Bluetooth turned on when I wasn’t using it because of the drain. And even with that off most of the time, and relatively few calls, the battery would barely last a day.

So when my carrier of choice (at the moment) expanded their 3G network to my part of the world, and added affordable data ‘bolt on’ plans, I started to think about dropping the landline at Blackheath. We had kept this mainly for internet use when at the house, but using a mobile phone as a data modem for the laptop meant I could think about dropping the land line.

Long story short, a new Nokia model, the E71 seemed to be a very good option. It had more key features than you could poke a stick at:
3G, Bluetooth, WiFi, Email, QWERTY keyboard, hi-res screen, data modem ability, 3.2Mp camera, GPS, small form factor, metal case, etc, etc.
And I have to say it is the most impressive phone I’ve used.
I looked briefly at the iPhone, but aside from the slick user interface, it lacks a lots under the hood. It’s geared to entertainment rather than productivity. The samples I’ve handled feel fragile, and I wonder how robust the touch screen will be (and without a functional touch screen, the iPhone is totally useless). Oh, and I hate Apple, and refuse have the bloat-ware that iTunes is on my system.
The Nokia runs on the well regarded Symbian o/s and a pile of add on apps are available to extended functionality where desirable.

And in everyday use, the Nokia has exceeded expectations.
The screen is great. It’s small, but crystal clear. The keyboard works very well. The keys are slightly harder to type with than the Palm, but there’s many more common characters available.
It feels solid: the aluminium case is tough and gorgeous to look at and touch (I have the dark grey model).
Basic functions are terrific. By that I mean it works as a phone really, really well. It’s intuitive. Most common phone functions are simple to find and use.
It picks up entries in the contacts list for dialling by typing almost any part of the name in (not just the first characters). It’s clever enough to question if I try and send a txt to a landline (yes, I know some landlines can take txts, but very few).
The Bluetooth pairs quickly and effectively with my earpiece for the car, and with my laptop’s built in BT radio.
The new Nokia desktop software is a vast improvement over past versions, and syncs easily with Outlook. It took me a maximum of five minutes to set up and sync for the first time.
The WiFi radio picked up my home network instantly and while I can’t share files via the phone, I can use it for internet access instead of my data plan. Email can be set up to pick up only when within range of an accessible WiFi point to save on data costs.

Apple are trying to convince buyers of their iPhone that they invented ‘push’ email. Nonsense of course. Blackberry have been doing it for years with an Exchange server and similar. The E71 also does a variation on it, but with normal POP3/IMAP accounts or an Exchange server.
The standard email app is a little basic, but I find it perfect for the quick, on-the-fly emails I write on the run.

The phone comes with a full version of ‘Quickoffice’ a sort of mini Office app that allows viewing and editing of many MS Office files. A PDF reader is also included. The size of the screen limits there usefulness, but again they are useful for quick and dirty work on the fly.

The media player plays a couple of different video formats (including Flash), and MP3 and other audio formats. Some playlist abilities helps the phone fulfil some iPod-like functionality.

The Nokia Maps application is also a little basic, and the turn by turn instructions are available only by subscription. But Google Maps runs perfectly, and while in-car use is limited, it’s still proved a really useful alternative to having an open street directory on the seat beside me for navigating while on foot.

There’s a good deal of flexibility with themes, which allows for adjustment of items/alerts on the ‘home’ screen as well as the purely asthetic appearance.

As a data modem, the phone is great. I can use the BT connection or a USB cable (supplied), and assuming I’m in a 3G covered area, I get excellent speed. If 3G coverage is patchy, the phone switches make to 2G speeds seamlessly. Slow, yes, but still usable in a pinch.

Battery life is far better than I expected. WIth my usage (daily average of 20-25 mins on calls, 10-20 SMS’s, email and some web browsing) the battery lasts at least two full days. The exception to this is using the phone as a data modem. This is a heavy power user and around 4 hours connected to my laptop with just about flatten the battery.

There’s lots more to say, but I’m sure you are getting the point: for me, this is best phone I’ve used. The UI is great (without the flash-factor of the iPhone), the productivity features suit me down to the ground, and the performance in the areas that concern me is excellent. It’s solidly built, and just works well out of the box.
I’m looking forward to a good couple of years out of this phone.