Nokia E71 slim goodness with full QWERTY (Nokia E71 with Contract)

Member Name: davomrmac

Product:	Nokia E71 with Contract
Date:	05/08/08 (117 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great GPS, very slim, superb build, loads of applications

Disadvantages: Fingerprint magnet, user interface is just OK

I love my iPhone, so with trepidation I decided to give a Nokia E71 a whirl. There are a few surprises, but also many disappointments.

The good
Well, the E71 has a nice form factor. It is very very slim, great styling, and very pocketable. The build quality is awesome, the best feeling Nokia I have ever used.
The screen is very crisp and clear, it is bright enough, but could be a little brighter in my opinion. The keyboard is also pretty darn awesome. Having used the iPhone for over a year, I was surprised how much I missed having a proper tactile keyboard.
The GPS built into this handset is brilliant too. It locked onto a signal really quickly, was very accurate, and performed a lot better than the iPhone 3G.
Call quality is also very clear, the media and built in apps are also sweet.

The Bad
Screen is a little small and the user interface is certainly not as nice as the likes of the iPhone. It is not bad if not compared to other handsets though.
The back, sides and shiny top edges really pick up fingerprints and smears too easily, which is a shame.
Turn-by-turn GPS is only available from Nokia if you pay. You do get a 90 day free trial (with the '3' network), but I think Nokia should just give you this.
Also, no 2GB micro SD card in the box (again with '3').
Of all the useful applications, no Skype is available for this handset (yet).

Overall, a nice handset. Very cool and has some great features. If I had to choose between this and an iPhone it would be close. The iPhone offers a really superb experience, but the Nokia E71 could prove to be ultimately more useful.

Summary: If you want a cool, ultimate communications handset, this is it