I'd keep this phone for a long time. (Nokia E71)

Member Name: RoleySkate

Product:	Nokia E71
Date:	21/06/09 (45 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Pretty easy to use, good camera/video, qwerty keyboard, able to write documents, light

Disadvantages: None really

When I bought this phone, I had two main concerns.
1) With it having a qwerty keyboard, will it make it too bulky? The answer is no, not really. The E71 is very thin and only slightly wider than your average phone. It will fit in your pocket fine and as it is so thin, it won't stick out much so there'll be none of that "Is that a phone in your pocket or are you just pleased to see me" syndrome you get with other phones.
2) Will it be uber complicated to use? Not at all. Like most Nokia phones, this one is pretty straight forward for basic use so there will be none of that head scratching just trying to make a call like some phones. Some of the advanced stuff can take a little bit of playing with to get used to, but in all it is easy to use.
The Nokia E71 is a good looking phone, it has a shiney back which can get a little greasy looking with finger prints but that's easily remedied with a quick wipe with your sleeve or something similar.
The main screen has icons so that you can get to your emails, texts, music or web quickly without having to go through the menu. It also has a quicklinks icon where you can find, well, quick links to take you to websites like google, yahoo, facebook...without having to type them in.
The keyboard is good. The buttons are small, but not so close together that you press lots of buttons as well as the one you want. Its easy to text, so much so that I don't think I could go back to a normal phone keyboard after using the qwerty one. To get to the numbers you only need to hold the function button in the left corner and the number you want, or you can press and hold it. There are four menu buttons near the screen that will take you to the main menu, calender, phone book and message centre (by default, but these are changeable) which saves time scrolling though other menu's. Part of the keypad will flash if you have left something running, so you know it is running and can shut it down to save your battery.
They battery is good, I can usually get about a week out of it with basic use (say a few texts/calls a day) but obviously it decreases with the amount of stuff you run.
You can create word documents, spread sheets and presentations with the phone which you can then either save and send to a printer or move on to a pc usb stick style or via blue tooth. Very handy if you're on the move a lot and don't feel like carrying a laptop about.
The camera and video are very good. You get a sharp image and the video picture/sound is very clear.
Audiowise, its ok. The volume is decent but can sound a bit tinny. Alright for a phone though.
The GPS is good. Its probably pretty basic as far as sat navs go, so if you wanted something special then you'll be disappointed. It will get you from A to B by car or even walking so it does its job.
I would recommend this phone to anyone, from a business person to someone just looking for a flashy phone. A clever phone, but simple to use. Very nice.

Summary: Excellent phone

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