Nokia E73x – A Perfect Business Match

Nokia introduces yet another stunning business class mobile phone through its E series known as the Nokia E71. It is one of the most popular E series mobile phones by Nokia and rumours has it that there are plans on taking the Nokia E71 a level higher through an i-upgrade; Nokia E71i.

“The E71x is one of the most stylish, sophisticated and thinnest QWERTY smartphones on the market, and it’s the ideal companion for people who enjoy easy messaging and connecting with their friends. We are thrilled to now bring this sleek smartphone to people across the United States with AT&T.” – David Petts, Vice President and General Manager, AT&T Account, Nokia.

When I first saw the Nokia E71, my first impression was “Okay, there goes a giant, trying to immitate a Blackberry. At this rate, they are gonna be sold just like Motorola mobile division”. But that was before I get my hands on it. Seeing is believing and Nokia should let as many people try this phone and get them excited too. Just like me.

Form factor

The Nokia E71 is a monoblock with full QWERTY keyboard. One thing that catches the eyes of many, is the slim aluminium finishing body that looks sexy and stylish – fitted for the business environment. This can be explained by its 114mm (height) x 57mm (width) x 10 mm (thick). The screen size is about 2.36″ and has a resolution of 320×240 TFT active matrix display which has 16 million colors. It came in with a descent 3.2 megapixel camera and is available in 3 colours – grey and white with an additional black now is also offered which looks way cooler than the grey and white. The best thing about it is though it has a shiny surface, it does not attract too much prints on it.

Functionalities

But the coolest thing about this phone is the 2 customizable home screens. As adopted by its lesser clone – Nokia E63, the 2 screens allow users to customize both screens. One screen can be stuffed with work apps mobile office programs like words and powerpoints, emails, gps while the other home screen can be loaded with games, social networks and chat programs. The best thing is that it has dedicated buttons to access both screens respectively. This makes it easy for users to manage work and personal arrangements at the same time.

It came with a business card reader functionalities. Whenever you meet a new contact, they will normally hand you their business card. Use the integrated camera and capture the card. Name, position, company and other information will be stored digitally without having to key them in. Well, it’s not perfect as it sometimes misspelled a couple of letters, which can be fixed with the full QWERTY keyboard, nevertheless, it saves you tonnes of time and texting to manually input the contacts in your mobile phone.

Other than that, it came with an A-GPS functionality and pre-installed Nokia Maps which gives you directions to new meeting places. It came in, like any other standard phones – organizers, reminders, alarms, conference calling, push to talk, VOIP enabled and many more.

All of these functions are made possible with its high bandwidth, 3G HSDPA capabilities which allows a transfer rate to a maximum 3.6 Mbps. Web browsing is enabled through Nokia browser. Downloading music, product podcasts, or whatever it is that is important to you on the net, can be done. Video calls are also available.

Could be better

To cater the slim form factor, the Nokia E71 does not have a 3.5mm jack for headphones. The thought to put in a QWERTY keyboard is complementary but the size of it is killing me! At times, I accidentally hit 2 buttons at once and at times 3! And it can be simplified too. The 3.2 megapixel camera, is descent and should be improved. Maybe because it falls under ‘business’ series and therefore there are no N-Gage games. Another thing is the screen is wide, but not wode enough for a full featured film to be played on it.

Nokia E71 Verdict

The phone is marvellous. It looks slim and sexy which reflects a good image of the owner. Except for not being touch screen, it has full functions of other business class mobile phones i.e. from HTC. The business card application is great and handy. It has problems like ultra small keyboards and below par camera, but those are minor to think that this is a business phone and not really for entertainment and leisure.With a price of approximately £280 / USD$499 / RM1,400, it is definitely worth considering.