I finally had compiled my thoughts on the new Nokia E71. Having it with me for over two weeks now I have a lot to share with you guys about my personal take on various features. So here I am starting with a general review. If you want me to detail some portions of this article please let me know by leaving a comment below.

The sexy curved cornered rectangloid shaped E71 together with its steel body casts a spell on you when you first take a look at the device. One sure feels the adrenaline pumping when one holds it in ones hand. Nokia have finally come up with what I would say the best QWERTY device built so far. The build quality is simply amazing. It has the typical looks of a business communication device and is the sleekest messenger to date with stylish steel casing and classy looks.

The E71 runs on Symbian 9.2 OS with the Series60 3rd Edition user interface. Equipped with FP 1 (Feature Pack 1) it also has a spice of FP 2. The processor is a single 369 MHz CPU and has 128MB of RAM. In simple terms it reduces the delay when navigating around. Thus a whole lot of memory for you to run a handful of softwares together, making multitasking easier. The Menu has no support for animated icons but the font size can be changed. Other features are standard to other Symbian devices.
We have a 120MB on board, which is amazing as the upcoming models have actually reduced this feature to a mere 85MB (N85 and N79)*. We also have a 2 GB card included which is fast to work your way around with ease. I still have to test it with 8GB but I feel it will handle it too.

Anatomy & Histology (Design, Built & Microscopic View)

Im going to do a quick walkthrough of the device on its built and starting externally the device on the front has the earpiece in the top centre with light sensor and video camera for making video calls on the left and right respectively. Below is the comparatively small display of 2.36  and a crowded qwerty keypad unit against the likes of its predecessors viz. E61 but once you get used to it, it becomes more than spacious to use. On the left side we have the IR port along with the microUSB and microSD card slots covered with rubber lids. On the right side we have volume keys and in between then the voice command key, although not used frequently but I see much potential in these keys in the coming firmware update. (They can be put to use to surf through emails or messages and the voice command key can be used to select, delete etc. So stay tuned!)

Above we have the 2.5 mm audio jack. On the top side we have the power key in RED (looks amazingly eye catchy, I kind of like it) to the right and the speaker to the left. At the bottom end we have the charger slot. On the rear side we have the LED flash, 3.2 AF camera (a bit disappointing though) and the self portrait.
The back cover has a beautiful design of dots but it easily smudges with fingerprints . It can be removed by pressing the two knobs at the sides and the cover lifts up automatically with ease. The battery inside is 1500 mAh BP-4L Li Ion, which by far gives the best backup ever. Putting back the cover requires a little force but its okay.

Display & Graphic User Interface

Not everyones cup of tea is the display. With a size reduction on the whole the display too shrinks to a 2.36″ 16M-color QVGA. This is smaller than the Nokia E61 screen but with time you actually begin to see more. Irony in there but I felt that the screen has actually been more wisely used to display a handful of features. But still you feel that why has the size of the landscape display been sacrificed to make the phone more compact and pocket-friendly, I mean you could cut more on the waste space above the screen on below the keyboard. On whole the screen performance is great. There is excellent contrast and vivid, display in sunlight is also commendable.
There are a set of 4 themes preinstalled but if you wish you can download my top 10 collection from here>>

Keyboard

By far the best part of having a QWERTY phone is to be able to input text with ease. The E71 QWERTY keypad is the other element that’s been reduced in size compared to the E61. Reduction may ponder to the point that now it would be difficult to manipulate around but I have to admit that Nokia did manage to strike the right balance here and the E71 keyboard awesome. Well, you cant actually compare the device to a regular keyboard but as you manage your way around; your speed improves and becomes a descent fast with time. I admit it takes a little getting used to before you can actually write speedy texts. An intelligent design incorporated is the small domes which enable you to work around with ease.

Camera

Yes, I know, it might not be equipped with the best but it is fair enough for a MMS or an Live online stream but for the sake of a storyteller, it has lost its path. The 3.2 MP AF is a big failure. Even the 2 MP of the earlier Nseries did a far better job. Compare to the likes of Sony Erisson 3.2 MP AF, it lags far behind. If this was not enough the LED flash too is a big disappointment. The cherry on top is still yet to come, there is a lack of lens protection and a dedicated camera key makes the snack a total disaster.

Below is a set of pictures clicked with the Nokia E71.

(you can request for the original size by leaving a comment)

Video recording too is a big disappointment and manages only QVGA videos at a mere 15 fps, which totally is a thing of the sixties, if you know what I mean. Thus you all have been warned.

Screen Switching

A new and innovative feature of the Nokia E71 allows you to toggle between two different phone setup screens. More or less like a deskspace option in a PC, where in you can have different customizations for different screens. Same is the case here and both of them can be customized with its own theme and applications for maximizing usability. This way you can have a leisure and business profile and alternate them at the expense of a single click. I totally love this feature. Navigating between screens was fast and I had no problems.

Well, Im feeling sleepy right now and will conclude the review in my next post. The features yet to come are the Telephony, Messaging & Email, Multimedia, Web, GPS, Games and Final Verdict. So stay tuned for the next part.