You guys can follow me on twitter @SehajBir to know my personal take on all things mobile and more

1. N86 Solace

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2. Steel Black v3

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3. Touch

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4. Shine XpressMusic

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5. Black V2

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It is not like Nokia has not made some really amazing looking phones. Nokia has shown that it can deliver in regards to looks as well. Well no points for guessing I am talking about the E71. It is the perfect combination of looks and power. The question that arises in my mind is why not the flagship devices. With flagship devices I mean N96, N95, E90 and obviously the soon to come N97 and if we go down the memory lane then we have the N91 also. Oh! before I forget the leaked video of E75 and E72 too are bulky devices for which Ani did a post on their obesity.

I know some people with me will disagree over the fact that Nokia distinguishes between the users who want a good looking phone and the users who want a power packed device and some less powerful but good looking phones like 8800, Nokia Prism and the Supernova series have been launched. But I will also stress on the fact that there are users like me who want a good looking phone as well as a power packed phone. Nonetheless I am confident that Nokia has the man power and the brain-power to find a middle path too. Nokia has done it with the E71 and also with the E66 and I hope to see some more really powerful device which are also amazingly beautiful.

People do leave in your comments so that we can see how many people want to tread the MIDDLE PATH like me or want TWO DISTINCT PATHS. Hoping to see some active participation

Happy New Year People

First thing finally I am back it has been nearly 4 months since I have posted here well it’s not because I left blogging well there were some really important things I had to deal with. Those things dealt with I am back… Thanks to all the avid readers for keeping the blog super alive and a much needed thanks to Ani for keeping the blog kicking and alive. (click pictures for larger view)

Ok done with the niceties let me get on with my post. I have found a new love in the Nokia E71. I have been using the device for about 2 months. I changed over to the device from the Flagship E90. I wasn’t expecting a lot but I was completely blown away by the sheer excellence of the device. A phone with s60 operator system as you all know is in itself a very powerful device so what makes me call E71 a super power ?

Well to know that you have to read on…..

1. Looks : I am a guy who likes my phones with looks and I am sure lot of the consumers out there have a liking for good looking phones. The E71 sure scores 10/10 in this aspect. A sleek looking phone with a great combination of metal and plastic. A great body design and it kind of just melts in your hand giving it a very cuddly feel. The phone comes in two colors. The CLASSY Grey black and the REGAL white.

2. Battery: A phone can be very powerful but if the battery has no juice the phone is a dead gadget. The E71 has a killer battery I consider myself a very heavy user, emails, games, web-browsing but the E71 doesn’t ever let me down. I have a personal experience of using the phone without charging it for 3 whole days.

3. Features: The E71 has everything you need in a phone at this moment. From hi-speed web- browsing to Quick office. Then we have the GPS if you ever get lost. One feature introduced in the E71 was switch. I love this feature as it lets you switch your profile your theme settings with one click, so u can have a different profile and themes settings when you are in office and a different setting once you are back home. A standard 3.2 megapixel camera is also there but it doesn’t live up to the expectation but I can live with it.

This is what you will find on all the blogs. You must be wondering that what has Sehaj written which is different. Well I haven’t written anything differently. With the 5800 releasing I didn’t want that people forget that a SUPER POWER of a device already exists. Let’s hope with new devices Nokia lives up to the expectations and quality it brought to the people with the E71. For all the E71 users head out to Vaibhav’s The Symbian blog for Tips and Tricks for E71 users.

1. Native Mailbox Use (Both E71 & E66)

I have been using the device regularly for checking my mails. Not only on the Eseries but on the Nseries as well. So why am I only writing about this tweak for the Eseries, well simply because the three button layout is unique to E66 & E71. At present when you are checking your mail, you cannot use these keys in any way. What I want Nokia to do is to make these keys usable by giving it the function to navigate and read selected mails. The idea is simple, allow the volume keys to move up and down through the mails and allow the PTT key to be able to open the selected mail. The following picture will hopefully project my thoughts more clearly.

This would sure make checking and reading emails more easy. I think this use can be incorporated into the Nokia Email client as well. (Now if you are thinking what would happen to the PTT function, well Indian networks don’t support PTT as yet, but im sure guys at Nokia will find a way through this )

2. Camera (In case of E66)

The E66 camera viewfinder appears like a viewfinder of a regular / digital camera. With the camera key on the right side of the device, which is used to click, the volume keys can be put to use by allowing them to Zoom in and Zoom out. I agree most of us don’t use this function but there is no harm in providing this function per se. Lets hope Nokia is listening to us. The following picture will relate to what I am pointing at.

If you guys have any of these two devices and would want some tweaks to be done which would make your way around much easy do let share them with us. Also tell what you all feel about the two points that I made above.

1. Lack Of Quick Navigation Buttons that are in the E-Series (the shortcut keys around the Naviwheel)
2. Does Not Sync well with PC (Missing Entries With MS Outlook).
3. Thick Cross-Section (difficult to carry around for long hours in pocket)
4. Congested Keypad & Lack of a QWERTY layout (takes forever to write text sms and e-mails)
5. Lack of Dual Home Screen Mode (now featuring in E66 and E71)
6. Extra features like 5 MP camera, multimedia and games result in more battery consumption leading to frequent recharging of the device.
These are the top 6 points against its business use. Waiting for you guys to give feedback on this.

The E72 (Physical)

1. Nokia E72 is the next upcoming QWERTY keypad phone after E71. The outer face keypad seems to have same shortcut keys and looks pretty filled up. The keys now appear to have a mountain elevation with numbers and alphabets on opposite faces (diamond domes), something like this ‘ 2/\T ‘ (inverted V) contrasting this with the E71 which had rather round domes (picture below).

2. The D pad is the same. The screen size too appears to be the same as the Nokia E71, which I feel could have been improved.

3. The cross-section looks thick and will apparently enable to add a Good Carl Ziess Camera, which I feel the case will be as so does our friend Mark who has detailed his early thoughts based on the video just like me. Mark also pointed out the space bar becoming smaller and has made room for three more keys. Screenshots below for comparison.

4. A better camera is sure in place for the Nokia E72, more on the likes of 5 MP. Thus making it more fat and rather not so sleek as the E71. If Nokia will incorporate any of their Legends Telegraph technology then I will definitely upgrade asap.

5. The illumination of the Keypad also looks brilliant and bright as compared to E71 which was rather dim.

6. As far as the color goes, now we know that E72 will feature for sure in ‘Red’ and ‘Black’!

Final Thought

Nokia E72 sure looks promising with its new built and Design. If the camera is improved then I’m pretty sure it will make a great successor to the amazing E71. On final grounds, the E72 is an Obese (fat) version of E71 offering better Optics which simply means with added features the battery would lose out but who knows, its all to early. Below is a picture of E71 for you guys to compare both the phones.

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.

Check out the all New E71 at a very special offer at the Nokia Online Shop UK. Today work is where we are. Now meet the mobile device designed for the way we work. With optimized messaging and email, high speed connections, and navigation.

Pounds (Uk) 365.00
Includes VAT.
Delivery: Standard 3-5 days 3.99, Express 1-2 days 9.99

Exclusive offer from the Nokia Online Shop Get the feature-packed E71 Business phone, with a great Bluetooth headset + FREE shipping for just 365!

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