Great smart phone for the price!!
Pros:
*Great screen resolution
*Awesome keyboard very easy to type. Much better than the Blackberry Curve. Similar to the BOLD.
*Phone reception is very good no issues at all. I think I get a stronger 3G signal than my IPhone 3G
*As far as Data I use this phone with WI-FI only and it has a great inbuilt tool that always asks which way you want to connect to the net. I can also set certain applications to use WI-FI by default so I done have to worry about accidentally using the data service. The WI-FI connectivity is great.
*Web browser is one of the best I have used. The IPhone browser is obviously better because of the screen size and the touch user interface. But the S60 browser is far better than the windows mobile or blackberry browsers. It even executes flash pages YouTube mobile and many other flash oriented website.
*The email capabilities are amazing Very easy to set up. I was able to access exchange email (via push) and Gmail without any issues at all. Nokia has some sort of trial email application http://email.nokia.com which works amazing well. I am able to use Gmail with push capability. That's something even the IPhone can't do yet. However this service is in beta and may be costly down the road. It rendered HTML emails perfectly.
*Attachments were easy to open and view. However quick office requires a 19.00 update to open the new MS Office 2007 file formats.
*I use Google for calendaring and contacts. Thanks to Google enabling Microsoft ActiveSync technology for its calendar and contacts applications I am able to sync real time. http://www.google.com/support/mobile/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=147951
*As far listening to music the phone works quite well. It is obviously not even close to the I-Phone. If media is your primary requirement this particular model will be slightly disappointing. However I was able to transfer play list from I-tunes to the Nokia Music Desktop software and Sync the play lists with the phone (http://www.mattshelton.net/2008/05/23/itunes-playlist-export ) . The external speakers on the phone produce a crisp sound better than the external speakers of the IPhone but not as good as the Blackberry Bold. Via headphones the sound was quite good. I was able to browse the music by play list Artist Album etc. I would say the music playback capability was as good as the blackberries with media Sync.
*I have not tried the video playback capabilities.
*The camera on the phone is quite adequate and it has a flash that is amazingly bright. Be sure not flash someone in the eye as its blinding at a close range. I was able to take pictures and email as attachments and MMS them to my contacts without any issues. I felt the picture quality was as good as the IPhone. With the added bonus of a flash. The Video capability was decent and worked well. Nothing to write home about but a cool feature to have.
*Files on OVI. Yes it is possible to install a desktop application called Files on OVI and access desktop files via the phone. It works well and setup was a breeze. Cool feature to have. But I did notice my desktop acting slightly slow and decided to uninstall it. But this is most likely a unique issue related to my desktop.
*The battery life was better than average no issues at all with heavy use. Three times better than the IPhone 3G
*It has an App store which is interesting and shows a lot of potential. I found many useful apps for free. (Nibmuzz Bloomberg etc)
Cons:
*The lack of the side volume toggle is annoying. Mostly when trying to adjust the volume while listing to music and when trying to turn off the ringer when the phone is in the pocket.
*The User Interface is a little dated and does not feel very user friendly. The menu system is extensive but a little annoying at times as it requires multiple clicks to get simple things done.
*No USB data cable memory card or out of the box compatibility for MS Office 2007 files formats. These upgrades cost me $46.00 (8GB Micro SDHC).
This is a great phone for the price. I am a smart phone power user and have used Blackberries IPhone and Windows mobile. I love what this phone can do out of the box. It is really a little gem. I would highly recommend this phone to anyone who does not want to sign or extend their contracts and does not need IPod like media capabilities. The lack of a volume toggle is not a deal breaker in my books. The rubberized plastic exterior is great and has a slight grip to it. I can't imagine how uncomfortable the Nokia E71 must feel in the hand with its metal exterior. Metal sounds cool and fancy but its slippery and gets cold. Hope this review helps!!
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