Nokia E71: Good smartphone?

On Sun, 23 Nov 2008 14:20:41 -0600, me wrote:

> Anyone own the unlocked Nokia E71 smart phone?
>
> Thoughts on it for use with T Mobile?

Yes, I got the unlocked E71 from Amazon 2 weeks ago. I love it. I had to
overcome an overwhelming urge to get the G1, but it seemed, for all its
hype and some genuinely innovative stuff, just not functional enough.
Fun, yes. But that wasn't enough to make me sign up for another two years
with T-Mobile.

So, I chose to forgo T-Mobile's new 3G benefits to have the better phone.
And with this phone (the E71-2, which is the North American version) I
can switch to AT&T, in the unlikely event that hell does freeze over.

The E71 functions well on T-Mobile's EDGE network, though I am sure I
would hate it if I had already become accustomed to 3G. It handles full
web pages with little waiting, renders them perfectly in its native
browser, and EDGE is more than adequate for mobile formatted pages. I
have even taken to listening to streaming Internet radio on the phone
(via EDGE not WiFi) even at home where I could use my desktop for
listening instead.

Which brings up a small rather esoteric issue I have with the E71's
connectivity. I have found that it is easier for me to set all the apps
to connect via T-Mobile Internet rather than keep having it ask me
incessantly what connection to use. There may be a way, which I have not
yet discovered, to set a sequence of preference for connections in the
phone. (i.e.: 1st choice, home WiFi, 2nd choice, some other WiFi, 3rd
choice, T-Mobile Internet.) In the meantime, apps like the browser let me
switch connections on the fly, so if I get too impatient for EDGE speeds,
then I can easily switch to whatever WiFi is handy (IF there is one).

The phone has quality packed into every nook and cranny. Part of this is
due to the Symbian operating system, which has always been thorough
rather than simplistic. Some complain it is hard to master, but it is not
really, it is just not simplistic.

And it is very very capable. This phone will tether with my laptop via
bluetooth. It will connect with my desktop as a mass storage device (a
removable drive) via USB--great for loading (and unloading) huge amounts
of music; I currently have 2GB of tunes on it. The media player
automatically scans for music, and catalogs all of it by artist, album,
genre, composer, and title. I have it play everything in shuffle mode,
but it also does playlists

The E71 will let you set up multiple e-mail accounts, and not just within
its own e-mail application. I have one set-up for the phone only, and the
other is my regular GMail account running in Google's Java app on the
phone. They both could just as easily be set up within the native app.

And the calendar. Someday I may want a different calendar application,
but that won't be anytime soon. I haven't found out how (or if) this will
communicate with the only other calendar app I use, Google Calendar. But
the Symbian calendar app on the E71 has already replaced Google's, for
me. Getting it to sync with another calendar app, if I ever want to be
bothered trying, will just be gravy. But having in your pants pocket
every conceivable agenda entry, from here to eternity, makes any other
date-keeping solution kinda cumbersome. Even Google.

The display is luscious. The body is sturdy and beautiful. The
loudspeaker sound is remarkable for such a tiny device (my last Nokia's
sound was the same). And the keyboard is an absolute pleasure to type on.
I am even getting to wish my desktop had Predictive Text.

I have to say the first one I got was slightly defective. Once or twice
in the first week, the phone just died abruptly during use. Amazon sent
the replacement so I had them both for a week before I had to send the
first one back. I switched over all the data, and made sure everything
was OK before sending the original back. There were only tiny differences
between them. My first one had a tiny tiny space between the keyboard and
the display which let a sliver of light from the keypad backlight shine
through. It was visible only when the unit was used in complete darkness.

The other difference was that the new battery fit quite snugly, tightly
even, and has to be slightly pried out of its compartment. The original
one was not exactly floating, but it did fall out quite easily when the
back of the phone was taken off.

I seem to have babbled on for quite a while here. I like the Nokia E71. I
like T-Mobile. They go together rather well, provided you don't expect 3G
speed. Hell, I have unlimited internet for $20/month. I'm happy.