Nokia E71 Review : A Near Perfect QWERTY Smartphone?

Weirdly enough, the E71 gave us some invalid SIM message randomly which we couldn't pin down. Nokia also released a new firmware a few days ago; version 300.21.012 introduced a few improvements including enhanced mail for Exchange, Internet Radio added, improved USB flashing and better usability.

The E71 uses S60 3rd Edition and comes with the feature pack 1 based on the Symbian OS v9.2. The smartphone come with a wealth of applications by default and describing them all would be too cumbersome especially if you were to throw Nokia's OVI in there.

The E71's main appeal is its strength in the messaging segment: It will support IMAP, POP and SMTP email protocols, as well as Nokia Intellisync Wireless Email.

Attachments are supported plus the Quickoffice application lets you view and edit Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents. Nokia has even bundled its own Mobile Virtual Private Network for more secure messaging.

Should you go for the E71? It depends on a number of things. If you plan to get a smartphone to fit into an existing entreprise environment, then it is very likely that any Blackberry model will be the probable choice.

Otherwise, it is a tough call as there are a number of great Blackberry Curve bargains available for around £20 albeit on 24 month contracts.

All in all though, we feel that the E71 is an excellent all rounder that's available at a great price. And the future? well, there's already the E72 which has been launched last month with improved specs and that 3.5mm audio jack.