Sometimes you have to touch it
by Volker Weber
It's very hard to convey the impressions you have in words. Apple makes good use of movies to show off what you can do with an iPhone, and that alone makes many people want one. But with the E71 I am lost.
This thing just feels so right. It's the shape, and the size, and the weight, and the materials. All of that is just right. A BlackBerry Pearl feels too light, a Curve to plasticky, an E61i too wide, an iPhone too square, a BlackBerry 8800 too square and too light. But the new Nokia nails it. It's large enough for the screen and the keyboard, small enough to comfortably hold it, the shape just fits very well. The back is stainless steel, but not polished, so it feels more expensive and is not slippery. The weight is well balanced so it's easy to handle.
Two words: just perfect.
What's not so perfect is the software. S60 cannot nearly compete with the iPhone user experience. And still, it gets the job done swiftly. I like.
Comments
Great mini-review, thanks for sharing. Shame on NOKIA/RIM about the BBC thing though!
I like mine too :)
Your review so far is not very helpful for my plan to resist all cravings until the first android devices are out..
Waiting for Godot is not a good strategy.
Until Nokia puts together a serious developer program for the Symbian OS, whereby I mean they do something crazy like attract developers, they can produce all the magnificent devices in the world, it's not going to make a dent compared to RIM, Windows Mobile, and now Apple.
I realize Nokia had some recent press release on this front, but it may go in the category of too little too late. Even when they were not total owners they could have been attracting developers.
They also need to get their higher end devices either sold by U.S. carriers or see if they can become a reseller for them so they can offer the device at a subsidized price.
As of right now, they wonderful, but very high priced devices with very few third party applications available for them.
Henry, that is a very US-centric view. Symbian devices are actually quite popular here, and there are also quite a few applications. I do agree that development is not nearly as well supported as it should be.
"Waiting for Godot..." - I'm usally not a very patient person but I'll surely wait for the first Android phone(s) to come out :D. Have been a Nokia customer the last 10 years and after seeing all the Android stuff I think they will not get me easily back...
Volker, Yes, definitely more a US-centric view. I'll give you that much. But I think they are rivaling Palm for the most mismanaged, but amazingly heavily used operating system on the planet.
You can't find ANYTHING for Symbian over here application wise. Only a few apps still for Palm. Everything else is RIM, Windows Mobile, and up and coming at lightening speed, the Apple iPhone.
Worthy of note: Nokia's US HQ, which is now also their Enterprise HQ is in the same city I live in, White Plains, NY.
When they moved their US HQ from TX to NY, they moved the Enterprise group out of Finland to NY as well, the intention being to go after the US corporate mobile groupware market. They are not exactly breaking any records. It is a very rare occasion that I see someone on a train break out a Nokia smartphone like the E61/E71; which is a shame. They make great devices. I have followed Symbian since the EPOC days. (I was also a very big Psion fan.)
So at least give me some credit for Eurpean cell phone tastes. :)
I was hoping to get an E90 if they would add the US 3G frequencies and get some applications for it. But I've given up on Nokia as a smartphone option, just as I did with Palm; sadly in both cases because both had (still have) such great potential.
You will find quite a few Lotus people in the Enterprise Group. Just saying ... ;-)
