Product Review: Nokia E71x

And so, here is the fancy little device sent to me about three weeks ago to review. I was excited because I have never owned a phone on which I can check e-mail and do all the other stuff my friends are doing on their beloved "crackberries" nicknamed for the addiction these divine examples of modern technology afford us.

I do have to send it back this week which is good and bad. Good because I caught myself trying to check e-mail and twitter while DRIVING which one way to become part of the national statistic for car accidents resulting from device distractions. Bad because I was getting used to checking my e-mail when I was out and about. Because this was a trial and I only had a beat-up Razor before this, I didn't buy the full internet access package which I think might have been responsible for the e-mail download quirks I wasn't able to resolve in the time I had it.

As far as features go, I was happy with the QWERTY keyboard, quality of pictures and slim size of the phone. I loved that it could hold a memory card even though I only used the memory on the phone, again since I was only using it for a short time.

I do agree with another review that the back was easy to mark up with fingerprints. I did try to keep the phone in the best shape for returning but it was a tad slippery which made handling it a little difficult. I liked the size however since it fit easily in my hand and I didn't feel like I was talking into a satellite phone like I do with some of the older Blackberries.

In the time I had it, I could not find an easy application for Twitter which I use a lot. Typically I would just go to the website from the internet access. I did see a link to Facebook on the MediaNet Home page. I probably could have added Twitter there too if I wanted to.

On the phone, I also saw the FREE 30-day GPS navigation trial but I didn't want to sign up since I would have to cancel it later. That would be nice in the longrun if I do get a phone like this in the future. I am not going to run out tomorrow and buy one simply because I am not sure I need to check my e-mail so bad that I need it on my body. There was also an option for music which I did not use and probably wouldn't since I have an I-Pod Touch. It meets my needs for music or audiobooks without a phone call interrupting.

Overall, I loved having it mainly to "twitter" since while using it I was at several blogging events which made it fun to share input to the world live from the event. Again, it was not necessary to my livelihood and therefore I can not justify the purchase at this time. If I were to make this phone, I would definitely suggest an option with a holder or more rugged exterior. Phones are too easy to drop especially when there is so much to carry with kids, etc.

Thank you WOM World/Nokia for letting me try this out! See pictures and a video review below.

 

The video above was still processing when I uploaded it so I will be checking back to make sure it is working in the AM. Right now I think it actually is pulling up another review from YouTube for the Nokia E71x but it is a good review so watch it too if you like!