Symbian in Motion

Nokia E71 - The Letdown

by Abul at 1:42 pm | July 27th, 2008 | Category: Handsets

Moving very unsteadily along from my previous post - Nokia E71 - the Lowdown, I’ll highlight some of the features on the E71 that don’t either make sense or just aren’t good enough, yes this is the E71’s letdowns. I’ll start by warning that some of these features I haven’t exhausted in testing them out myself (in particular the Mail for Exchange feature.)

Let’s take a look at that 3.2 Megapixel camera - even tho it’s a 3.2 Megapixel camera I was expecting at least relatively half decent pictures, especially as it’s got auto focus and flash it looks promising on paper in reality although it’s rather poor. Comparing it with a Sony Ericsson K800’s which also has a 3.2 Megapixel camera it’s clear to see the difference in the quality of the picture. Both pictures were taken with the settings for close up activated, that’s “close up”for the E71 and “Macro Mode” for the K800.

The Nokia E71 fails to focus on the letters on the keyboard, how it’s supposed to use the autofocus I’m not sure, as there isn’t a dedicated touch sensitive camera button. So we get a picture captured as seen below:
EDIT: replaced picture with focused version.

E71 Focused

The Sony Ericsson K800 with it’s Cybershot technology and dedicated camera button makes easy work on focusing on those keyboard letters.

K800

Essentially what we’ve got here on the E71 is inferior hardware and software to have the ability to capture any decent pictures. My question is why is it here? I don’t see how it can be any use and think it’s there more for marketing reasons than anything else. The 3.2 Megapixel camera could be there for the pure purpose of sales, it’s one of those features that get ticked on “features required” when going to purchase a handset from your local Carphone Warehouse or any other mobile retailer. This just goes to show features and specifications can be the same on paper, but in reality it’s very different.

Moving swiftly on to the 2.5mm headphone jack. Yes it’s a 2.5mm headphone jack why? Yes I’m puzzled yet again! Now I know it comes with a pair of 2.5mm headphones, but these are from Nokia and something I’ve found most of the time is they’re headphones suck! Compare the £16 Sennheiser CX300 and the Sony Ericsson HPM-75 both of these give out great bass and response and are very cheap. The Sony Ericsson one’s come bundled with their Walkman range, but can be bought for around £15, the point here being they’re both 3.5mm (the Sony Ericsson’s also come with their propriety connector) and won’t fit into this 2.5mm jack. If you follow me on Last.fm, you’ll see that I’ve had minimal updates on what music I’m listening to, this is due to my utter refusal to use Nokia Headphones, quality of music appeals to me and thus I won’t listen to anything with a pair of rubbish headphones, it doesn’t do the artist justice. So I’m still trying to figure out why the 2.5mm headphone jack is still there, and my music to listen to pile is growing.

CIMG1180

Moving onto the Mail for Exchange support and the lack of Blackberry Connect. This main complaint is based on a comment by Nicky PNicky P on my previous post on the Nokia E71. He mentions the inefficiency on the E71’s part using Mail for Exchange and data leaks which are mounting up huge bills. I suspect this is more on the software side than the E71, but yet he does state the E61i did a much better job on that front. Now I’m wondering (yet again) this is an E Series device aimed at the professional which I would assume is Nokia’s main target audience but yet they have messed up one of the Main features on this device and are lacking another Enterprise feature in not having support for Blackberry Connect. There are a lot of companies out there that still use Blackberry connect and haven’t made the move from Lotus Notes to Microsoft Office and Exchange, mainly due to the fact the old system works and they can’t afford to move over yet. My opinion is that most companies who do move over and use Mail for Exchange on a Nokia E Series device and rack up huge bills are going to quickly move over to a Blackberry device.
The professional industry is still stuck in Blackberry mode, their opinion of a Blackberry is not the fact it’s a Blackberry device, no it’s one of a function. If a device with a qwerty keypad is seen in public, the first question is “Is that a Blackberry? I didn’t know Nokia’s made Blackberrys! Where is the rollerball?” These are the questions I almost always faced when showing off the E71. This goes to show the professional does not care about brand, they need a device which will do one thing and that’s get them their e-mail to them whenever wherever, the fact that everything is referred to as a Blackberry shows the image Blackberry have built up over time with their monopolising of the market. If Nokia is to make any grounds on eating this share up and changing the conception they will have to get the basics right first. Nokia needs to figure out what the E series stands for, who are they aiming at and what that audience wants. I know many Nokia enthusiasts would love to see an N Series hybrid with E Series functionality, but is that where the E Series is going? From the looks of it, it seems Nokia has blurred the lines between E and N series and is aiming at two targets with on bullet.
My feeling is that it should look at the E Series and aim for that sector, one that will compete with the Blackberry market and stick to that. Sure add features to the N Series for the mass market and enthusiasts but keep that to the N Series. An ideal device between E and N series is not in Nokia’s interests. They need two different models for two different markets.

Looks like that last point is more of a rant than anything else! But it’s one I have to make I think. Overall I would still urge anyone to get the E71 it’s by far the best hybrid device available, mixing some of the N Series features with E is a great mix for those non professionals who want a bit of both worlds. It won’t replace your Blackberry nor your N95 etc… But it will replace your current E Series device easily. Beware if you hate fingerprints or are scared of putting dents on your devices it’s shiny and the fingerprints and scratches are easily noticeable!

E71 Scratched!!!

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