When it hit U.S. shelves last year, the E71 was one of Nokia’s first (and thinnest) phones with a full QWERTY keyboard to make it to these shores. The AT&T E71x, a version of the E71 which we originally reviewed as an unlocked device, is now the first (and only) 3G smart phone offered by a major U.S. carrier that runs the Symbian S60 operating system with a full QWERTY keyboard. While some slight software changes have been made to cater to AT&T’s deck services, the phone remains just as impressive as before. At $99.99, it’s $200 cheaper than the BlackBerry Bold—and a device that no prospective smart phone buyer should overlook.
Slim, Stunning Design
We weren’t kidding when we said the E71x was thin. At 4.5 x 2.2 x 0.4 inches in size, this device is thinner than the BlackBerry Bold (0.6 inches thick) and just a sliver thinner than the Samsung BlackJack II, which measures 0.46 inches. The E71x has a stainless steel black exterior and keyboard that gives it a James Bond sleekness.
Its 2.4-inch (320 x 240 pixels) display is slightly smaller than the 2.8-inch display on the BlackBerry Bold, and the resolution isn’t as sharp, but it’s beautiful nonetheless.
On the left side of the E71x is a microSD slot and a mini-USB port for transferring data to and from your computer. The bottom of the phone has a small charging port, and the right side has volume controls, a speech command button, and a 2.5mm headphone jack (we’d prefer a full-size 3.5mm jack). The power button and a small speaker are on top of the device, and a 3.2-MP camera with flash is on the back.
Keyboard and Buttons
The keys on the E71x are comfortable and provide good feedback, but are chubby and set a little too close together for our tastes. In general, we prefer the BlackBerry Bold and Curve’s more spacious keyboards to the layout on the E71x, but the E71x’ keyboard is fine once you get the hang of it.
We appreciated the four shortcut buttons just above the keyboard for quick access to the home screen, our calendar, the address book, and our messages. Around those shortcut keys are four buttons, two for placing and ending calls, and two soft-keys for UI menus. In the center is a D-pad with a silver border for navigation.
Nokia E71x User Interface
The E71x runs the Symbian S60 operating system, and while AT&T added a bit of its own spice on top of it, most of the UI from the unlocked E71 we tested previously remains intact. One glaring omission from the device is its ability to switch between two different home pages. On the original E71 you could customize one desktop with shortcuts for work applications and set the second desktop with personal apps, but that’s not an option on the E71x. AT&T’s services on the phone include the basics, such as AT&T Music, Cellular Video, GPS, Yellowpages, and MEdia Net. All are accessible from the main menu.
Nokia adds in a ton of useful shortcuts. From the home screen, you can just start typing the name of a contact, and his or her number will come up; it’s much better than digging through a phone book. Six icons line the top: Messages (which comprises SMS and e-mail), the Web browser, AT&T Navigation, Bluetooth, your phone’s mode (e.g., silent, vibrate), and alarms. You can customize these icons to include e-mail notifications, calendar appointments, and available Wi-Fi networks.
Messaging
The E71x supports Microsoft Exchange e-mail accounts, and it also comes packaged with Xpress Mail from AT&T. You can use Xpress Mail to setup POP/IMAP accounts as well as AIM, AOL, AT&T WorldNet, AT&T Yahoo, BellSouth, Comcast, EarthLink, Hotmail, and Yahoo accounts. We easily set up our IMAP Gmail account within 5 minutes, and it pulled down our 25 most recent messages in about 2 minutes. After it’s configured, you can set the inbox to pull up to 300 of your latest e-mail messages.
Sending off e-mails and SMS/MMS messages becomes more efficient with the E71x’ autocomplete option, which performed well on our tests. The phone guesses what word you’re typing; if correct, you can click the space bar to insert it into your message. If it’s wrong, simply press the up arrow to insert whatever word you’ve typed.
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