New Nokia E66, E71 go a little more business casual
Correction at 10 a.m. PDT: The story incorrectly listed which push e-mail solutions the E71 works with. It does not work with BlackBerry Connect or GoodLink.
Nokia E66
(Credit: Nokia)It may be that the Nokia E series sometimes suffers from Jan Brady syndrome as it gets overshadowed by a flashier member of its family--the Nokia N series (aka Marcia Brady). But the E series is just as bright and deserves some recognition too.
Traditionally, the E series devices have been very corporate centric and serious in design, but now Nokia is updating the line with the introduction of the Nokia E66 and Nokia E71, bringing with them a modernized look and a fresh set of features. Here's the breakdown:
Nokia E66: The successor to the Nokia E65, the E66 continues to offer a cool slider design, but it's been trimmed down and comes in gray or white with steel accents. The smartphone also has "turn-to-full view," which is similar to the iPhone's accelerometer feature in that when you turn the device on its side, the screen orientation will automatically switch from portrait to landscape mode. You can also alternate between Business and Personal mode. In Business mode, you'll have all your productivity tools readily accessible on your home screen, such as e-mail, calendar, and documents. Meanwhile, when you switch to Personal view, you'll get access to your multimedia files, the Web, and so forth.
The Nokia E66 will continue to run the third edition of the S60 platform on the Symbian operating system and has integrated Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.0 (with A2DP support). Plus, it now offers assisted GPS and U.S. 3G support (850/1900; HSDPA). Other goodies include a 3.2-megapixel camera, support for Nokia's Ovi Internet service, 110MB internal memory plus microSD slot (supports up to 8GB cards), and a 2.4-inch QVGA nontouch display.
Nokia E71
(Credit: Nokia)Nokia E71: The E71 represents the more dramatic design makeover of the two. Taking over for the Nokia E61i, the E71 is still very much a messaging-centric device with its full QWERTY keyboard but it's not as bulky or dull-looking anymore. The smartphone measures 4.4 inches tall by 2.2 inches wide by 0.4 inch deep and weighs 4.4 ounces, compared with the E61i's dimensions of 4.6 inches tall by 2.7 inches wide by 0.5 inch deep and 5.3 ounces. The E71 will also come in gray or white, and have a 2.36-inch, 16 million-color QVGA display.
Feature wise, the Symbian smartphone supports Mail for Exchange, POP/IMAP accounts, and works with a number of push e-mail solutions, including Intellisync Wireless E-mail, Visto, and Seven Always-On Mail. The E71 will also have integrated Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0, HSDPA, assisted GPS, and the Business and Personal home screens.
Outlook: Both the Nokia E65 and E61i have a loyal following and have garnered good user reviews, so I'm sure current owners will be interested in the upgrade. However, as with Nokia's other high-end phones, the Nokia E66 and Nokia E71 have not been picked up by a U.S. carrier and will only be sold as unlocked handsets, meaning they'll carry a steep price tag (pricing has not been finalized but we suspect somewhere in the $300 to $500 range) and thus, limit the reach of the smartphones. Still, the E66 and E71 are shaping up to be some strong workhorses for the business community, and we'll, of course, give them a workout when we get them in for review. Both mobiles are slated to be available in the third quarter (around July/August) with the Nokia E71 expected to ship slightly ahead of the Nokia E66.
Bonnie Cha is a senior editor for CNET, covering smartphones and GPS. When she's not testing the latest gadgets, you can find her chasing after her crazy lab or surfing in the chilly waters of Northern California. E-mail Bonnie. 
WiFi support today is important and of course it is much more easier to check my mails without the need of turning the computer on or just sit down there. I get loads of mails everyday so I appreciate this feature. Maybe I can use Skype but I am not sure if this can be solved with this phone and software.
I do not own any mp3 player so when I am on the run I need sth to listen to music with. This phone has a strong multimedia support and that is perfect! Photos? I don't really care. If I want to take good pictures, then I use my Nikon DSLR. These small crap lens will never make quality shots even with 30000000 pixels ;)
What I also like about this phone is that it uses all the new features Nokia has.. like tapping function.. it shows the date and the clock while sleeping and also mutes the call and again reject it..
What I don't understand: it cannot be charged via USB.. microUSB port is awesome but it can do MORE than the new Nokia phones support.
The style and the materials are absolutely number 1 so this phone will be a good deal even in this price range. No need for N96!
Superb build quality, 3G, WLAN, GPS, FM, QWERTY, very fast UI, very light, sharp display, office, PDF. Package comes with a 2GB MicroSD (16GB also works fine), leather carry case and wrist strap.
I love Nokia S60 Internet Radio app so many free radio stations! browsers like Opera suppport Flash and with Skyfire browser's remote rendering featues you can do almost any thing.
Note: Be careful of the Skyfire browser, it proxies everything, best not to do any banking with it.
- by STEELZONE December 21, 2008 5:50 AM PST
- DEAR SIRS,
- Reply to this comment
-
(3 Comments)I HAD PURCHASE NOKIA E66 MODEL HANDSET FROM THE MOBILE STORE {WASHERMEN PET, CHENNAI } ON 30-8-.08
VIDE THEIR INVOICE NUMBER TN/01254/00001/6640. IMEI NUMBER OF THE HANDSET IS 352943021555342.
ON USING THE HAND SET I CAME TO KNOW THAT THERE WAS SOME MANUFACTURING DEFECT OF NOT DETECTING THE SIM CARD AND MEMORY CARD. I GAVE IT TO THE NOKIA CARE {PRINCE TOWER., PURUSAIWALKAM, CHENNAI} ON 8-10 -08.
AND THEY RETURNED BACK THE HANDSET SAYING THAT THEY HAVE RECTIFIED THE FAULT. BUT AGAIN ON USAGE I CAME TO KNOW THE SAME PROBLEM WAS OCCURING. AGAIN I GAVE TO THE NOKIA CARE ON 18-10-08. JOB SHEET NUMBER 089434038/081018/5.
WHEN THEY INFORMED ME THAT THE HANDSET IS READY I WENT TO NOKIA CARE AND CAME TO KNOW THAT THEY HAVE CHANGED THE MOTHER BOARD OF THE HANDSET. AND THIS MOTHER BOARD WAS NOT SUPPORTING THE
DEFAULT SOFTWARES WHICH WERE GIVEN IN THE SET BY NOKIA.
I INSISTED FOR THE REPLACEMENT OF HAND SET SINCE IT WAS HARDLY ONE MONTH I HAD PURCHASED THE HANDSET
WHICH WAS DEFECTIVE AND I WAS NOT SATISFIED WITH THE DEFECTIVE SET THOUGH THEY HAD CHANGED THE MOTHER BOARD BECAUSE IT WOULD COST ME EXTRA TO RE INSTALL THE SOFTWARES ONCE AGAIN. BUT THEY ARE NEITHER READY TO REPLACE THE HANDSET NOR GIVING ME THE INSTALLATION OF THE DEFAULT SOFTWARES. THE HANDSET IS STILL LYING WITH NOKIA CARE . THEY ARE WASTING MY TIME AND NO ONE IS TAKING THE RESPONSIBILITY TO SOLVE THE ISSUE.