Nokia 08 Jul 2007 08:33 am
Nokia E70 review : the SMS ace
Nokia release another one of its unique “Flip-Keyboard” regular sized phones.
But this time the task is harder
The E60, E61 and E70 are the first of the E-series and will be available in the first quarter of 2006. They run on Symbian operating systems and will work on GSM and 3G networks. They can also link to WLANs using Bluetooth and infrared. According to Nokia they are easy for IT departments to manage security settings, corporate apps and data.
Nokia said: “when developing these devices, two clear new trends emerged: the need for IT departments to have a secure and manageable platform, and the need for devices to support a variety of employee preferences and different working styles.”
The E61, which looks like a PDA, has a full keyboard and joystick and will support many email clients including BlackBerry Connect, Goodlink, Seven Mobile Mail and Visto Mobile. Visto said the phones: “will meet the needs of business end users and the IT professionals that support them.”
The E70 has a fold-out butterfly keyboard, full colour screen which can handle email and basic editing.
With its unique, flip-out thumbboard and the powerful Symbian OS behind it, the E70 promises to be a happy marriage of form and function. Does it deliver?
Design
The most striking aspect of the Nokia E70 is its unique design. The number pad lifts up and over the screen to reveal a QWERTY keypad that splits with the display in the center. The display changes from a portrait to landscape view when you open the phone, resulting in a pause that takes up to ten seconds. It took us just a few days to grow accustomed to the comfortable keyboard, but we were annoyed by the too-cozy placement of the “End” key next to the space bar. The phone uses a joystick button for navigation, and we found the button itself hard to press. At 352 by 416 pixels with 16 million colors packed into its 2.1 inches, the E70′s display is among the sharpest screens we’ve seen.
Calling – Very good
Call quality on the Nokia E70 was good, though sound was a bit dull. Noise was not an issue, on the street or in the office, and reception was always full strength. The robust address book outshines even the mobile Outlook; you get all the fields you could ask for, including fields for push-to-talk and video chat numbers. Conference calling is more difficult than it should be, with lots of digging in menus required to call a second number from your contact list. All in all, using the QWERTY keyboard to search contacts is always pleasant and intuitive, while the numeric keypad seems out of date by comparison. Though predictive text is available, it isn’t as smart as you would find on a Blackberry Pearl or the Samsung SGH-T719, so you will probably find yourself opening the keyboard frequently.
Messaging – Very good
The Nokia E70 is an e-mail powerhouse. Third-party applications give it BlackBerry Connect and Exchange server support, along with the built-in POP3 and IMAP4 functions. SMS supports a full-message 160 characters on screen at once in both landscape and portrait views. Unfortunately, the messaging app doesn’t give you live search results when you start typing in the “To” field; instead, it takes you to the address book, where you must select the best matches, a tedious extra step compared to other smartphones we’ve tested. The lack of copy/paste functions in the e-mail application was also disappointing, but the interface was otherwise attractive, similar to Outlook Mobile on Windows smartphones. Typing messages on the phone’s unusual keyboard requires a steep learning curve. We found ourselves jerkily glancing left and right to search for the right keys, but after a couple of days, we were hardly hunting and pecking.
Scheduling – Good
Like the messaging application, the calendar and scheduling app on the Nokia E70 bears a welcome resemblance to Outlook. You can set the calendar to open to your preferred view, but we were annoyed that there’s no “go to today” option, which comes in handy if you jump ahead a few weeks or months. Also, though the calendar also handles your task list, any task without a date gets piled up at the beginning of the current day, which makes for annoying viewing. The calendar itself felt a bit static, with no easy way to drag appointments around the calendar without digging into the menus. Scheduling information can be synchronized with your PC using Nokia’s PC Studio software, or with a server, such as an Internet Exchange server. Synchronization options are myriad, including USB 2.0, Bluetooth 1.2, IrDA, and even Wi-Fi connections.
Productivity – Very good
Nokia, with help from the Symbian OS, has really beaten Microsoft at its own game when it comes to productivity. The document viewer on the Symbian OS is among the most capable we’ve seen. All popular Office documents are viewable, including PDF files, and formatting was generally accurate. We were impressed with the E70′s ability to handle complicated functions such as formatting symbols in Word documents and advanced calculations in spreadsheets. Document attachments download in fewer steps than on Windows smartphones, and the file navigation folder interface is easier and more intuitive. Zooming on the small screen should have been a top-level function, and, again, we miss copy-and-paste functionality, but without a stylus, this is an understandable omission.
Laptop sidekick – Good
While the European edition of the Nokia E70 includes support for UMTS high-speed data transmissions, the U.S. version of the E70 only has EDGE data capabilities, an unfortunate oversight. We would love to see Cingular roll out a 3G-capable version of this phone for high-speed tethered modem support. The Nokia includes a “Pop-Port”-to-USB cable for data transfers and dial-up networking at EDGE speeds, but the cable will not charge the phone, so you’ll have to bring the charger with you. The phone also sports 802.11g Wi-Fi, so it can access WLAN signals at high speeds and synchronize with your laptop over Wi-Fi, a quicker option than the Bluetooth 1.2 connection.
Multimedia – Good
Browsing on the Symbian S60 series browser is among the best mobile browsing experiences you can have. As we’ve discussed in other reviews (namely the Nokia E62), the browser handles large pages with aplomb, giving you a navigational “Mini Map” to help pinpoint your position while scrolling about a full-size page. Interestingly, the landscape view on the Nokia E70 appears to sap a bit more memory from the phone; in our tests, the New York Times homepage loaded in portrait mode, but not in the landscape view. Our enthusiasm for the browser was tempered by its bugginess. In every session, unless we limited ourselves to pages optimized for mobile devices, the browser crashed the phone. In addition to the E70′s full HTML browser, there is also a WAP-only version, which is not nearly as capable and lacks the handy Mini Map. The E70 includes a RealPlayer app and Flash Player Lite, while the music player handles most popular non-DRM files.
Details :
The Nokia E70 is the ‘other’ QWERTY keyboard equipped phone in Nokia’s latest E-series range, sharing the feature with the E61. Designed in a similar way as the old Nokia 6800 and 6820, the E70 has a full QWERTY keyboard hidden in a fold open design. For the uninitiated, this means that the E70 will look just like a normal phone with numerical keys when the flip is closed, but opens up to provide a full QWERTY keypad when needed.
Armed with a 2-megapixel camera and WiFi capabilities, the E70 seems like a very good alternative for those who prefer a smaller form factor than the E61. The Nokia E70 is a dual mode phone, featuring WCDMA/GSM operation (GSM 900/1800/1900MHz and WCDMA 2100MHz). This review will be based on the E70′s capabilities in GSM mode, as I do not have access to 3G networks.
Physical Aspects
The first thing that went through my mind was how boxy and brick-like the E70 looks. The Nokia 6820 had smoother curves and sleeker lines, though it was just an S40 phone, without the high tech gadgetry featured in the E70. The flip on the E70 is very square and has sharp edges. The plastics used for the phone also felt cheap, and did not match the high price tag slapped on the phone. However, the phone was solidly built, and I experienced no creaks or squeaks.
On the front, the power button and light sensor are found next to the earpiece above the display. The light sensor automatically adjusts the screen brightness and keypad backlight, saving battery and reducing damage to your eyes when in poor lighting. The left and right softkeys flank the 5-way navigational joystick just below the screen. The numerical keypad is located on the flip, along with the call and end keys. The edit, menu, and clear keys are located just above the numerical keys. I disliked using the numerical keypad, as it was very difficult to press. The keys were slightly stiff, and it seemed as though the phone could not register some of my key presses. But then again, why would you want to use the keypad when there is a full keyboard waiting to be revealed?
On the right side of the phone there is only the Infrared port, and on the left you will find a rubber voice memo recorder button. Similar to the E61, this button can be accidentally pressed far too easily. Add to this the fact that the S60 UI is not equipped with an auto keypad locking function and you will find yourself recording random moments of your daily life regularly. There is nothing on top of the phone, and the Pop-Port connector, along with the charging port, is found at the bottom. The E70 uses the old charging port, instead of the mini charging ports found in recent Nokia phones. The 2-megapixel camera is found on the back of the phone, and there is no LED flash or self-portrait mirror.
Flipping the E70 open, the QWERTY keyboard is reminiscent of the one found on the 6820. The screen will switch into landscape orientation when the flip is opened. I noticed that it took more than 2 seconds for the display to switch between landscape and portrait mode. This might be firmware related, but I do hope Nokia looks into this, as it is annoying having to wait out the lag. Keys on the keyboard are placed right next to each other without spaces, and are square in shape. The keys are plastic and are quite comfortable to type on. Tactile feedback is good, and I’m glad to report that none of the problems found with the numerical keypad are found here. It took me some time to get used to the split keyboard design, causing me to look from left to right and back every time I typed a message or an email early on. However, I did eventually get used to it, and I really appreciate the fold over design that keeps the phone’s dimensions to a minimum.
The keyboard, like the E61′s, contains special keys. The menu key is located on the bottom left corner, and there is a light activation key on the top left corner. Pressing this will turn on the keyboard backlight if you ever find the surroundings too dim and the light sensor has not kicked in. There is a Ctrl key found on the bottom right corner that enables you to access functions such as copy, cut, and paste. It works exactly like how your keyboard functions on your desktop PC. The spacebar is located on both sides of the phone, and the Shift key is located on the right side next to the spacebar.