A few months back I almost wanted an iPhone. I was really dead set on getting one. But after reading all the reviews about another phone, the Nokia E71, I decided not to get an iPhone. This is even if I’ve experienced first hand how intuitive and easy to use its UI is, since I have an iPod Touch. There are just some things the iPhone doesn’t have that I needed on a “phone.” And so I will enumerate those things:
- Battery life – I use the phone a lot to text, call, organize my calendar, surf, check email, among other things so I don’t want to have to charge my phone everyday just to be sure I suddenly don’t run out of battery. The E71 can last me a little more than 2 days with moderate web surfing and automatic email retrieval every 30 mins.
- Text Messaging – I’ve tried a lot of other phones before (SE P910i, a couple of Motorolas) but I’ve always loved Nokia’s take on text messaging. And I’ve found it rather hard trying to compose messages on the touchscreen keyboard on my iPod Touch, especially when I’m not using English.
- S60 Contacts – After using the Nokia N81 for about half a year, I’ve learned to appreciate the way it handles contacts. You have the ability to set defaults per communication type (i.e. Voice Call, Video Call, Text, MMS, Email, etc.). And if I want to take advantage of my mobile operators special rates for overseas calls to my home country I need to use a prefix code to call. Setting it up on S60 is a breeze since I can set a default number for voice and another default number for text. So I don’t have to mess around with numbers when I call. I just find the contact and press send and it will use the number I’ve set.
- A decent camera – The iPhone has a decent camera but the E71 has a better one as it has flash, auto focus (although the implementation is a bit clunky) and it does splendid macro shots for a phone. I need it in case I want to document moments on the fly.
- Tethering – I really need a phone that can connect my notebook to the Internet (out of the box) when the need arises (like last month). Currently, you need to jailbreak your iPhone for it to be able to support tethering.
I have yet to fully explore the phone but so far I’m loving it. It’s probably the best phone I’ve had. I’ll probably do a full review once I’m done tinkering with it inside out.
I want to buy an E71 too! How much did you buy it?
In term of features, E71 is definitely better than iPhone. I’m glad u made a right decision not getting iPhone else you might lose all the fun u can have from a smartphone.
@yusry: SG$700 no contract. It’s around SG$350 if you’re getting 2 year contract.
@hyperx: yup. I probably wouldn’t be having this much fun with a smartphone if I went with the iphone 3g.
We have the same phone! I love it, too! Was fixated on buying iPhone but after watching the phone review in Attack of the show (this techie show on either Jack tv or Maxxx), I’ve decided to buy E71!
I miss you, btw! =)
Apple needs to fix the terrible MMS experience on the iPhone. I try to make the case here: http://blog.mcmanus-family.com/2008/09/the-case-for-mms-on-the-iphone.html
i wanted an iphone too… but after all the feedback from my friends and reviews i’ve read, i decided not to get one… mainly because of the text feature, i still need my keypads!