Nokia E70 Review at MaXit

Hardware

Written by Maxit

Price - £359.95
Supplier - Expansys
Manufacturer - Nokia

The Nokia E70 could be classified as a smart phone, a cell phone or even a PDA. Many of the functions it contains can be found in some of the more advanced PDAs available on the market and yet the call quality and voice clarity are excellent. This combination of functionality and phone quality has proven elusive in the past, not only to Nokia but to other manufacturers as well.

The Messaging Arm Of The Nokia E Series

Of the three E Series phones released by Nokia, the E70 is aimed at the battle hardened message sender. At first glance it looks like a smartphone but once you open it up a full QWERTY keyboard and a brilliant display screen greet you. The keyboard is designed only as a thumb keyboard, but you can't expect any more from a cell phone without it becoming too large and bulky.

Document Viewing And Editing

As well as being set up for ease of email viewing, E70 users are also able to view attachments including spreadsheet, presentations and word processor documents. An editing function is also available to make changes to these attachments. These are invaluable functions to the business user who needs to work while on the move.

Using The E70 In The Office

Plugging the E70 into the office phone network gives you the usual office phone advantages including assisted answering and shortened direct dial numbers. VOIP calls can be made over the E70, all combining to give companies and users the perfect business tool.

A 2 Megapixel Camera

Of course all work and no play makes the E70 user a very dull boy. Nokia have stepped in to help improve your street cred as well as help you get a pay rise or a promotion when you capture the boss straddled across the company secretary giving her a full debriefing. The 2 megapixel camera includes a timer, 8 times digital zoom and will also take pictures in three resolutions to give you the choice of quality or quantity. Pcitures are very good for a mobile but don't expect it to replace the dedicated digital camera for more important shots.

Other Functions And Memory

Other functions include MP3 playback, video playback, stop watch, high quality photo gallery, true-tone and MP3 ringtones and every business user's savior - games. All these functions share an impressive 75MB of internal memory and the phone also has a mini-SD slot so you can expand the memory if required.

It's really quite difficult to find fault with the Nokia E70. OK, it's not the best looking phone available but it isn't that ugly and it's certainly not the smallest phone on the market. Fair do's to Nokia as it would be impossible to cram all this functionality into a tiny cell phone. Perhaps the only real problem so far with this phone is that it features video playback, clearly has a camera lens but doesn't record video files. One of lifes mysteries and perhaps only a very minor gripe in another wise full package.

Technical Details

Network: UMTS / GSM 900 / GSM 1800 / GSM 1900
Dimensions: 117 x 53 x 22 mm, 102 cc Weight: 127 g
GPRS: Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps
EDGE: Class 10, 236.8 kbps
3G: Yes, 384 kbps
WLAN: Wi-Fi 802.11 i/e/g, VoIP over WLAN
Bluetooth: Yes, v1.2
Infrared port: Yes
USB: Yes, Pop-Port
Battery Stand-by: Up to 220 h Talk time: Up to 7 h 20 min
Camera: Camera 2 MP, 1600x1200 pixels, video(CIF)
Push to talk
Java MIDP 2.0
MP3/AAC/MPEG4 player
Office applications
Blackberry connectivity
T9
Voice command/memo
PIM including calendar, to-do list and printing
Integrated handsfree

The Bottom Line

Nokia have pulled out all of the stops in an attempt to create a feature rich business phone and they have succeeded in the shape of the E70 as well as the rest of the E Series. Even those who indulge in heavy messaging and mobile email sessions will find benefit from the QWERTY keyboard and the document viewer and editor. It may not win any style awards but it will prove very beneficial to businessmen and companies alike. As with any new phone the price tag is a little high at the moment but at least with Nokia E70 you get a lot for your money.