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| Nokia E71 |
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The Nokia E71 is a great slab-style QWERTY phone, better than almost any on the market. It has a slimmer, cooler design than the Motorola Q9h or the Samsung BlackJack 2, and it can handle almost all of the business tools that those Windows Mobile 6.1 phones use. It doesn't have all of the carrier amenities that we usually ignore anyway, like over-the-air music downloads and streaming video clips, and it could be more localized for U.S. users. Still, we had no problem setting up the phone for our Exchange ActiveSync business e-mail, and all of our favorite business features, like tethered modem support and Office Document handling, worked nicely. The biggest challenge this phone faces is competing with the ultra-low, carrier subsidized prices of its competitors, but if you want the top of the line phone in this form factor, the Nokia E71 is an easy choice. Release: July 2008. Price: $500.
Pros: Great design with a comfortable keyboard and a slim, slick case. Fast networking on AT&T's 3G network. Plenty of features, including GPS, Wi-Fi and Exchange support.
Cons: Setup could be confusing for the U.S. audience. Exchange AciveSync drains the battery significantly. Camera is lousy.
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73% GOOD |
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Excellent |
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| Nokia E66 |
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The Nokia E66 is a fine business phone, and a great, small alternative for users who want a slick design inside and out, paired with loads of great features. The phone has great options for business users, including Exchange server support and a robust Office suite, though not everything is as easy to use as it might be on a carrier-supported phone, and we found ourselves frequently searching for server settings, additional apps and instructions, all to get the phone working on this country's most popular carrier. Once all the settings were in place, we were continually surprised by how feature-rich and powerful this device can be. A little smoothing for U.S. buyers and a great unlocked price would make this a very compelling phone indeed. Release: July 2008. Price: $500.
Pros: Solid, classy design. Great keys. Live, while-you-type searching for contacts. Great Web browser.
Cons: Many features cost extra, like navigation and Quickoffice. Networking seemed slow in our tests. Could have more multimedia features, like the Nseries.
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72% GOOD |
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Excellent |
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| Nokia N78 |
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The Nokia N78 is one of the best N-series devices we've tested to date, and it's a great phone all around. For music and Web browsing, it's snappy and easy to use, with powerful features that won't let you down. The camera and messaging apps (or lack thereof) are disappointing, but not a deal breaker if you're more of a media fan. The hardest part will be convincing buyers this phone is worth $500, but we have no problem recommending it to folks who hate contract agreements or love a good phone at any price. Nokia, take note: This phone with a SureType keyboard and some down-home, Americanized applications would be a killer device. Release: June 2008. Price: $500.
Pros: Scroll wheel makes navigating the phone quick and easy. Great Web browser. Top-notch music experience, with FM transmitter. Slick, fast phone.
Cons: GPS couldn't find us in Manhattan. Images from camera weren't great. No IM clients. Design is ugly.
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76% VERY GOOD |
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| Nokia N95 8GB NAM |
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The Nokia N95 8GB has only improved since we last saw it, but so have our expectations grown as well, and we've come to feel stronger about great interface design and a fast, reliable bit of desktop synchronization software. This isn't the iPhone killer, in fact it's the exact opposite of that device. The Nokia N95 is packed to the gills with features; it does just about everything we've ever seen a phone do, at least in this country. But it lacks an intuitive, fun interface, and the desktop software, though improved to the point of being usable, is a far cry from Apple's seamless, reliable iTunes experience. It's a tough call between the two, and as phone geeks, we'd love to own the feature-rich N95, though we wouldn't hock our iPhone to buy one. In the end, we're glad both phones are out there, because they each represent the goal that the other should strive to achieve. Release: March 2008. Price: $650.
Pros: Feature-packed, now with loads of internal memory and faster networking. Camera, GPS navigation and media functions are among the best in class.
Cons: Big, square phone without much style. No touchscreen. Interface is uninspired and aging. No QWERTY.
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85% VERY GOOD |
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| Nokia N95 |
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If you have ever read a phone review and thought: "That phone would be perfect if it only had . . . ," the N95 is the phone for you. It does everything, and nothing poorly. It is a top-notch GPS phone, camera phone, media phone and just plain phone. It has a fantastic screen, and if its processor is sluggish opening and closing apps, its graphical power makes up for the lag with a classy, modern interface. Nice touches, like a 3.5mm headphone jack and very loud stereo speakers, are more than amenities on this phone, which is clearly Nokia's flagship attempt to do everything right on a single device. For the most part they have succeeded. We're not huge Symbian fans, and are curious if another UI might sweep us off our feet, but for now, the Nokia N95 has the best feature set of any phone on the market, and may be one of the best phones we've seen. Release: April 2007. Price: $530.
Pros: It does everything, and most things very well. GPS is best in class. Media playback is great.
Cons: Large by contemporary standards. Battery life diminished by huge feature list. Transfer software could be improved.
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80% VERY GOOD |
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