Nokia E61i
The Nokia E61i is a very good smart phone on its own, but we can't help feel a little disappointed that nothing much has really improved from the E61 to make it stand out from its competitors.
| The good | Slimmer profile compared with the E61; solid build quality; wealth of connectivity features; full QWERTY keyboard; customizable My Own key; 2-megapixel camera. |
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| The bad | Basic camera features with no built-in flash light; no front-facing camera for video conferencing; not HSPDA-enabled; mediocre image quality. |
CNET Editors' Rating
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CNET Editors' rating
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Rating breakdown
More than a year after the Nokia E-series was announced, the E61i succeeds the award-winning E61 with a slimmer side profile and a 2-megapixel shooter. The inclusion of a camera to us, however, is a mixed bag. With the E61i, business professionals are now divided into those whose job scope requires them to take field pictures, such as insurance agents, architects and engineers, and those who work in sensitive industries that prohibit the use of camera-phones.
| Editors' note:
This review highlights the differences between the E61 and the E61i. You can read our full evaluation of the E61 here.
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The mocha E61i easily stands out over the nondescript E61 and the aluminum battery cover on the older E61 has been replaced with a solid steel piece. Although the current model has a slimmer profile, in our hands, it still feels as sturdy (if not more so) as its predecessor.
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Unlike the E61 where we can distinctively feel the menu keys above the keyboard, on the E61i, it's easier to press the wrong buttons because there's considerably less space between each key and the surface is slightly flushed. The joystick on the E61 has also been replaced with a four-way rectangular border with a central Enter key which, fortunately, is just as efficient.
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The E61i retains most of the celebrated features on the E61, and then a bit more. There's now also a 2-megapixel shooter on the rear (no front-facing camera, though) and some new applications on the smart phone. You may want to know that the E61i uses the smaller microSD cards instead of miniSD media on the E61, although you still have to remove the battery cover to get access to the slot.
Rather disappointing is the barebones feature set of the camera on the E61i. We can't help but feel that Nokia could have done better in this aspect. While there's Night mode and settings to adjust the white balance and color tone, there's no built-in LED light to act as a flash unit. Admittedly, the light output from an LED is poor in comparison to flash modules on standalone cameras. But this could have been helpful in providing some illumination for low-light situations. Image quality isn't stunning. In fact, our test shots bordered on just average even for daylight snaps, but it should suffice for those who simply want a snapshot from this mobile.
Like its predecessor, the E61i is chock-a-block with connectivity options. The quadband (850/900/1800/1900MHz) handset is also 3G-enabled (UMTS 2100MHz) and is capable of hooking up to Wi-Fi (802.11b/g) networks. It's just a pity it doesn't come with HSDPA considering that we're already seeing an increase in the number of phones and PDAs which support the faster data connection. Of course, there's also the usual Bluetooth, infrared, USB and Nokia's proprietary Pop-Port to connect via cable for some PC-to-phone synchronization with the PC Suite.
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Probably the most useful for business users are programs such as QuickOffice (for reading and editing Word, Excel and PowerPoint (read-only) documents), BlackBerry Connect and Mail-for-Exchange. The good news about all these additional programs is that they can be downloaded from the Nokia Web site. So if you're using the E61, you can still have these applications on your handheld. Performance
Although the Lithium-polymer batteries on both the E61 (BP-5L) and E61i (BP-4L) have rated 1,500mAh capacities, Nokia has managed to slim down the cell on the E61i, meaning you cannot swap batteries between the two smart phones. Battery life, as expected, gave us similar performance as on the E61.
Conclusion
With the Nokia E61i, it goes to show how market forces can warrant the introduction of a phone that is a clear successor to the E61, but which doesn't bring to the plate very significant differences save for the inclusion of a 2-megapixel camera, a much better build quality and a slimmer profile.
While the E61i probably won't appeal greatly to the current E61 crowd unless they are looking to upgrade for the camera feature, it should attract a new group of users who not only want a phone for work but also leisure.
Notably missing from the E61i is HSDPA connectivity which some manufacturers have begun to include in their smart phones such as the Samsung Ultra Messaging i600, Dopod C730 and the Motorola Q q9. Although the Nokia E61i is still one of the best and most robust smart phones with a full QWERTY keyboard right now, we can't help but feel disappointed that nothing much has improved significantly from the previous model. It is a good phone, but it's not fantastic like the E61 when it first came out.
Latest comments
Pros: packed with features but good for nothing
Cons: slow, slow and dead slow!
Summary: Nothing but a piece of junk
I've been using this phone for almost 2 years now. I will definitely throw it away (don't even bother to give it away) if it's not a company property. There are 5 such rubbish gadgets in my office, and everyone is having the same problem! The phone is slow in all functions, especially when it is downloading emails. Slow is a compliment, it's hanged when downloading emails, and i have to wait untill all emails have been downloaded before i can do anything! I went through cnet's review again, nothing has been mentioned about the slow response???
Pros: Big screen, qwerty keyboard for easy messaging, good look & finish, slim factor, good battery backup, almost all connectivity options
Cons: mono sound output, ordinary camera, no flash, no fm radio, no builtiin stopwatch, no 7 days alarm
Summary: Best non-window business handphone with very little to complain
E61i is a great device from Nokia. It has almost all features an office goer would like to have. Big screen and QWERTY keyboard and great connectivity options stands out. Most onlookers mistake it for a blackberry. Voice clarity & battery backup is pretty decent. Keys are are very well designed & easy to work on. Even business guys needs certain amount of relaxation. Hence stereo output and FM radio would have been a welcome feature. Calculator is sloppy, stop watch is missing and alarm doesnot have 7-days feature. A sour omission. Total overhauling of Nokia PC suite is long over due. Though syncronization works well, I have always longed for the import/syncronization of contact group and catagories created in microsoft outlook. Retrieving e-mail should be made smarter and with more features of MS Outlook mail client. All in all, E61i is a great & smart handphone to have.
Pros: large screen; qwerty keypad; wifi capable; Reversi game is addicting
Cons: slow to open apps; MONO music audio ONLY; difficult MS Excel interface; Quirky File Management
Summary: All business; but not much fun after office
If this cellphone could have: stereo FM radio; stereo mode player; and capability to play extended videos (movies) it would be the perfect phone - for work AND relaxation.
Pros: upto 10 emails accounts
Cons: dead slow for retrieval of phone contacts
Summary: slow
it takes up to 30 sec to retrieve a phone contact!
Pros: It is the Nokia E61i mobile phone that are superior in rating in Asia and very smart to use.
Cons: There are other brand that are most popular than Nokia E61i that the customer preferred to use.
Summary: Nokia E61i is very much popular in Asia mostly to many professionals and students who really choose to use the Nokia E61i.
Nokia E61i is superior in quality and very smart to use. Also, when it comes to Nokia E61i, it is the choice mostly to many professionals and students and it is very popular here in the Philippines because it is very easy to use.
Pros: Fully Integrated, WLAN, push email, QWERT,
Cons: Poor Customer Service.
Summary: Used many PDA's before, but I think this phone has the best features for a PDA, which are fully integrated. However, the screen started to go blank. Took it to Nokia service and they say it's not repairable. (The phone has never been dropped in water),
Probably never buy another Nokia, based on this poor customer service experience. I understand 6Sigma, and even if you meet this high standard, it is possible that there might be a few defective products in a million produced. But how Nokia responds to a cusrtomer complaint is very important for customers to come back.
Pros: qwerty, 3g, wi-fi, camera, large screen, battery life
Cons: pop-port headset?! why Nokia!!!
Summary: A reliable phone that (finally) works like a phone
Compare to what I'm using for the past years (WM3, WM5) smartphone this one is really far more smarter then them.Windows you listening!?
Pros: WiFi, Bluetooth, QuickOffice, Great screen, 2MP Camera, Video, long life battery, OS Symbian.
Cons: No camera flash, no Touchscreen
Summary: A great Smartphone with all that you need!
I bought this Phone a few days ago in Mexico City and I love it! It's a great Smartphone with a lot of applications: Quickoffice, Adobe PDF, Zip, Messenger, Podcasting, WidSets, WorldMate, etc. By the way, the screen it's awesome, and the sound enough louder. The Cam is ok, but the WiFi it's superb. If you have the chance... just buy it!
Pros: Picture & Video streming
Cons: Dead slow, not user friendly interface
Summary: I suggest not to buy this phone if you have been a PDA user and do a stress test even if new
I found this phone is dead slow and there are no shortcut ways to use the functions. Like sending the SMS has 4 steps, 1. Select Messages if you have created a shortcut on desktop, 2. Select New Message, 3. Select whether text, MMS or email, 4. Select/type contact, 5. select No. to which you want to send (even setting No. default doesn't do) and then 6. Send MSG. It is just irritating. WLAN you can not turn it on simply, you must go to browser to turn it on. Sound quality while using Phone is very bad. Limited shortcut options. No simple access to memory card. Limited video play format.
Pros: Complete connectivity,Camera,QWERTY keyboard,Slim,16M colors display,sound quality,battery life
Cons: no Flash,no FM radio,no front camera,no stereo speakers
Summary: Darkboy
Umm...if E61i has FM radio,flash,front camera,and stereo speakers...I think it could to beat Nokia N95... Nokia E61i...Ilove you...
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