BenQ-Siemens Q-fi EF71

Available now
23rd May 2006

When BenQ-Siemens was formed we must admit that we had some doubts about the operation, but in truth BenQ-Siemens have been able to come out with an impressive product range with some nice looking handsets that (in our view) have a real chance of gaining some market share.

The latest BenQ-Siemens handset is the EF71 which will be sold under the slightly cumbersome name of "BenQ-Siemens Q-fi EF71".

From the outside, the EF71 is a fabulous looking handset. Clad in "stellar aluminium", the BenQ-Siemens EF71 comes with an attractive minimalist design with some very sleek external media controls. It's not quite so exciting inside, but the squared-off design does fit nicely with the external design, so it's clear that BenQ-Siemens have put in a fair bit of effort here.

Enough about looks though - what's actually in the EF71? Well, it's a decent upper-midrange handset with a 2 megapixel camera, 176x220 pixel display, Bluetooth and expandable memory. There's a 256Mb microSD card bundled with the package, and the BenQ-Siemens EF71 also comes with 3D surround sound.

As you might guess, the EF71 comes with a multimedia player that supports MP3, AAC and WMA formats. It can also take video clips at up to 30 fps, and it can be used as a webcam when connected to a PC via a USB cable.

The EF71 has a web browser, but BenQ-Siemens make no mention of an email client. We'd be surprised if there wasn't one, but if it's really important to you then check before ordering.

The Q-fi sub-brand is new. BenQ-Siemens have launched the Q-fi range to designate music-orientated devies. BenQ have made standalone MP3 players before using the "Joybee" name, but these haven't sold well. (They also have a notebook brand called "Joybook".) There are all sorts of reasons why Q-fi is a better name.

BenQ-Siemens say that the EF71 should be available from July 2006 in Asia Pacific and September 2006 in Europe. The price of the EF71 is not yet known.

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