Nokia N71

Expected Q1 2006
2nd November 2005

The Nokia N71 is a 3G clamshell phone with a 2 megapixel digital camera and a large 2.4" 240x320 pixel display.

It's a standard clamshell design, and the N71 weighs 139 grams, somewhat more that the N70's 126 grams but it's significantly smaller and lighter than the Nokia N90 (at 173 grams). The N71 measures 99x51x26mm, which is pretty typical for a 3G clamshell. Unlike the N90 and N70, the N71 uses miniSD cards to expand memory - There's just 10Mb of internal memory on the N71, but this can be expanded with miniSD cards up to a maximum of 2Gb.

An email client and web browser is included. The screen is significantly better than the N70's, so this should help with web browsing. There's an MP3 and multimedia player, and the N71 also includes an FM radio with support for Nokia's IP-based Visual Radio too. All these applications run on the newly rebranded S60 (Symbian Series 60) operating system.

There's tri-band GSM in addition to WCDMA 2100 3G, and it supports EDGE networks as well as GPRS. There's no WiFi on the N71, although this is becoming increasingly common on some of Nokia's other high-end devices. Talktime is up to 4 hours with 7-9 days standby time.

On paper this looks like a good handset, but the biggest drawback is that it is incredibly ugly - in our view, one of the ugliest phones of 2005, along with the Nokia N91. It does appear that they've tried to carry through some of the design themes from the attractive N70 handset, but in our view the styling just doesn't work.

The Nokia N71 will appeal to people who prefer technical features over style, but it's not really a class leader. Apart from the useful inclusion of the S60 OS, there are now plenty of 3G handsets that offer similar features (for example, the Sharp 903). But it does mean that Nokia now have a competitive 3G clamshell, which is something that the N90 really isn't.

The N71 should be available in the first quarter of 2006 for an unsubsidised cost of around €400.

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