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T-Mobile Nokia E73 Mode: The Review
Monday, June 14th, 2010 | Eseries, News, Reviews, T-Mobile, Tips & Tricks, Top Stories | 23 Comments
The Nokia E71/E71x was at the top of my top three Symbian devices of all time and had a form factor that couldn’t be beat. There were a few areas for improvement in the E71, namely the camera, headset jack, charging port, and display resolution. Nokia updated most of these in the Nokia E72, but it was still a device with support for foreign and AT&T 3G networks. I was caught off guard by the solid rumors of the Nokia E73 Mode and was very pleased when Nokia sent an evaluation unit for me to try out last week. The E73 Mode is essentially a Nokia E72 with support for T-Mobile USA’s 1700 MHz 3G data network and as a long time T-Mobile customer I couldn’t be happier.
Improvements from the E71/E71x to the E73 Mode
A couple of the pain points in the E71 were the 2.5mm headset jack, problematic 3.2 megapixel camera (mostly fixed with latest firmware update), lack of microUSB charging, and older S60 Feature Pack 1 operating system. The Nokia E73 Mode has a standard 3.5mm headset jack, good 5 megapixel camera, microUSB charging, and S60 Feature Pack 2 and more as listed in the specifications below.My biggest gripe now with the E73 Mode is the display resolution and fonts. I have been spoiled by some fantastic high resolution displays on the N97 mini, N900, and HTC EVO 4G and now it is tough to go back to a device with a 320×240 QVGA display. Actually, it is more of an issue with the fonts than the resolution, but I cannot find a way to update to less pixelated fonts. The device is so responsive and functional that I am willing to overlook the display resolution/font issue.
Improvements from the E72 to the E73 Mode
At first glance it may look like the E73 Mode is simply a T-Mobile USA branded Nokia E72, but there are actually some design differences that I personally find make the E73 Mode even better than the E72. Check out the image below, credit goes to All About Symbian, and you can see the E73 Mode has a slightly curved QWERTY keyboard that helps match the way your thumbs rotate. You will also find a rather significant change in hardware button layout with the E73 Mode have them all along two extended bars rather than buttons centered making them smaller on the E72. The E73 Mode also a bit more metal below the QWERTY keyboard and IMHO it feels more solid than the E72 and much more like the E71 construction we have all come to love.
Internally, the E73 Mode also has some differences in radio frequencies with support for T-Mobile’s 1700 MHz 3G band and support for UMA WiFi calling (separate post coming that will discuss this in detail).
New to the AT&T Nokia E71x? Here are some tips to make it better
Wednesday, May 6th, 2009 | AT&T, Eseries, News, Tips & Tricks, Top Stories | 252 Comments
As a S60 power user I was justifiably quite disappointed by the AT&T Nokia E71x as I clearly laid out in my blog post yesterday. However, I also know that the E71/E71x is an awesome piece of hardware with a very functional QWERTY keyboard, rock solid construction, and now a decent camera. I also believe that this device will be very compelling in the AT&T store next to the much clunkier smartphones and with the $100 price point it may do quite well. That said, I decided to dive into the device some more and see if I could customize it to my liking where I could accept it as a smartphone in my collection. With the possibility that many people may also pick this up I also decided that I would start making New E71x user posts to help those people out if they happen to find this site.
Customizing the menu layout
Since many apps and folders cannot be removed, I decided to do a little housekeeping and arranging to make the E71x more efficient.I first created a “Junk” folder by selecting the left soft key (Options) and then New folder. I was able to move three default folders from AT&T (My Stuff, MEdiaMall, and CellularVideo) around and put the MEdiaMall one in here, along with things like Help, About, and Settings wizard that I never use or use only once.
I then created a few more folders I like to use and called them Office, Comms, and Media. I usually create a GPS folder, but the AT&T GPS one is not changeable so I just used this one. Here is what I placed in each of these folders:
- Office – Address Book, Quickoffice, Adobe PDF, Notes, and Calendar
- Comms – Recent calls, fring, Wordmobi, and Gravity
- Media – My Stuff (AT&T’s folder that is movable), Recorder, Camera, RealPlayer, ShoZu, and Cellular Video
- AT&T GPS – AT&T Nav, Where, Shop GPS, Google Maps, Sports Tracker, Landmarks
- Top row – AT&T GPS, Yellowpages (an AT&T app that looks helpful), Messaging, Office
- 2nd row – MEdia Net (S60 web browser), Opera Mini, Gmail, Comms folder
- 3rd row – Media, Tools, Settings, AT&T Music
- 4th row – Junk, Games&Apps
Installing helpful applications
The E71x has over 100MB available to install 3rd party applications so you can pretty much install to your heart’s content. I also put in an 8GB microSD card for even more capacity. Here are the applications › Continue readingThe good, bad, and too much ugly of the AT&T Nokia E71x
Tuesday, May 5th, 2009 | AT&T, Eseries, Reviews, Top Stories | 69 Comments
As I posted earlier today, I found the AT&T Nokia E71x in stock at a local Federal Way, Washington, store. I bought the HTC Fuze back in late Fall and wasn’t eligible for an upgrade discount and didn’t want to try to get an early upgrade since I wasn’t sure about the device. Thus, I paid the $299.99 price, plus about $34 in tax. I love my unlocked Nokia E71 (see my full review) for the most part and was excited to see what some of the improvements might be in the E71x. After spending several hours with the device, I am afraid I may be returning it very soon since I have been spoiled by the features of the SIM-unlocked E71 device. I do think that new S60 users will find the E71x to be a very attractive messaging device at $100 or even for 1 penny at Amazon, but us power users will most likely be disappointed.
Thoughts on the hardware
The E71x is physically the exact same as the E71, except for the black color compared to the gray/silver color of the unlocked E71. One minor difference is that the E71x keyboard has a bit more texture than the E71 so your fingers stick just a bit more on the keyboard. There is still the 2.5mm headset jack, single mono speaker, microUSB port, standard Nokia charging port, and 3.2 megapixel camera. It seems there is no FM radio in the E71x. So at first glance, it looked like the E71x was going to be as good as the E71. However, there are some major software differences that really make the unlocked NAM E71 the better choice for S60 buyers, but let’s start off on a positive note shall we?
What’s good about the E71x compared to the E71?
The E71x is the first S60 device with the TeleNav-based GPS navigation software preloaded. The software is branded AT&T Navigator and you get a 30-day trial when you buy the E71x. It is a subscription service that costs about $10/month. While it is debatable whether or not this type of service is a good choice, remember that you can just purchase › Continue readingBest of SPE, 26 April 2009
Sunday, April 26th, 2009 | News | No Comments
We’re pretty sure that if you’re reading this, you’re the sort who likes exclusive, breaking details on Smartphones. We had that aplenty this week. Nokia Experts got the full skinny on the AT&T Nokia E71x in the form of PDF guides and a confirmation of a May 4th release. PreCentral.net scored an internal head-to-head between the iPhone and the Palm Pre. CrackBerry.com saw yet another Storm OS leak.
We’re also pretty sure you like free stuff. So you’ll want to check out the What Would You Do for a Palm Pre Giveaway. We’re also incredibly proud that CrackBerry.com reached – wait for it – One Million Members! They’ll be tossing out celebratory gifts to them this week. WMExperts will be giving away a phone (check there on Monday). Also, did you know that The iPhone Blog is approaching their 1 year anniversary in a couple weeks? Expect some fun to happen there soon, too!
Much more more happened in the smartphone world, so as usual, we bring you our "Best of SPE roundup." Come take a look at what’s news!
CTIA 09: Hands-on and intial thoughts on the Nokia E71x
Wednesday, April 1st, 2009 | AT&T, Eseries, News | 25 Comments
I had a very nice dinner with several bloggers and the folks at Nokia last night and had the chance to spend some time with the Nokia E71x. I also saw the N97, but didn’t get much hands-on time yet, although I will this week. Here are some quick thoughts and answers to questions on the E71x coming to AT&T:
- The real name is E71x and that is stamped in the upper right above the display.
- The black back cover is indeed metal and not plastic as some people have stated.
- The hardware is virtually the exact same as the E71 unlocked model. Unfortunately, the camera appears to be the exact same too.
- Still has a 2.5mm headset jack. I was hoping they would put in the standard 3.5mm type.
- AT&T did put LOTS of their stuff on the device (AT&T Music, AT&T Mall, bunch of crappy game samples, etc.) and many of these icons cannot even be removed or moved to a Junk folder.
- It looks like TeleNav is coming out with a S60 GPS navigation client as seen as AT&T GPS on the Nokia E71x.
It is definitely a slick piece of hardware and I really hope it does well at just $100. Every time I have shown this device, people have wanted it so I think it is important to have it in the AT&T stores where people will get their hands on it and pick it up over bulkier other devices in the stores.
