Unboxing the Nokia E70 Smartphone

By Vincent Nguyen on Tuesday, Aug 8th 2006 25 Comments

Worth Reading?

+9 [11 votes]

While it’s still very early to provide an accurate feedback on the Nokia E70 smartphone, I do want to say a few things. The split keyboard is somewhat of an acquired taste. Similar to sushi, once you’re hooked on it; you’re pretty much hooked. However, I prefer the full time availability of the keyboard on the E61 (click to watch the unboxing of the Nokia E61). The other BIG difference that creates the urge to run back to the E61 is the screen size. The screen size on the E70 is much smaller, compared to the E61 . Nonetheless, the screen is still very beautiful and the text is super clear. I’m annoyed by the very limited shared memory allocated to the web browser. For a super smartphone with WiFi, there’s just not enough memory for browsing. I’m definitely going to contact Nokia to get an explanation on this. Click over to watch the unboxing video.

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25 Responses to “Unboxing the Nokia E70 Smartphone”

Lia August 8, 2006

Great first look!

I was wondering how long the talktime on the e70?
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Vincent Nguyen August 8, 2006

I just got the E70 in yesterday – so no real usage yet. I’ll let you know asap. What’s interesting is that per Nokia spec, the E70 is suppose to have the same talk time / standby time as the E61 even though the battery capacity on the two units are way different.

E61 Battery is 1500mAh

E70 Battery is 1150mAh

Talk time (estimated):

GSM 3.2 – 7.7 hours
WCDMA 2.5 – 4.0 hours
VoIP 3.0 – 3.2 hours*

Standby time (estimated):

GSM 10.5 – 14.5 days
WCDMA 10.8 – 16 days
GSM/WCDMA and WLAN 5.7 – 8.1 days*
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Lucas August 8, 2006

I will take the one with qwerty anytime anyday, it is really hard to text message without it. Im on motorola q right now but the windows os really kill it for me.

when will slashgear have the full review of the e61?
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Andrew August 8, 2006

how does it compare to E61 in term of voice quality? can you tell at all?
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erick August 8, 2006

I tried the E70 for a week, the only thing is you got to get use to the keypad. The foldable QWERTY keypad is indeed a nice idea to reduce the side of the phone, but it split the keypad into half (left and right). I guess more practices will solve this though.

When open up the qwerty keypad, the screen will also switch to landscape mode. In some cases, I have to wait 5-6 secs to wait for the switching, especially when you first boot the device.
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Daniel Spielman August 9, 2006

I’ve used this style keyboard on prior Nokia models and I must say it is great for text messaging. In fact I would say, I could output more wpm using this keyboard than say on my htc wizard.
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Vincent Nguyen August 9, 2006

Hi everyone, thanks for the comments and questions…the full review should be out in a few days, which includes a written and walkthrough video.

So far I like the E70 and if the E61 didn’t exist, I’d make it my primary smartphone! Unfortunately, the fold out keyboard does not fit my active lifestyle. I travel frequently and enjoys instant messenging on the go such as walking down the airport hallway with one hand pulling my rollerboard and the other hand chatting with my editors; or one hand on the steering wheel and the other chatting…you get the picture. As I’ve stated above, the screen real estate is smaller than that of the E61. Believe me, it makes all the difference in the world.

I’ve taken some pictures (of Kona Hawaii) using the integrated digital camera and must say the 2.0 megapixel quality is very nice. I’ll upload the images when I get back to Phoenix.

The battery life is very impressive! It’s been about 24 hours and I’m still on the original charge! I’ve played Golf, chatted on instant messenger, surf the Internet, taken a dozen images / videos and it’s barely making a dent on the battery.
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Q August 14, 2006

So how’s that E70 treating you?
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Vincent Nguyen August 14, 2006

It’s coming along – I’m not sold on it. Still trying to work on the review. I’m back to the E61.

I’m contacting Nokia to see if they’d approve for a give away contest. I’ll make the announcement at the time of the posting of the review.

[quote comment="235"]So how’s that E70 treating you?[/quote]
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antwan August 16, 2006

i was wondering if you preferred the e61 or the e70 for instant messenging on AOL instant messenger and email writing and receiving. if you had to choose between the two which would you choose based on those two things.

also, which do you think is faster at navigating online and such?

i want to buy one of these and cant decide which..

thank you for your help.

-antwan
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Vincent Nguyen August 16, 2006

Antwan – we each have our own preferences, but here are some of my thoughts.

i was wondering if you preferred the e61 or the e70 for instant messenging on AOL instant messenger and email writing and receiving.

I prefer the E61.

if you had to choose between the two which would you choose based on those two things.

also, which do you think is faster at navigating online and such?

I pick the E61.

Why?

The screen size on the E61 is larger – not much but enough for folks to say – WOW that’s a big difference in screen size. Don’t get me wrong, the rendering of text and images on the E70 is great.

I have an issue with the split keyboard layout. It DOES NOT allow for one handed use. WE use these devices mainly on the go right? so why have a device that requires a lot of concentration as well as both hands just for text entry? This is the MAJOR reason why i prefer the E61 over the E70; hands down. Picture yourself walking down the hallway or running late to a class and you need to carry a cup of coffee in one hand and chatting or check your email on the other…you get the point.

I sorta miss not having a camera on the E61 – but hey that’s what a really good digital camera is for.

I hope these thoughts help you make your decision.

V
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erick August 16, 2006

e70 is smaller in size, but in return you need to open the flip to use the qwerty keypad, do you mind that?

e61 give you the keyboard right away but its size is bigger and do not come with a camera. The screen on e61 is bigger, my choice will be e61
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antwan August 16, 2006

thanks alot. i think i will go with the e61. i had a nokia 6800 before and liked the
keyboard setup, but i think the e61 looks more professional and also like i could get a lot of usage out of it. i currently have the siemens sk65 and its just not what i need right now. its much too outdated. thank you again. i love your site and i find it very, very helpful.

thanks for the quick and helpful response.

-antwan.

p.s. did they ever decide on that give-a-way idea?
—>that would be awesome.
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Vincent Nguyen August 16, 2006

It’s not up to me, I still have to wait for response from Nokia since it belongs to them. I’ll know more in a few days.

[quote comment="299"]thanks alot. i think i will go with the e61. i had a nokia 6800 before and liked the
keyboard setup, but i think the e61 looks more professional and also like i could get a lot of usage out of it. i currently have the siemens sk65 and its just not what i need right now. its much too outdated. thank you again. i love your site and i find it very, very helpful.

thanks for the quick and helpful response.

-antwan.

p.s. did they ever decide on that give-a-way idea?
—>that would be awesome.[/quote]
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antwan August 16, 2006

with the e61 do you ever experience memory issues while surfing the net?
would i need to get a bigger card than the one they included or does it suffice?

sorry for so many questions, but i really want a great phone for the things i enjoy doing.

thanks,

-antwan.
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Vincent Nguyen August 16, 2006

For sure! The memory issue occurs on both devices – and trust me it’s annoying. I usually have to clear cache as I surf. This issue is really bad considering both devices feature WiFi so it should have some mechanism to better handle memory. Adding a memory card doesn’t fix the web browsing issue. I’ll be raising this issue with Nokia shortly and see if we can get anywhere.
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Arabian August 29, 2006

E70 is a powerful phone, and the next firmware should fix these issues you mentioned here.

E70 is very close to 9300i when it comes to typing emails, sms or make your blog.

E61 isn’t close to E70 features, as cam and size ..etc

I own E70 and I think it is the way to go! :)
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Vincent Nguyen August 29, 2006

I agree with you for the most part. However, the E61 and E70 are nearly identical in specs and feastures with the exception that the E61 sports a larger and wider screen than the E70. Plus the ease of using the E61 one-handed. The E70 does sport a camera which I do do miss having, but more than happy to trade it for a larger screen and the ability to type while driving :). I’m close to finishing the review – PLUS I have shots of the E70 in hawaii taken with beautiful hawaiian hula dancers.

[quote comment="704"]E70 is a powerful phone, and the next firmware should fix these issues you mentioned here.

E70 is very close to 9300i when it comes to typing emails, sms or make your blog.

E61 isn’t close to E70 features, as cam and size ..etc

I own E70 and I think it is the way to go! :)[/quote]
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Michael October 3, 2006

Does the Nokia e70 support AOL instant messenger? I’ve read on several websites that it does, but i’ve already read that it doesn’t support any major Internet Instant Messenging Service. I really want a phone with AOL Instant Messenger. Thanks.
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Ewdison Then October 3, 2006

You will need 3rd party application liek IM from shapeservices and etc.
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antwan October 9, 2006

hey vincent. i finally did get the nokia e61 and let me tell you, it is perfect. haha. to say the least. one thing though..i cant figure how to set up my gmail account through it..would you be able to help me with this?

thanks.

antwan.
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Vincent Nguyen October 10, 2006

Make sure you enable POP 3 email via Gmail control panel first:
http://mail.google.com/support.....swer=10350

Follow the settings to configure Gmail:
http://mail.google.com/support.....topic=1555

If all else fail, visit http://e-series.org/ for much more info on the Nokia E61.

I hope this help bud.

V

[quote comment="3649"]hey vincent. i finally did get the nokia e61 and let me tell you, it is perfect. haha. to say the least. one thing though..i cant figure how to set up my gmail account through it..would you be able to help me with this?

thanks.

antwan.[/quote]
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antwan October 10, 2006

oh man. you are awesome. it worked like a charm.

thank you so much.
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antwan November 2, 2006

i have another question, how do i get AOL instant messenger on my nokia e61?
i see that there is a something that says iM..can i set it up thru there? are there any free clients/software out there?

thank you.

-antwan.
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Eric April 14, 2007

Whatever happened to the “review” ? I tried searching using the search feat on this site, no other entry for the actual review.

I am still considering this phone and the SE P990i. The price tag on the P990i is way too much for me and I’m not ready to fork out $800+ (incl. 1GB mem. card and a pouch) for a phone so I’m taking a look at this one as I’ve found that this is the only other phone that has the feats I want in a phone (Qwerty, at least a 2mp camera, Wi-Fi and NOT too expensive).

I just read everywhere that with a firmware update the memory issues disappeared ? I hope the “updating” process of the firmware is as easy as SE phone where you can update them “wireless” (like using bluetooth) ? Hm.
The E61i is out but expensive too :(
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