Nokia E70

I chose this phone primarily because I wanted wi-fi on my free upgrade, and my choice from Vodafone UK was between the E70 and the E61. At the time the choice was agonising, but after 4 weeks with the E70 I am certain I chose wisely, this phone suits me very well. The young and trendy can laugh at its chunky appearance, but if you want a serious smartphone that does almost everything and does not have the dimensions of a slice of toast then the E70 is it. When I say almost everything the exception I have in mind is GPS, but the purchase of a £25 (on ebay) bluetooth GPS module has given me that facility without having to burden the phone's battery with the additional drain of a GPS chipset.

The built-in Navigator application offers basic GPS support, giving position, compass heading, and trip functions. Nokia maps, an excellent free download from Nokia, gives full mapping functionality. Regional maps are also free from Nokia, they are loaded onto the phone via an application that needs to be installed on your PC. The only feature lacking in the free version of Nokia Maps is turn-by-turn voice directions, but that can be added on payment of a subscription. Rather cleverly, the activation key is supplied by means of a chargeable SMS, and thus appears on ones phone bill.

Processor choice in a smartphone has to be a compromise between speed and power consumption. In general I have found that compromise to be satisfactory. It does seem to take forever for the phone to power up, but in use it seems sprightly enough, and it will happily support a couple of bluetooth applications whilst browsing the web via wi-fi. The chosen web browser has been slated in some quarters, but I prefer it to Opera and it must be the case that web browsing on a small screen device is always going to be something of a chore.

Although the UK and European version of the E70 is equipped for 3G, there is only one camera, so video calling is not an option. However, that is probably no great loss because video calling is really a dead duck, killed off by rapacious charging regimes of the networks and the general reluctance of people in general to point cameras at themselves. The 2 megapixel camera fitted is said to be the same as that in the N70, and does not offer autofocus or optical zoom. That is not important to me, but other phone users may have different priorities.

Some reviewers have criticised the delay in screen switching between portrait and landscape modes when the keyboard is folded out. In fact, with the current software the switch is virtually instantaneous. There has also been criticism of the speech memo button on the side of the phone, with the suggestion being made that it is to easy to press by accident. Well, I have not pressed it accidentally, and have found it to be a useful feature. The same button, when held down, activates Nokia's brilliant voice dialing facility as also seen on the N70 etc.

To got through the E70's feature list point-by-point would be a very lengthy, time-consuming, and ultimately pointless exercise. I will close this review with my opinion that overall the E70 is a very competent and well-made package, and will not disappoint the serious smartphone user unless a sophisticated camera or touch screen is required.

pjh 17/04/07

The size of the Nokia E70 is a bit bigger than the 6230. However, you wouldn't want this device any smaller as its screen size would suffer. The screen is an excellent size of web browsing, and you can zoom in on pages if the font is too small for you. The screen resolution is amazing, and the black light dims or brightens according too the light, which can also save battery life. There is also a screen protector already on the device

The numeric pad is as easy to use as any other Nokia. The joystick is nice and solid too. When you flip the wing out to reveal the qwerty thumboard, it feels solid and sturdy and has a satisfying click when the wing is fully back. Typing on it is easy to use, it could be a bit tricky for anyone who hasn't had a device with a qwerty before, or isn't used to hand held consoles. But its easy to get used to and you can get quite quick and think they did you ever bother with predictive text in the first place! Also, while you flip the wing out the screen goes from portrait to landscape mode. There is a slight delay, but back the time you flick the wing out it is realigned, so isn't really bothersome.

The wifi is constantly search for open or closed connects, however this does not affect that battery life much when its in this sort of stand by mode. the E70 picks up and hold a wifi connection brilliantly (unlike my TyTN!). The web browser is really good, I like the way it shows little images of previous pages when you press the "back" key.

The speed of navigating, opening and saving files/applicants is very good. Doesn't lag at all. Nokia version of Office is very good too, not only can you view things but you can edit them too, very useful for writing documents on the go.

And of colour, being a Nokia, its easy to use and does all the usual thing a non-smart phone does, plays mp3s, takes pictures, etc. The 2MP camera takes good quality pictures. And these are very easy to copy to your PC (pictures, music and documents are) you don't even have to install the Nokia suite to file transfer. Just plug and play, using the cable provided.

I call and text a lot, and use the wifi to browse the net. And on average use the phone lasts about 5 or 6 days! Better than the 1- 3days my TyTN did!

I think I've just about covered most things. Its a good looking pocket-able smartphone, i'm very pleased with it!

The Nokia E70 is a really cool mobile phone. It's kind of big, but it's got really good internet services for checking emails on the go. The 2 mega-pixel camera lets me take pictures of a high enough quality that I don't even need to carry my camera round! It's got loads of memory too, so I can store my music on it and listen on the go.

The only thing is that it's a bit big. I like my phones chunky and I bought this for using at work instead of a PDA, but it can be awkward to carry round in my smaller bags.

Overall, it's a good phone. I've not had any problems, but if you want a small phone I wouldn't recommend this one.