Nokia N71 review: A matter of taste

Symbian phonebook

N71 phonebook is the same as in any other Nokia Symbian phone. It uses the shared internal memory of the phone and has almost 11 MB as a limit. Contacts can be ordered either by first or last name and are searched by gradually typing the contact's name letter by letter. They can also be organized in groups but cannot be used as a calls filter.

Phonebook capacity • Browsing the phonebook

There is a large amount of available fields which can be assigned to a contact. Starting with Title, First & Last name, Suffix, Company, Job title, Nickname, Mobile, Office, Home phone numbers, Video call phone numbers, Internet telephone, PTT, Fax, Pager, email addresses, web addresses, etc.

Assigning different fields

Personalized pictures and ringtones are supported as well. When a contact of your phonebook is calling you, a picture of your choice is displayed on the screen next to his name.

Receiving a call from a contact

Viewing contact details

The log

Nokia N71 calls log is separated in four tabs: Recent calls, Dialed Numbers, Received calls, Missed calls. The Recent calls tab contains all calls made with the phone in the last 30 days while the other tabs shows the last 10 calls in every category. Every record of a call shows the call duration, date and time of the execution of the call and the number you've talked with.

Calls log

Messaging all-in-one

The messaging menu of Nokia N71 has an Inbox for all SMS, MMS, EMS messages and files received through Bluetooth or Infrared. The received emails are stored in a separate inbox. Writing messages is very easy with N71 as the keypad is comfortable and allows the user to write fast. There is a T9 dictionary to assist the writing process. There is a character counter in top part of the display which shows the characters left until the message will be divided in two or more parts. Next to the characters number there is a number in brackets which tells you the numbers of messages that will be sent. The messages editor and reader display up to 7 rows en bloc.

Inbox • Reading a message • Writing a message

The email client works very well and handles POP3, IMAP and SMTP protocols. N71 downloads and opens attachments seamlessly. The email inbox displays the new messages highlighted so you would know which emails are still unread.

Reading email • Email inbox • Writing an email

Music in the background

As in previous S60 3rd edition Nokia smartphones, N71 offers the same music player with an equalizer and playlist support. The phone allows music to be played in the background as the track is displayed on the active stand-by display below the calendar information.

Music player • Running in background

The phone also has FM radio but you have to plug in the head speakers in order to listen to the radio as their cable serves as an antenna. The radio is very easy and intuitive to use and can remember your favorite stations once you've set them.

FM radio