I own a Nokia E71 (For 1 year now, purchased November 2009). It is by far the nicest looking QWERTY non-touch-screen phone available, and it's not even a new model.

I own the white version of the E71, and everytime I take it out people are still asking me what that is and where can they buy it lol.

Functionality… pretty decent. I only use my phone exclusively for texting and sometimes talking, so it does the job well enough. I don't have a data plan and only browse sometimes where there's free WIFI available.

Overall, 8/10. I know for hardcore users, the E71 wouldn't be that good … no games, no apps, no flashy user interface, etc… but for those who want simple and sturdy with the extra flare of "Oooh what is that!".. the E71 is the best!

As a guy who has access the the latest and the best mobile toys I get to learn a lot about hat is good and what is not. I have selected the E71 as my platform of choice upon which I operate my principal mobile account.

In this role I find the E71 quite a bit better than the sturdy and reliable E61i that it replaced. Interestingly I find that typing on the E71 is easier and faster than on the E61i – pricipally due to the way that the individual keys have been sculpted with a curved surface, thereby facilitating excellent tactile feedback and accurate input.

The only slight wrinkle in this otherwise faultless and highly desireable device is that the auto-focus on the 3.2 Mpixel camera is sub-optimal and gets confused when attempting to focus on an object. I trust that this will be fixed soon with a firmware upgrade.

While one could argue that the technical improvements are quite a leap (especially getting it all into the small package), I am also put off by the User Interface. Virtually nothing has been done since the software I have on the older E61. Usability still leaves much to be desired (as before), which to me is a deal-breaker.

As for the web browser, I can highly recommend Opera Mini (the Java browser). I have long put aside the attempt of a browser (again, the criticism is mostly UI) installed on the E61 by default, and have instead relied on Opera Mini.

This little browser uses server side rendering, which may not be desirable to all. However it is a beautiful demonstration to how good user interface can be built. With only a few minutes to learn the basic shortcut keys it is a pleasure to use. It renders very well, and has a great zoom in/out feature. It is very fast, much faster than most native apps on the phone, especially the built in browser.

Anyway, just my 2 cents.

E71 is a good evolution, but they could have done much more.

The dial pad thing is annoying when you need to dial numbers often. I just start typing the contacts name for most calling so it works for me.

The email clients arent great, though the new one is a vast improvement. Decent 3rd party clients available but who wants to buy a diff app for email on a email centric phone.

Calendar hasnt been much of a problem for me, but I enter stuff into my own calendar and synch with outlook using PC Suite so I dont really need OTA synch.

I've been using the S60 browser for a long time, so I am used to it and comfortable with it. I actually prefer it to the zoom in zoom out way that one surfs on the iphone, but thats a matter of choice, and I am fairly sure that my preference is not whats going to win in the long run.