Nokia N71 Review
Phone rating: 
Review: September 2006. Updated August 2007.
The Nokia N71 is a 3G SmartPhone in a clamshell format. Best thought of as
an N70 but in clamshell design, the N71 has many
good features, but comes with a couple of health warnings too.
Let's start with the physical characteristics first. It's a moderately attractive
phone (for a SmartPhone!) and will appeal to SmartPhone users looking for a
clamshell format. It's big though - transforming the N70 into a clamshell has
added weight and bulk to a design that was already heavy and bulky. Nokia could
have taken advantage of the clamshell form to improve the keypad size, but it's
really no better than the N70 keypad. This means that you have a big phone that
will be tricky for users with large fingers - not an ideal combination. There's
also a design problem in that the keys tend to scratch the screen when the clam
is closed. We recommend that you invest in a screen protector if you choose
this phone.
Moving on to imaging, the main display of the N71 is very good - large, high
resolution and sharp with good colours. No complaints there! The camera is 2
megapixels and has a high zoom (20x) and a flash, but somehow it doesn't seem
to be as good as you'd expect from a camera with this specification. Video calling
is supported and video recording is pretty good with a resolution of 352 x 288
pixels.
Support for music is excellent and is definitely one of the strengths of the
N71. The music player supports playlists and produces high quality audio, especially
using the supplied stereo headset. You can easily transfer music from a PC to
the phone using Windows Media Player and USB drag-and-drop functionality. The
built-in memory is just 10 Mbytes, but a 128 Mbyte card is supplied in the sales
package and this is expandable to 2 Gbytes, providing ample storage for music.
Visual Radio is also supported.
Other good features include an advanced web browser, which makes good use of
the large screen and 3G internet connection. Email is supported and there's
a viewer for Word, PowerPoint & Excel attachments. Connectivity is via Bluetooth
1.2, USB 2.0 or infrared. Battery life is adequate.
Downsides are the usual for a Symbian phone - a slow user interface and occasional
freezing or software errors. All things considered, the N71 is a good-enough
SmartPhone in a clamshell format, with good functionality and especially excellent
music capabilities, but with a number of problems that prevent it from being
an excellent phone.
Features of the Nokia N71 include:
- Series 60 Symbian SmartPhone
- 2 megapixel camera with 20x digital zoom and flash
- VGA camera (0.3 megapixels) with 2x digital zoom
- Video recording (352 x 288 pixels, 15 frames per second)
- Video and still image editors
- Internal display: TFT, 262,144 colours, 320 x 240 pixels
- External display: 65,536 colours, 96 x 68 pixels
- Stereo music player MP3, WMA, eAAC+, AAC+, MPEG-4, RealAudio Voice and other
formats) with equaliser
- Visual Radio
- MP3 ringtones (64-voice polyphonic)
- Messaging: SMS, MMS, email (with support for attachments),
Instant Messaging
- Integrated handsfree speaker
- Java & Symbian applications
- Push to Talk
- Speaker Independent Name Dialing / Voice commands
- Voice recorder
- Advanced contacts database
- Connectivity: Bluetooth 1.2, USB 2.0 (USB mass storage), Infrared
- Memory: 10 Mbytes plus 128 Mbytes miniSD memory card (expandable to 2 Gbytes)
- WAP 2.0 web browser, GPRS, EGPRS, 3G data transfer
(384 kbps)
- Triband plus 3G (GSM 900/1800/1900 and WCDMA 2100)
- Size: 99 x 51 x 26 mm
- Weight: 139 g
- Talktime: 4 hours
- Battery standby: up to 200 hours
Nokia N71 User Reviews
Love your mobile? Hate it? Please share your experiences to help other
people choose the phone that's best for them. Please do not review this
phone if you have not used it. This is a review site, not a forum, so
please don't just ask questions. Please do not use swear words or offensive
language, and please, no advertising!
Average rating from 60 reviews: 
Reviewed by Elvira from Switzerland on 18th May
2010
Never had that much problem with a mobile phone like this one. I missclicked
during a call so it was on speakers, got kinda annoyed of it, couldn't
change it back. With this issue, I got another one with it, I clicked
on my list to call someone, didn't work, so have fun remembering your
family and friends phone number. gonna get myself another mobile, no
more nokia anymore. Sorta got disappointed. Might be a good mobile if
it'd work properly.
Rating:  Reply
Reviewed by AlexanderS from USA on 23rd Apr 2010
It always has annoying message "Remove memory card and press OK" when
I open the phone. Tried various memory cards including the one supplied
with the phone. Would not recommend this phone.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by ashiq hussain from bahrain on 1st
Nov 2009
it a good phone bu problem coming in camera msg come camera hardware
failed
Rating:
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Reviewed by Satya from Prakash on 1st Aug 2008
This Phone is Good but its Design is too poor and out of fashion.
Rating:
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Reviewed by Saazy from Malta on 13th Jun 2008
An excellent phone with great features
Rating: 
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Reviewed by Rajmohit from India on 11th Dec 2007
Not happy. Barely an year, have been having issues with main camera.
These days having issues like Phone restarting, SIM not registered...
very frustrated.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by mujtaba from paskistan on 19th Oct
2007
its shape is big but brilliant to use.....
Rating: 
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Reviewed by Tina from Sudan on 14th Sep 2007
Yo! ppl who are dissin dis phone, HOW DARE U?!! I formed a spiritula
connection with ma N71. I love it to death!! its amazing and if u thnk
it s a waste of time and money then u have no appreciation for fine
and RARE things!
Rating:
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Reviewed by shaiy A. from Sudan on 14th Sep 2007
with regards to the perveious problems, I think the N71 is an absolutly
brilliant phone. what can I say I LOVE IT!! I couldn't possibly trade
it for any other. what intrests me the most is the design and not to
mention the music player!! I haven't had any of the problems I keep
hearing about from other ppl. then again, when u have a phone that kool
its pretty easy to overlook the setbacks. I strongly recommend it!!
I've had it for almost 2 years now, droped it a dizzillion times but
its still in gr8 shape!!
Rating:
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Reviewed by Mercurius from Germany on 12th Sep
2007
Hmm... I got no problems at all it seems. I also use the phone quite
often as GPS navigator with a german navigation software. With additional
software I also can measure my car performance. All normal phone functions
are working quite without a fuss. I'm very satisfied with it. Also the
photo and video functions are really ok for a mobile phone. The image
quality is ok in the dark and quite good with day light. Videos are
with 15fps also ok.
Rating:
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Reviewed by Saravana from Malaysia on 2nd Aug
2007
this phone is really a waste of money,it will hang once u send a sms
a least for about 2 to 3 min.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by S22 from UK on 26th Jul 2007
For those people who have said 'dont diss this phone' and 'its excellent'
: I wonder what they're thinking after a few months of having it? Dont
read any other reviews, take it from me, its a great phone,when it works
- but it doesnt for long. Mine has spent most of the last year in for
repair.I paid £350 for it. Please, dont waste YOUR money too.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by zee from hong kong on 6th Jul 2007
a waste. an expensive and USELESS.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Ian from South Africa on 2nd Jul 2007
rubbish. after 6 months of having it the: camera does not work the phone
turns itself off saying 'phone needs to restart' A LOT, resulting in
missed calls symbian is rubbish, slow and crashes OFTEN it takes long
to start up battery life is poor another gripe is the general stupidity
of the software, for instance, if you close the clam before a typed
text has actually gone off it doesnt send it. anyway, its not usable
anymore and i have to get a new one. what a waste of time and money.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Tom from England on 5th Jun 2007
The phone is OK for the first few months, but recently mine has gone
pear shaped. It freezes every time I send a text message, the screen
is scratched by the keys, the memory card is inserted properly, but
the phone still seems unable to recognise it. Because of all of this,
I am forced to buy a new phone- i will be choosing a cheaper one, because
in my experience the more expensive phones are the ones that freeze
and refuse to do simple tasks. Am very dissapointed, especially as i
paid over 200 pounds for it. Camera quality is still amazing though,
as is the video. However, that is still not enough to save it i'm afraid
because the basics just dont work. No wonder Nokia have discontinued
the handset.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Joe from Ireland on 22nd May 2007
attractive phone, but freezes a lot and talk time is very low wouldn't
recomand this phone.. highly priced with many problems
Rating:
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Reviewed by Khatey from New Zealand on 22nd May
2007
I didnt really care about the scratches, I did not think that it was
the keypad that was causing the scratches, I thought it was my earrings
so I had to always take them off when I talk for long hours...lolz...
Problems.. cant play games.. it hangs... Luv texting really..but it
takes 60secs to 2 mins to actually send it..the phone will actually
hang till it sends then will go back to normal.... according to shops
here, nokia is not making it anymore.. I have that insert sim card problem
over and over again... and also the memory problem though nothing is
really in my phone memory everything is in the memory card..
Rating:
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Reviewed by pepe from philippines on 9th May 2007
screen scratch due to keypad is not a biggie problem. what i dont like
is im having a hard time looking for applications for my phone. ill
bet its going to be fun if it is!! those who say n71 is not good probably
they dont know how to use it.
Rating:
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Reviewed by Alexander from Denmark on 1st May
2007
Great phone, with a HUGE problem, when you close it, it scratches the
screen!!!! If you buy it, you NEED to buy a screen protector too!
Rating:
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Reviewed by Les from Wales on 1st Apr 2007
Whoever thought this phone was pants obviosly got it confused with the
6822 - this phone has the best video and camera on the market - its
better than my digital camera which cost me £500. Don't diss this phone
- people who do obviously don't know the meaning of the word quality
and are jealous of relatives/friends who have this phone.
Rating:
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Reviewed by DOUGLAS ARMSTRONG from NIGERIA on
13th Mar 2007
VERY GOOD AND ATTRACTIVE
Rating:
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Reviewed by karan from india on 1st Mar 2007
its cool.brilliant i love this phone much
Rating:
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Reviewed by dita from indonesia on 27th Feb 2007
it's nice clam shell model when i saw it first time. but it's very difficult
to find this phone in my country. then i got it, and i found that the
screen is very easy to crash, and it's not helped by the use of the
screen guard.
Rating:
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Reviewed by faeze from Iran on 26th Feb 2007
the only thing that I can say about it is COOL,VERY VERY COOL
Rating:
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Reviewed by Dillan from dere england on 24th Feb
2007
this is pants never get it its a pice of junk
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Steinar from Norway on 22nd Feb 2007
This Nokia N71 has been an everlasting disappointment. First the connector
for the USB cable broke after a few days. A new phone was sent to me
after 40 days of waiting! Bluetooth adapter for my PC was bought to
avoid cabling. Scratching problem was known and proctection was put
on the display. Now after 2 months the camera has failed working. I
will also mention that the browse button has lost its paint and below
is: plastic material. No aluminimum, to make it last forever. Stay away
from this model!
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by supreet from india on 4th Feb 2007
hey guys,this is a phone that isnt worth its cost.i purchased it and
found that a scratch is there on the phone screen on the very first
day.the software is very unstable and the phone blacks out and hangs
very often.though the music player is good but the camera is not good
when compared to other phones with 2mp.dnt purchase it at any cost.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by keny from englind on 4th Feb 2007
i had it for one day and it did not swich on RUBISH!DO NOT BIY
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Jerry in Cincinnati from U.S.A. on
29th Jan 2007
This phone does everything it's advertised to do but it has some problems.
The first one is a nagging error message related to the memory data
card. The phone periodically submits an error message telling the user
that they should "remove the memory card and press ok" even when one
is NOT trying to remove the card. I've tried all suggestions trying
to fix this to no avail. This leads to the second issue. The latest
version of the phone firmware corrupted some of the functionality of
voice dialing. Specifically, once I upgraded the firmware, voice dialing
was no longer possible with a Bluetooth head/earphone. This was a major
loss of an important feature for those of us in America trying to call
someone while driving, and staying "hands free". Prior to the firmware
update, it worked fine! Other than these two annoying problems, the
phone has everything one could want, including the support of Internet
Browsing in HTML AND Wap. It also supports EDGE (important in USA) and
3G for those not in U.S.A. The 3G now also enables the use of this phone
in Japan.
Rating:
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Reviewed by S. zainal from Brunei on 17th Jan
2007
Its the WORSE mobile phone that I ever had. I thought getting this model
will make my life easier with many functions available in it. Too bad
its the opposite. My previous phone is much much better and faster interms
of sending messages. Ive been advising people not to get this model.
Im very disappointed with NOKIA especially N71 model
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Poowak from England on 16th Jan 2007
This phone is really good!!!!!! It has an excellent camera and video
and the mp3 is really good quality. Futhermore the battery last ages
and i rarely have to charge it! On the other reveiws they say that they
got a scratch on the screen - thats their fault for scratching it! Don't
diss this phone!
Rating:
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Reviewed by Sameer from India on 6th Jan 2007
HAD DIS FOR ALMOST 9 MONTHS THE PROBLEM WHICH I FOUND D VERY NEXT DAY
SCRATCH ON D SCREEN . INVESTING MORE THAN 20000 BUGS N FACIN SUCH A
PROBLEM FROM THE START IS NOTHING BUT "SHAME ON NOKIA N THE DESIGNER
OF THE PHONE" IT WAS RIDICULOUS . NOKIA NEEDS TO DO SOMETHING SERIOUS
EITHER TO RECTIFY THE PROBLEM OR CHANGE THE HANDSETS AS NOKIA ITALY
HAS DONE . APART FROM THIS A FINE PHONE BT SERIOUSLY NOT TO B PURCHASED
PHONE
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by danny from usa on 6th Jan 2007
for those who don't need all the functions of the most expensive cellphone
but want a lot more functions than the cheapest or average cellphone
the nokia n71 delivers bigtime at a reasonable price. the 2gb storage
capacity is a big plus and will be more than adequate for most people
who want to have their photos and music with them. example: my nokia
n71 has 12 photos and more than 100 songs installed, yet all that consumes
only 20% of the 2gb sandisk minisd i've installed which leaves lots
of headroom for future additions. and the nokia n71 has other fuctions
such as a camera, video and other features i have yet to explore. and
lastly, with nokia being one of the sponsers of college football nokia
sugar bowl, that right there validates nokia as perhaps the best reputable
cellphone companies which is enough said.
Rating:
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Reviewed by Orpheas from Cyprus on 24th Dec 2006
i put good because it has much good thinks but the model is not nice.
Rating:
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Reviewed by john from UK on 23rd Dec 2006
This phone is but ugly! I dont know what I was thinking by buying it,
but when I FINALLY, after a 2 month wait recieved it, i tried to turn
it on and it wouldn't, so I thought, OK maybe it's just out of battery,
plugged it in and NADA. straight back to Orange and i now have the N70
( i was a bit hesitant to get another Nseries phone) but it is quite
frankly BRILLIANT.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by nicolette from South Africa on 1st
Nov 2006
This phone is the worst phone I have ever had. I bought 2. One for me
and one for my husband. My phone froze after 1 day. I took it back and
got refunded. After about 2 weeks my husbands phone froze and did not
want to switch on. Nokia replaced the "engine" and STILL it freezes
and blacks out. I have since bought a Samsung D900 and boy, what a nice
phone. Cant compare the two. I have spent in total R7000 on a total
RUBBISH phone. If anyone from NOKIA see this review....I want my money
back!!
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Kuri from Japan on 28th Oct 2006
I use this phone in Japan, where it is known as the 804NK. And its RUBBISH!!!
We all know about the scratched screen problem, but the problems just
go on! My main problem was that the 11MB internal phone memory would
just fill up in about 2 weeks, even though I had no data stored on it.
I had to go to the shop every month to reset it. As the memory fills
up the phone moved at snails pace, taking 2 minutes or so to send /
receive a single message. I imagine thats why it was quietly removed
from the Vodafone catalogue over here, but I was just told "thats the
way it is" by the phone folks. The camera is avaerage at best, and compared
to a Sharp or Toshiba its functionality is stone age. There is a small
screen on the front of the phone that serves zero purpose, I could go
on and on. Never again will I buy another Nokia. Horrible! If you live
in Japan, take my advice, buy Japanese.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by mehdi ss from iran on 21st Oct 2006
as you now this phone has some problems.such as scratching of screen
with keypad and freezing of phone when you play the snakes,ok?! but
its design is realy atractiv and you cant see it in evryones hand.quality
of sound is realy nice.and the size of screen is biger than most sonyericson
and samsung phones.if you want attractive phone with special futuers
buy it but dont forget the screen protector and uninstaling the snakes.
Rating:
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Reviewed by CH Farid from PAKISTAN on 17th Oct
2006
NOKIA N71 IS VERY GRAET MOBILE 2 MP CAMERA AND VIDOE CALLING
Rating:
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Reviewed by AMS from Oman on 10th Oct 2006
Im in love with this phone cuz when i first got it i wouldnt stop bragging
about it but as some of the others have noted that the screen gets scratched
when the phones snapped shut. Im still amazed at the sound quality and
the camera but wat surprised me the most is how sturdy it is..i dropped
it on marble floor and it was fine whereas anyother flip phone might
have shattered! For those of you planning to buy a phone get the N71
if ur looking for something rare!
Rating:
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Reviewed by mehdi sadaghian from iran on 25th
Sep 2006
the advantage is that you cant found nayone in your class thatwith this
phone,and quality of camera is nice i think design is better than n90
and 91 buttttttttttttttttt.scratches are really annoying .I cannot even
play "SNAKES" just because my N71 hangs in approx. 1.5 minutes after
I launch the gameand it appear sevral times so i uninstall And then
Its stuck, no keys would work, not even the power key.finaly,the screen
flickering when the text message that i'm typing goes to the next line.
'this problems are shameful for one off bigest mobile phones factories(nokia).
Rating:
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Reviewed by JOHN from S.A on 21st Sep 2006
This phone is goot and all, but Ive had this phone for three weeks and
it has completly bored me sometimes I feel like just throwing the thing
out the window. The phone is sexy and large at the same time but I guess
we all have different taste, don't appitse Me.For people like to be
kept entertained i would'nt recommend it at all.I was a samsung user
before i got this phone id prefer my old phone to this thing and im
stuck with this rubbish phone.The camera is nonsense.You probably thinking,
if this guy hates this phone so much why is he givin it a 3 star rating,
the answer is it's not a bad phone it's just not my thing. for more
info feel free to email me on letladirams@yahoo.com peace
Rating:
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Reviewed by allan from canada on 6th Sep 2006
i had this N71 thing, for 2 months...but as far as i'm concerned it
has some design problems beside OUTSTANDING sound quality,2mp camera..etc.
for example: it's a little hard to open it with one hand...when you
close it hard, the keys SCRATCH the screen and it can't be removed,only
thing to do is to change the screen glass....also the cover display
is Low and no quite useful.....but when compared to other flip-flopz
i think after n93,n92,n90 it's the best..:X
Rating:
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Reviewed by dav from england on 2nd Sep 2006
its a wicked get it
Rating:
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Reviewed by christo from india on 1st Sep 2006
this is a good fone,has a good QVGA display,not as good a camera as
expected,the flip mechanism is good but it makes the fone look kinda
huge,sound quality not as good as in SE's W series.user interface and
connectivity options are pleasurable.overall a potent tool.
Rating:
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Reviewed by IMMANUEL from USA on 27th Aug 2006
TOTAL WICKED PHONE WITH HORNS
Rating:
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Reviewed by Anh Le from Australia on 25th Aug
2006
its a wicked fone, trust me buy it!!!
Rating:
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Reviewed by Allan Wong from Singapore on 25th
Aug 2006
I have been using N71 for about 3 months. Pros: It's a good phone and
a great music player. I have downloaded about 300 songs into slight
over 700 magabites of my 1 Gig. miniSD card. The quality of the playback
is quite with clear treble and reasonably good bass through the supplied
pair of earphones. After continuous playing of about 5 hours, the battery
power just dropped just one notch. I personally like the shell-clam
design which automatically switches on and off a call when the cover
is opened and shut. Cons: There is a design flaw. I am using a 3G Starhub
sim card that is lightly thinner than other telcos' sim cards' The slot
through which the sim card is inserted has a design flaw. The mechanism
in the slot is unable to secure the sim card tightly to the sim card
reader of the phone, hence after a while, the phone flashes "invalid
sim card" on its screen. Even the Nokia service station has not been
able to rectify this fault for long. Recently, I personally taped a
piece of thin cardboard to the back of the sim card before inserting
it into the sim card slot of the phone for a tight grip. The phone has
worked well since. Overall, I still think that N71 a good handphone
to own.
Rating:
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Reviewed by Nadeem Ahmad from Pakistan on 16th
Aug 2006
if you want to utilize your amount in purchasing good mobile & you think
that you have great tast than indeen n71 is best choice.you can't amagin
its qualities.
Rating:
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Reviewed by yanyan from Philippines on 15th Aug
2006
This is a great phone... nice audio quality for mp3s, wide and clear
screen, clear camera pix, and it has almost all of the features everyone
would want for a smartphone(3G, edge, quickoffice application, radio,
bluetooth and IR, etc)! I really recommend n71 to all new phone seekers!
Rating:
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Reviewed by Surajit Patnaik from India on 14th
Aug 2006
this is an amazing fone
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Reviewed by Sina from Iran on 8th Aug 2006
Its The Best Phone I Have Ever Had...Fast And Easy To Use,Also Good
Camera...
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Reviewed by Deema from K.S.A on 29th Jul 2006
I baught this phone yesterday and it's the best phone ever! BUY IT NOW!!!
Rating:
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Reviewed by John from Philippinnes on 25th Jul
2006
N71 is also a good phone but i prefer N70 for its camera cover.I don't
like Fliptop Cellphones
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Reviewed by RUDRA from INDIA on 20th Jul 2006
OVER A PERIOD OF TIME I HAVE BEEN USING THIS PHONE, BUT I M REALLY SORRY
TO SAY IT ISNT UPTO THE STANDARDS.... CAMERA ISNT HALF AS GOOD AS ITS
COMPATARIOT SE.... BATTERY STANDBY IS POOR... NOKIA BE CAREFUL U R LOSING
OUT ON CUSTOMERS....BOTH D PHONES I HAVE ARE OF NOKIA...AND YET I AM
NOT SATISFIED WID D BOTH....9500 AND N71..HORRIBLE...I AM JUST LOOKING
FOR SUM1 TO SELL MY PH OFF...VERY CHEAPLY..ANY1 IN INDIA CAN CONTACT...IT
TOOK A LOT OF D OLD REPUTATION TO GIVE DIS PH A 2STAR...ODER WISE WUD
HAVE GIVEN 1
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Reviewed by Fritz from Philippines on 18th Jul
2006
I had this phone for 2 weeks and I LOVE IT!!!!!! The sound quality is
soooooooooo great compared to other nokia phones. The camera is also
great!!!!! The design of the phone is also nice!!!!
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Reviewed by Rab from England on 18th Jun 2006
Bought this phone today. Easy to use, battery life is oustanding, and
overall very impressed.Well done Nokia.
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Reviewed by Tom from Cyprus on 4th Jun 2006
Lovely phone but it keeps turning off when i have it my pocket.A reset
was needed few times and i only have it for a week
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Reviewed by Ricci from Philippines on 10th May
2006
I had this fone for 2 days and it's awesome!...For me, this is the ultimate
flip phone.
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Reviewed by Hector from UK on 6th Mar 2006
i had this phone for a day but i fell in love with it it is a great
design.To NOKIA good job
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