Nokia E61i Review - Display & Audio

Display & Audio

 

Editor Rating: 4.5

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Styling:  4 

Ease of Use:  5 

Display:  4 

Voice Quality:  5 

Battery Life:  4 

Quality/Durability:  5 

Text, graphics, and images all render brightly and crisply on the screen, and graphics and photos appear clear and rich over the 16 million colors the display supports.  Performance was good in all but the brightest of direct light, and anyone who’s ever had to squint to read tiny text on a mobile phone will appreciate the overall big, clean feel of the E61i’s display.

Display options include customizable themes and wallpapers - minus any of the carrier branding found on the E62 - and the Active Standby home screen keeps calendar reminders, message alerts, and application shortcuts conveniently and orderly arranged at all times.  S60 has been described as more “Mac like” than the Windows Mobile user interface, and while it is almost infinitely customizable, new users will face a minor learning curve in gaining access to all of its settings and details.

I tested the quad-band GSM E61i on both AT&T and T-Mobile’s networks in the San Francisco Bay Area of California.  Performance was excellent on voice calls on both networks.  The handset exhibited virtually no hiss during calls, and people on the other end came through loud and clear without exception.  The built-in speakerphone was pretty good, as well - not the loudest I’ve ever tried, but certainly better than average.

The E61i can also be used with wired or wireless headsets, but does not support stereo Bluetooth for music playback.  The included wired headset is connected to the handset via Nokia’s Pop-Port connector, which isn’t as convenient as the standard 3.5mm headphone jack found on the BlackBerry Curve.  Nokia does make a Pop-Port to 3.5mm adapter for use with your own headset or earphones.

Both voice and music came through loud and clear over wired headsets, and combining a Nokia adapter with my own high-quality earphones turned the E61i into a top-notch portable audio player.  I also had no trouble pairing the E61i to a Bluetooth headset (I tried several), and voice calls made via Bluetooth came through loud and clear, though quality of course was dependent on the earpiece being used.