Unlocked Cell Phones - Customer reviews - Nokia E61 Unlocked Smartphone with 3G, Wi-Fi, MP3/Video Player, MiniSD Slot--U.S. Version with Warranty (Silver)


Nokia E61 Unlocked Smartphone with 3G, Wi-Fi, MP3/Video Player, MiniSD Slot--U.S. Version with Warranty (Silver)
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Manufacturer: Nokia

List Price: $699.99
Our Price: $305.99
You Save: $394 (56%)
Refurbished Price:
Used Price: $243.78


Average Customer Rating: -

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Spotlight customer reviews:

Name: F. Rabi
Location: Iowa City, IA
Date: 2006-08-31
Customer Rating: -

Summary: If you remember why you bought it, you'll love it
Comment: Nokia is making two versions of this phone, the E61 and E62. The only difference is that the E61 is capable of wireless LAN and CDMA connectivity, whereas the E62 is not. Otherwise, they are exactly the same.

Now, on to the review. I've been through several cell phones from different manufacturers. My very first cell phone was a Nokia (and at 8 years old, still would make a great phone today!). I have since tried Motorola, Samsung, and Sony-Ericsson (I consider the latter the worst of the bunch). My last phone was a Nokia 6600 and when I wanted to upgrade, I tried the latest-and-greatest Samsung t-809. I was sorely disappointed in that purchase, which was promptly returned (you can read my review about it on Amazon), and I started looking for phones that were not (at the time) being sold directly in the US. The Nokia E61 was my savior - the E61 is the most PERFECT phone I have ever used.

Why did I like it? Number one - it's a NOKIA. I think Nokia has perfected the user interface. If you've owned a Nokia before, your transition will be easy because many things are carried over. You will also like the easy transfer of everything from your old Nokia to your new one (go to the nokiaUSA website and search for "phone-to-phone transfer"). The way the phone book is setup is better all others. Nokias, in general, all use the same adapter.

Number two - it's a smartphone. That means you can upgrade the software, you can download new applications, you can personalize with themes.

Number three - it is QUAD band. I travel a lot and I need this feature. In general, two frequency bands are used by GSM services in the US (850 and 1900). Two different frequency bands are used by GSM services elsewhere in the world (900 and 1800). A phone that works in one frequency band unfortunately can not also work in the frequency band next to it unless added as a specific extra frequency band. Ideally, you'd want a phone that can work on all four bands - commonly called a quad-band phone. But these are still rare and expensive. If choosing a tri-band phone as a second best choice, be careful which three bands your phone has. In the US, many rural areas are served with the 850 band (because the signal travels further). Some tri-band phones are 900/1800/1900 and people wonder why they get poor service in some cities (mostly rural) in the US!

Number four - all connectivity options are available. WiFi, EDGE, GPRS, and 3G. Sign up for a data plan with your provider (cheapest with T-Mobile) and you can surf the net at about 128kbps anywhere there's cell service! Or you can use your Wifi network to surf for free wherever there's a wireless g signal. You can even use the WiFi feature to use this phone with a VOIP provider (such as Vonage). Lots about this over at HowardForums. And this is the particular feature that is scaring the US telecoms - hence the lack of WiFi in the US-destined E62 version. 3G is not available in the US, but is all the rage in Japan (blazingly fast downloads - even enough for VIDEOS!). The E61 also supports CDMA connectivity, although this is absent in the E62. That really won't affect US GSM users much - as far as I know.

Number five - push email. This means you can set it up like a BlackBerry and have your E61 notify you everytime you get an email. The software provided with the phone makes this easy. If you need more help, just search for "E61 forum" - lots of helpful people.

Number six - NO CAMERA. This for me is an advantage. I never used any of my prior cell phone cameras. Their presence in a phone only serves to make it more bulky and more expensive. Eventhough there is no camera, you can still upload pictures to use for wallpaper or as picture caller-ID - use bluetooth or WiFi.

More good stuff;
7. Bluetooth works great.
8. Screen looks good, even in daylight. It doesn't have as high a resolution as the latest Palm Treo, but believe me, 65K is more than enough.
9. You can add more memory with a miniSD card - you don't have to remove the battery to change cards. I've already used a 1GB Kingston miniSD card and it worked fine.
10. The charger it uses (which works 100-240V) uses a smaller plug than all other previous Nokias, but the E61 comes with a short adapter that allows you to use your old charger! I wish Sony and Samsung would remember this!
11. The buttons are nicely configured and easy to type with (not too small, not too flat - just right). Someone will invariably write a review saying the phone is too wide. I don't understand why people will do this? It is a business phone with a full keyboard layout - what do you expect? If you don't need the full keyboard, then don't get this phone. IT is definitely thinner than you'd expect though.
12. Battery life is pretty good. When I use it as a phone, I can go about three days without recharging. Using wireless services can drop the battery life pretty quick. In general, I charge it every other night.
13. Case is brushed aluminum with a magnesium-alloy back. Fingerprints will not show like they do on the shiny Samsung t-809. Feels sturdy in the hand too. I wouldn't drop it, though, because the screen is pretty big.
14. Speakerphone works nicely. Loud. Single button switchover to speakerphone while on a call (I don't know what Samsung was thnking hiding it under a menu)
15. You can use it as an MP3 player and even assign MP3s as ringtones. You will want to truncate your MP3s to 20 seconds or less though because it will only play that much before looping. Having more would be a waste of memory - unless you still want to keep the song so you can listen to the whol ething using the media player (included in the software package).

Anyway, all that being said, there are a few things that aren't "perfect". Using Wifi is slower than expected. While connected to a "g" network, you don't get speeds higher than dial-up. Connect using EDGE though, and you're good to go (but that requires a data plan with the service provider). Also, this phone uses Symbian software - that's great BUT you will not be able to use the readily available Palm or WinCE applications. To sync it with my Outlook at work, I had to call the computer department to give me privileges to install the special Nokia syncing software. It works great, but just a little hassle.

Also, you will find it difficult to use phone numbers that are based on letters, ie 1-800-CALL-ME (or whatever). This is a keyboard layout, so the letters are in QWERTY fashion, and the numbers keys just take up the center spots. Not a big deal for me, and I'm sure there's software available (or soon will be) to use an onscreen guide. That's the beauty of this being a smartphone!

This is a business phone, so don't expect a lot of games. It came preinstalled with some Golf game. No Snake! Part of the reason I love Nokias is because of the snake game. I'll get around to downloading it sooner or later.

Another thing (which Noia has already addressed in more advanced phones such as the priced-like-a-computer N91) is that there is no input for regular headsets. This means that if you want to listen to MP3s, then you'll have to use the single-ear headset included with this phone. They might have a double-ear (stereo) headset available once the phone gets more popular).

All in all, I think this is a great phone. It gives me almost everything I want and none of what I don't want. I wish it could accept standard headsets. It's a keeper!

I hope this review has been helpful.


Name: Antonio E. Checa
Location: Panama, Republic of Panama
Date: 2006-11-17
Customer Rating: -

Summary: great phone, I'm in love...
Comment: well I got the phone after sticking with a Motorola V710 for about a year, the phone arrived without a hitch. [...].

one concern I had about the phone was the following several people in the forums and even here in amazon where complaining about the phone not charging properly this honestly had me worried I was risking quite a large sum of money for the product, after doing some hard and honest research I found out what the issue is, if you currently have another motorola phone that one has it's own power adapter, the e61 uses a smaller sized tip adapter for power and brings an adapter for you to use your old power adapter please DONT do this, since the newer phone the e61 uses a bit more power to get charged and the older charges dont provide enought power (juice) for this. Now not everything is lost don't go out buying a separate adapter the nokia e61 also includes the correct type of adapter for your phone and the one I bought from amazon brought me a converter for my wall outlet, this is due to the fact that this phone is from europe and has the funky 2 rounded prong connector, you can swing by your local radioschack and get an adapter for this and it would work without a hitch. also if you are into getting all your original accesories you can purchase the Nokia AC-4U Travel Charger that works great for the phone. My phone gives me about 4 to 5 days of charge depending on the use a lot and read a LOT more than most Motorola phones I've had.

Highly recommended, Wi-FI works great and there are a lot of great apps out there for it really cheap.



Name: matt.mingkee
Location: Brooklyn, NY United States
Date: 2007-12-14
Customer Rating: -

Summary: good phone, but please read before change firmware
Comment: got this phone from MCO for pretty low price
it was 3 branded, and the fw is pretty old (1.x), changed product code to Hong Kong version and update, the phone is alot more stable, however, the symbol layout on keyboard changed, that I have to make a sticky on the back to show the difference (be aware of that if you want to change the language)
the screen is big, and in landscape mode, I am pretty impressed how pleasant when browsing internet with this big screen
the keypad is pretty pleasant to key in message, the joystick is easier to use, email button is also handy for checking email (it supports regular POP and secure US Army IMAP, but it doesn't support GMail IMAP)
reception is kinda weak, in the gym locker room, I can make/receive calls with N73, while E61 shows nothing
thanks to the 1500mA/h battery, the battery time is on par with N73
no cam included may be a plus when using in a high secure precinct (where cam is prohibited), then I just use it instead of N73
like other S60 phones, it can retrive WAP/MMS setting right out of SIM, except you have special setting (I have VPN total internet, that I have to put separate APN setting for net browser, realplayer, and tethering)
bt is version 1.2, which is on the slow side, I get about 500kbps when transferring files, while I got 1200kbps on N73
some special tips: go to tools->application manager->options->settings->software installation, use all (default is signed only, that prevents non-nokia application installation)
conclusion: the phone is pretty low price now, get it if you use messaging alot of use alot of internet on your phone, this won't disappoint you; if you decide to change product code to change language, you have to be aware that the symbol on keyboard will be changed


Name: Ms. Bukola S. Orugun
Location:
Date: 2008-09-01
Customer Rating: -

Summary: Review of nokia E61
Comment: One of the best phones I have used
Pros: The wi-fi is good, big screen, very good visibility and colour resolution and also the help functions are really great.
Cons: Some downloaded games, freezes the phone and its bulky


Name: DRAGU Stanescu
Location: DENVER-ISRAEL
Date: 2008-09-10
Customer Rating: -

Summary: Nokia E61a real pleasure to work with
Comment: I got my Nokia E61 two weeks ago . At the beginning it looked complex but soon I realize that is a very helpful tool to manage daily tasks.
It is a smartphone and is difficult to master all the function without
some readings but you have a build-in Tutorial that is very useful.
I enjoy very much this smartphone which is more a small computer than a phone and I recommand it warmly.
Ing. Dragu Stanescu


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