GLOBAL – Peacocking is hardly the most attractive trait, so excuses out of the way I’ll continue feathers fanned with the news that the Nokia E71 was awarded Best Mobile Phone in WIRED magazine’s 2008 Best of Test.
Now, of course this is a great accolade for a device that many in Nokia believe is a mould-breaker, but as great as the high score is and badges of glory bestowed upon it are, I thought the video review and especially what Joe Brown, Associate Editor at WIRED, had to say about the E71 was most interesting, and genuinely funny too.
To set the mood Dylan Tweney, Senior Editor at Wired.com (an iPhone user) simply asks, “Give me some reasons why I would want to use your $500 Nokia [E71] instead of my $200 Apple phone?”, to which Joe brilliantly retorts with, “You wouldn’t because you’re a blindly brand loyal sycophant”.
Holding up an E71 in one hand and the iPhone in the other Joe Brown says “This phone [E71], is not for this guy [iPhone user]. In a lot of cases, you can see it in biology, you can see it in tech, adversity breeds innovation”.
What’s also interesting is how much emphasis Joe Brown places on S60 and the community driving it, that has helped the E71 become what it is:
“The brilliant thing about S60 is that you have a lot of brilliant people modifying it to suit their needs. And so the user base for this is incredible, they have over 3.5 million registered users on Forum Nokia and all these guys are modifying these phones to do what they want them to do. I can use this phone [E71] completely not looking… it’s for somebody who wants to be having a higher than average level of involvement with their technology… it’s a very productivity orientated phone.”
Check out WIRED’s original Nokia E71 review – it’s there that you’ll find the video, nestled neatly down in the bottom left corner of the page. It’s definitely worth watching.
Are you an E71 user and do you agree with what Joe says and the WIRED verdict? Let us know either way in the comments section below.