Nokia E71 – day 2: Three things I don’t like about it

OK, I admit I’m lazy today. The air pressure is super-low and I’m not feeling well. I won’t go to the gym today as I previously said I will. Instead I’m going to ramble about some things I don’t like about the Nokia (NYSE: NOK) E71. These are all minor things, but they do stand in my way to call it the perfect smartphone. Don’t get me wrong – the Nokia E71 is the best Symbian S60 smartphone ever made, or at least that’s my take. The E90 Communicator may have a bigger screen, but can you imagine carrying it around in in your pocket? I don’t think so.

Anyway, here are three things I don’t like about the E71:

• Headset jack – there are actually two things I don’t like about it. First of all, it’s a 2.5mm instead of 3.5mm — the 3.5mm headphones are much cheaper. Let’s say that’s not a problem – you can buy an adapter for few bucks and use any standard 3.5mm headphones. However, why on Earth is the headphone jack located on the side of the device is beyond me. You can argue there were no room on the top of the phone, but I don’t buy that. It’s a must to have a headphone jack on the top of the phone. It’s way more convenient that way.
• Where’s TV Out? – I do understand the E71 is not an NSeries device, but I do want the TV out nonetheless. While I’m on the subject, I must add I hate the whole notion of product differentiation. It may drive companies profits up, but it’s bad for the high-end users who (like me) want a single all-in-one device.
• Ctrl/Chr share the same key – we saw this will be fixed in the upcoming E63 model. Both keys are very important and each of them deserves a separate key. Sure, that would require smaller space key, but I can live with that.

In addition, I could also add I would love to see an Infra-Red port located at the top. It’s not a big deal, but with an application like irRemote for S60, I could turn the E71 into a universal remote control. Having an IrDA port at the top certainly helps in that sense.

And that’s about it. I like everything else. As I said, this is the best Symbian S60 smartphone!