Goodbye iPhone, welcome Nokia E71

When the iPhone 3G was announced a few months back, I went through a number of strange phases. I started by being very happy?I had been looking forward to the phone's many features, and was a bit bummed when Canada was left out. Additionally, I knew that Rogers, our local GSM provider, had shot themselves in the foot: if they expected to be able to continue their price gouging for data usage, they had clearly not considered just how vocal the Mac-huggers can be.


Joy quickly turned to anger when, despite my best efforts, I was unable to secure an iPhone?not because of stocking issues, but because Rogers just won't sell me one. Despite my offering to buy one outright at retail price, they still insist that I have to give up my current plan ($400), then sign up for an iPhone plan and pay $299 for the phone. Since I have no intention of giving up my plan, no iPhone for me.

However, I was right about the Mac-huggers, and it is now possible to get a data plan that includes 6GB of monthly data transfer for $30, which, previous to the advent of the Jesus Phone would have cost around a tragillion dollars. This is a pretty good opportunity for someone who, like me, could use the benefits of wireless data but isn't ready to go for that second mortgage quite yet, so I set about looking for a new phone.

I had a few essential requirements for the phone:
  1. Support for 3G. It's available, it's supported, and it's not extra?why not take advantage of the extra speed?
  2. Tethering capabilities. With 6GB of data to use, it would be stupid to be unable to use the phone as a modem with my computer.
  3. Ease of text input. T9 may be a great invention... if you have to type 3 words. I, however, tend to write longer sentences.
  4. Openness. My ideal device should have a safe, but open architecture. I should be able to write my own applications, if I so choose, and there should be an established application set from which I can choose.
  5. Speed. There really isn't much excuse for a sluggish interface in today's world.
Once I started looking for alternatives to the iPhone, it quickly occurred to me that Rogers' strange policies were a blessing in disguise, because I don't think I could really deal with an iPhone.

I ended up purchasing a Nokia E90, which, for the point of view of the form factor, is pretty much the anti-iPhone. It weighs a hefty 210g, and, well, it feels like a brick in your pocket. On the other hand, it comes with a generously sized keyboard that actually makes touch typing possible, and a great-looking screen. It interacts with my Macs without any problems?both for syncing and tethering?and works fine with my car's hands-free interface.

While the E90 was great, it had a few limitations that irked me. First, it is designed for use outside North America, so it doesn't do 3G here (this ended up being a deal-breaker). Second, the interface was nowhere near as fast as I wanted it to be.

Thus, I switched to a different Nokia?the E71?and I think I've finally found what I was looking for. This device resembles very closely a Blackberry, but it's based on Nokia's own software (which I much prefer to BB's). It's extremely lightweight and compact, and despite the diminutive size, I have no problem using the keyboard at a reasonable typing speed. The interface is veryresponsive, and the phone hasn't crashed on me once despite the heavy usage that comes with having a new toy on hand.

To be sure, there are some aspects of the iPhone that the E71 can't beat?screen real estate is one, and the slick iPhone interface is the other. On the other hand, the E71 has an actual keyboard, and tethers to my computer, which are complete show-stoppers as far as the iPhone is concerned. In addition, on the E71, Idecide what gets on my device, and not Apple (still, Apple deciding what goes on my device is tons better than Rogers)?I even get Spotlight-like functionality (using T9 Nav) and true push e-mail (using Nokia E-mail Service), which aren't even available on the iPhone.

So there you have it?I'm glad I didn't choose an iPhone, because it just doesn't live up to its hype. It has a gorgeous interface and it looks beautiful, but these come at the cost of essential features that, in my opinion, belong on the real killer phone.