Nokia E71-2 reception issues? Mmm
There’s word on the big bad Internets that the E71-2 is having a bit of reception problems. If you’re a Nokia fan, you know that’s pretty hard to believe. But, we can tell you that the E71 does in fact suffer from a horrible reception problem. While our Bold and iPhone 3G are constantly on 3G, our E71 has never even picked up a 3G signal. Additionally, we’re only getting 1 bar on EDGE sometimes! What’s the quick fix? Well, as dumb as this may seem (though the out of place bright red power button is pretty damn dumb), the only place to integate the cellular radio antenna was on the bottom back. It’s pretty much the only roomy place on the device where there is no metal. If you’re suffering from reception issues with the E71, try this… first, completely cover the bottom back plastic piece with your hand, and check out the number of bars you have. Then, grab the phone just at the very top by the ear piece, and hold it for a couple seconds. Did your reception just skyrocket? Yeah, ours too. There’s only one issue with this… most people, you know, hold the phone in their hand because they want to… uh… use it. Anyone out there finding the same thing? Hit us up!
We have sold 100’s of these and I have not received one back for a reception issue. In fact, this phone has hardly come back at all.
I used one the other day and had no issues getting a full 3G signal in lower Manhattan.
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recpetion on this device is great. of course it is BTW it is nokia all their devices great reception.
and funny this article saying RIMM bold has better recpetion
We all know the device is delayed bc it DROPS 3g signal constantly
also the email is great as well as GPS and software
And browser too
Much better device than the BOLD will be across the board
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same thing here… holding it the normal way kills few bars and they come back as soon as it is held from the top… HOWEVER this should not be a problem for most people since the phone will use our big heads as auxiliary antenna reception!!!
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I have to agree that reception is an issue. I get 3 bars of EDGE on my 8310 in my office and had significant issues with my e71 holding a signal. It’s frustrating as hell to see a “Can’t contact gateway” message (or whatever msg it was) constantly and then waiting for the phone to pick up the signal. Mine went back after one day.
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i’ve not had any issues with bad reception. if i (completely) cover the bottom of the phone with my hands i do lose most bars…however, i have to really cover it with two hands to do so.
if i hold the phone as i normally do i don’t lose any bars.
i am on tmobile in manhattan…so i can’t attest to any 3G ness.
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@Mark
I’m glad you’ve sold a bunch of these, but just because people aren’t returning them doesn’t mean there isn’t a huge reception problem. It’s a fact that the E71 is one of Nokia’s worst performing phones in the RF department.
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zero problems with the reception and the phone so far. I had it for a week.
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Hello,
I am using a europe E71-1 with a similar issue.
Look at that screenshot:
http://arch.der-winti.de/e71/empfang.png
It drops from about -77 dBm to -100 dBm when holding the hand arround the buttom of the phone.
But it doesn’t affect the number of bars shown (always full 3G)
DanielW
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I can attest to the reception issues as well. I returned my E-71 after having it for a couple of days. I loved the phone but I could not stand having to practically hang out of my office window to have a conversation on it.
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funny. Its a fact that this is one of nokia’s worst performing handsets for rf? Uh, no. That’s opinion. I have no issues with my phone whatsoever. In fact, I’m posting this from my e71-2 right now, in a part of my office where nobody gets reception, 3g or otherwise. I’m pulling 3.5g with no problem. I haven’t dropped a call yet, and it consistently outperforms every blackberry, iphone, and blackjack I’ve tested it against.
Opinions and one person’s experience do not equal facts, BGR. I love this blog but goddamn son, you have a bad habit off reporting some odd ‘facts’.
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Wait a minute, you guys have had this reception issue for this long and you didn’t bother to mention this in your review in which you raved about the e71? I just ordered one based on your review! This is poor journalism BGR. For shame.
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@Arif
Honestly, the unit we had which we based our walkthrough and early review on didn’t have these issues…it appears production units do, though.
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Its like the 1G iPhone. The antenna was in the bottom of the phone (the black area) now on the 3G its next to the camera.
Learn from your mistakes i guess. Except Nokia should know better
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Boy Genius,
Fact: Your review of this phone is one of the most highly cited out there.
Fact: Nokia e71 is one of the worst performing in terms of RF (according to you)
Fact: You have known about this for a while.
Fact: You made no attempt to update your review with these new concerns.
Whether or not this is an actual issue or not, your role in this matter has been disappointing.
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Not noticing this on T-Mobile. In fact, the reception for me has been markedly better than the SE W810i I had before. Then again, I don’t have to worry about 3G reception (damn you T-Mobile…)
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I do see the signal bars change when on EDGE when doing this “trick” but not on 3G. When on 3G the bar stays the same.
I have had a lot of reception issues with my phone, but it’s not the phone, it’s AT&T’s network in San Diego. It sucks in the places I spend most of my time: home and work. At home I can barely get a signal downstairs, and upstairs EDGE jumps all over the place. Once I make a call I don’t drop it but callers don’t hear me well, I usually fall back on my SIP line.
At work I can force the phone to be on 3G and it will usually stay there as long as it is outside my pocket. If I get closer to the window it works. But due to the inherent nature of WCDMA the signal levels varies a lot during the day.
Now if we talk about OTHER phones, EVERYONE in the office suffers from the same problem with their Treos, iPhone and iPhone 3Gs, Sony Ericsson, other Nokias, everything. Signal in here SUCKS.
It does seem like the phone needs a firmware upgrade to deal better with jumping between 3G and EDGE. I was up in Six Flags yesterday and I had full 3G signal but I would loose it from time to time until I forced the phone to UMTS, problem solved.
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@Arif
Fact: I just bought the E71-2 yesterday dude.
Fact: The unit we reviewed was not a production device.
Fact: Was posting this article a day after I bought a production unit of the phone not fast enough?
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I tend to believe this is more of an at&t issue than anything else. Ever since the iPhone 3G launch, 3G service in my area has been horrible, whether it be on my N95-3 or my E71-2.
And lmao at the BGR bias. There production model seems to maybe have problems, so now, “It’s a fact that the E71 is one of Nokia’s worst performing phones in the RF department.”
I know that BGR is in bed with at&t and their main goal is to sell iPhones, but, the lack of objectivity on this site is getting ridiculous.
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@ Chris B.
Are you serious? Please tell me one Nokia phone in the last 2 years that has performed as badly in the reception area as the E71 has? Please, name it. Any Nokia user will attest to the fact that the E71 is an under performer in that department.
http://howardforums.com/showthread.php?t=1407145
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I bought my E71-2 from MCO and my reception has been great. I have no problems getting data or voice no matter how many bars are showing. If I have at least 1 on EDGE, I still can make a call.
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I don’t see where BG is showing bias towards one unit or another. It’s hysterical that people think the f*cking iPHone 3G needs help being sold at all.
Note to tech fonboys:
Only we know and care about phones like the E71. The majority of the U.S. phone buying public have no idea it even exists, and even less interest in paying for a non-subsidized phone.
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Oh, and before anyone accuses me of being an Apple fanboy, I’m actually returning my iPhone today because I just ordered an E71 this morning. So believe me, I more than anyone hope this isn’t a huge issue.
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@ BGR
I’ve read through that thread before and it seems some people may have issues while others don’t. The thing that is really bothering me about this, is everyone is using ‘bars’ as a measure of reception. Maybe the initial firmware on the E71 has overly sensitive ‘bars’? As I said before, 3G performance on my E71-2 doesn’t seem to be any worse than my N95, which is a proven reception monster.
Maybe you should get to the bottom of this supposed ‘problem’ before you start tossing around your opinion as fact? Don’t you think you owe that to your loyal readers who pay your bills?
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I have yet to drop below 5 bars of EDGE in Murray, Kentucky! I rarely travel to a 3G area so I can’t comment on that yet, but I’m going to a 3G area in a week… so we’ll see then!
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is the E71 the us version that is acting up with the reception?
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