I had been using a Nokia 5300 express music phone since Nov06 and was pretty ok since I use a phone like a phone and if you can hear music as well it came as an added advantage to me. But since it had become 1.5 years old, I felt the need to change it because of normal wear and tear and my need to upgrade to a business phone since I wanted to use blackberry.
It did not take me much time to zero down on Nokia E61i as I constantly update myself with the new cell phones being launched in the market. So I went ahead and bought one in March08 after comparing it with the likes of Blackberry, Moto Q etc. First thing first that this phone is a value for money. I bought mine for 16k after doing a thorough price check with many dealers. Additionally I bought a memory card of 1 gb and gave the one that came with it (256 mb) to my wife. I like this phone to the hilt but let me now explain why I have rated it high or low on the parameters listed above:-
Sound Reception: If you compare the sound reception to even the cheapest phone that Nokia has to offer, you would feel that there is a considerable difference in the sound volume. This one has much lesser sound volume. Even the guys at Nokia Care agree with it. I have checked the same with atleast 3 of my friends who use the same model and everybody has the same feedback to give.
Ease Of Use: Very handy phone if you want to write emails and sms coz of its qwerty keypad. Comes with host of office softwares which are very handy in day to day business use like world mate, powerpoint presenter, blackberry etc. What bugs me sometimes is its processing speed when you try to open contacts, messaging applications etc.
Style and Design:- Excellent. Its better than Moto q and some of blackberry phones which do not have qwerty keypad. Just one small drwback here is that the the colour of its jog dial starts fading after couple of months of use. Nokia should do something about it.
Range Of Features. Just one thing which is missing here is the GPS navigation which I think should be included in this phone as well.
Reliability and Durability: I think this is synonymous with every nokia phone. Need I say more:-)
Value for Money: If is sum up the value it is providing me I would say 80% yes and 20% no because of the reasons I have mentioned.
So overall a very good phone but only if Nokia would pay attention to some minute details lke Sound Quality, Colour of its Jog Dial and Its processing speed then I think its an unmatched phone at a price it is being offered.