What’s the difference between Music phone and regular one? We can say that music phone has player interface, good speakerphones in a set, large memory card etc. With no doubts you can loot at the phone and say how much musical it is without opening it.

                                  

    

The manufacturers were very smart making keypad as a player control buttons, attaching covering panel to it, called FLIP. On top on the flip you can see not only player control buttons but also the biggest ever seen Call/Hung up buttons .

To receive the call it’s not necessary to open the flip, just press the button, that’s all. Moreover you open the flip only to write the message!

Appearance and design
Dimension: 89x49x18 mm;  weight: 95g.

Super stylish handset and what a difference the BenQ Siemens mobile phones are compared to the old Siemens designs. I like the EF51 as it's design is so elegant and interesting. The EF many music features will attract all music lovers like myself and I am still pinching myself that this is a BenQ Siemens phone.

           

The phone’s body is made of glossy plastic and is available in two colors: white and black. It’s very comfortable in use when it’s closed or opened. What I disappointed me a little bit is that While testing the EF51 its flip become loose very quickly L. But the size is quite ok – you can fit it in your pocket of the shirt, trousers and eve jeans, though it’s not very comfortable.

Unfortunately, from the practical point of view this BenQ Siemens is bad - the fingersprints stay on the glossy panel, and on the black one is ever worst .

        

The slider's mechanism is quite reliable. To take the battery cover off you should slightly put on the nail under the panel . The Sim-card should be put into the slot in the same way like in the rest phones.

Keypad

Looking at the EF51, first thing u can see is music keypad on the flip which is intended for MP3-player. There are 2 big rewind buttons that can also serve as Call/Hang up, two Up/Down buttons to brows in menu, the metal Play/Pause button in the middle and the last Menu key. All buttons are comfortably located that you can’t mix them up .

       

Opening the flip you can see digital buttons that are also very comfortable.

         

But I can’t say the same about the control unit there, which has soft buttons: OK and Call/Hang up, and is not separated from the digital ones. It’s quite uncomfortable to press navigation button because of the big overflowing front panel.

When you open the handset, the highlight of digital buttons turns on automatically, musical buttons though don’t have it, what is pity.

        

Additional buttons
There is a volume button on the left side of the phone, a bit lower  is the Camera activation button and a bit upper is the Voice-dialing button located.

Display
TFT, 128х128, 40х40 mm, 262144 colors

The screen is a TFT-display , it feels sharp, but just as the phone it has a rather small size. The menus doesn´t remind at all of old Siemens, but they feels very freshened up. I’m not satisfied with it.

Functionality
Camera
1280 x 960 (1,2Mp), flash, video recorder

The Q-fi EF51 is a high-quality mobile phone equipped with an integrated 1.3 megapixel digital camera. It has no protection; you have to clean it quite often. It also doesn’t have a flash. I don’t understand how come such a stylish phone doesn’t have it????

It shoots stills at up to 1.3-megapixels, which is starting to feel rather long in the tooth compared to the two and 3-megapixel camera enabled phones available. You can change the resolution (280×960, 640×480, 320×240 and128×128), its quality can be set as Good, Default or Economic. The shooting mode allows you to take 1, 2 or 4 pictures.  

I was surprised that there is no Video mode here having such a favourable features.

Sizes, Ports and Slots
On the left side of the phone you can find a charging slot that has no covering as well as a slot for accessories. I’d say it looks a bit ugly. Thanks God miniSD card slot is covered with a special gag .

      

Menu 
The user can keep in contact with others by using one of the messaging services provided on the phone which include text messaging (SMS) & multimedia messaging (MMS). The SMS message is a text only message which can be sent to any SMS mobile phone user. The SMS is a quick & easy messaging service that comes with a predictive text input option to assist the user if required. The MMS allows the user to send photos or images complete with text & sound to any MMS compatible mobile phone user. The MMS is a fun & visual messaging service that is simple & quick to create. The user can download games to suit their gaming needs or simply play the pre loaded Java  games.

The phone comes with a highly manageable phone book feature which allows the user to add, edit & remove contact details easily. The calendar feature will remind the user of those all important dates & engagements. The alarm & clock feature will be used for everyday use along with the built in calculator. The BenQ-Siemens Q-fi EF51 comes with a conference call feature which allows the user to talk to more than one contact on one call. The user can use the call forwarding feature, call timer & call cost feature to manage their calls.

The BenQ-Siemens EF51 comes with Bluetooth technology which allows the user to connect to any Bluetooth compatible device & enjoy a wirefree connection. The user can connect to compatible headsets, printers, PDAs, PCs, laptops & other mobile phones totally wirefree. The phone comes with tri band network which will switch automatically between GSM 900, GSM 1800 & GSM 1900 without the user knowing it is switching.

Imaging
1.3 Megapixel Camera
4 x Digital Zoom
Screensaver
Wallpaper
Themed Display

Messaging
SMS (Text Messaging)
MMS (Multimedia Messaging)
Predictive Text

Sound
Music Player (MP3, AAC, AAC+ & WMA)
Dedicated Music Keys
Ringer Melodies (MP3 & MIDI)
FM Radio
FM Radio Recording as MP3 File
3D Surround Sound
6 Band Equalizers
Show Lyrics Function
Speech to Music
Voice Commands
Stereo Headset

Entertainment
Java Games
Embedded Games
Downloadable Games

Organiser
Phone Book
Calendar
Notes
Calculator
Stopwatch
Alarm
Currency Converter
Call Forwarding
Call Timer & Cost
Conference Call
Qsync & Qmusic PC Management Tool

Connectivity
GPRS
USB
Bluetooth

Network
Tri Band Technology (GSM 900, GSM 1800 & GSM 1900)

Internet
WAP
WML

Memory & Talk Time
20 Mbytes Internal Memory plus MiniSD™ Memory Card
4 Hours Talk Time
200 Hours Standby

Weight & Size
95 g
89 x 49 x 18 mm

Pluses
Stylish original design
full-value MP3 player
plastic keypad cover with MP3 control keys

Minuses
very small display
absence of EDGE
low quality construction

Conclusion
A cute phone that will appeal to the ladies and the young. I had expected a much better quality music player in this phone as it seems to be designed primarily as an MP3 player, but I was let down.