Sony CLIÉ NR70 Review: What The Future Looked Like In 2002 | Pocketnow

Despite its resemblance to its clamshell contemporaries, the Sony Clié PEG-NR70 wasn’t a phone. Sony called it a "Personal Entertainment Organizer," but it was basically a PDA on steroids. (In a time when smartphones were still in their infancy, there was a market for standalone personal digital assistants to manage your calendar, memos, and address book.) With this one, though, Sony took a few extra steps -both in feature load and hardware design- and the resulting pocket computer is just as unique today as it was in 2002. Take a look at what the future looked like a decade ago: join us for the Pocketnow Throwback review of the Sony Clié PEG-NR70!
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Sony CLIÉ NR70 Review: What The Future Looked Like In 2002 | Pocketnow
• Sony CLIÉ NR70 Review:...
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[@aarjavmehta3806]

Someone here after Mr Mobile's "When Phones Were Fun"?!

[@banancorn9894]

YUP

[@starboy_02]

MEEEEEEEE

[@hopegood5866]

Now it's all same design 😔

[@paperclip9558]

I love that his filming style is not even different after all of these years. It really feels like watching extra episodes of When Phones Were Fun.

[@patriotbarrow]

I used to drool over this PDA when I was in high-school, reading tech magazines and the like. Somehow I still really want one to this day.

[@80saintsinner]

watching it in 2020 and thinking how Micheal's voice has changed over years.

[@MsMRkv]

More like how his mic has changed over the past 5 years.

[@Moon-Raven]

It's the mic and post-processing.

[@boostkiller]

I cant hear any difference

[@Moon-Raven]

@@boostkiller that's fair. At first glance it doesn't sound too different. It depends on your sound setup.

[@Outcome_Agent]

It sounds softer

[@sharkinfested]

I had one of these when they came out - 500 bucks if I remember correctly - mine was the one with the camera. It was AWESOME! I ripped DVDs and loaded memory sticks with tv shows and movies for boring trips, had lots of games, and even kept my itinerary, calendar, and phone numbers. It did everything the iPod touch does only 5 or 6 years before the iPod Touch. It was the best gadget device I ever bought.

[@lorumipsum1129]

I have the successor to this, the ux50. Basically this but a newer Palm os and skin installed, a mini laptop like form factor, and a built in camera, as well as WiFi and Bluetooth, really showed how well Palm os could compete with windows mobile in the right hands. Now I have that and a Dell axim x51v. And thier both great

[@PRH123]

I had one as used it for a couple of years. Was a great device. As far as negatives though the keyboard was useless. Sony's built in software was mostly bungled together crap. OS upgrades had to be from Sony, and they just didn't bother. Memory Sticks were lower capacity and more expensive than other formats. The camera was good and took good videos. Was nice to be able to reduce the Grafitti area and have the whole screen available for schedule and documents. Was great for Word and Excel on the go, and for E-Books. . The high power IR remote was fun, I used to sit in doctors offices and bars and change the channel on the TV. In the end though the flip screen really was not needed, and it made the device extremely heavy, you couldn't carry it in your pocket. I wished the flip could have been horizontal and not vertical, and the keyboard a real one like on a Psion 5...

[@largol33t1]

It's a tragedy Sony never brought these back into production as cell phones. I'd still buy one. They have a timeless design too. They look as cool today as they did when first released.

[@TVperson1]

Wow, how big were your memory sticks? I wish I could afford it. In '04 the best I had was a Cassiopeia E100 with a 32MB CF card. I could watch 1 music video. Later got an iPaq rz1710 and 256MB SD card in '05. People thought the ipod touch was new tech when it came out, but it had mostly been done before, just without the capacitive touch and accelerators.

[@ServantoftheLord10565]

I remember having one. It was $500 and i lived playing games on there as well as using the universal remote app on there. Very cool app.

[@danielepolsoni8662]

That's the Sony we need today! That was way ahead of its competitors... It still looks cool today!

[@beardsntools]

Honestly the Sony PDA line was about as appealing as the name they gave to these. Look at hp ipaqs... these were much better and cleaner, not cluttered with unnecessary buttons, controls, led indicators and branding. HP did such a good job that it was the only company steve jobs was afraid of. But thanks to the dumb woman as CEO, he was able to outsmart HP, by offering them iPod partnership.. a deal that was terrible for hp and it prohibited them from creating their own mp3 player. Steve jobs got exactly what he wanted.

[@VenerableEvil]

Oh man, I miss the early 2000s.

[@cpthornman]

Would love to see more of these. No one else is doing it and it's a great way to pass the time during this lull in mobile releases.

[@Pocketnow]

Thanks! We try to keep them on the schedule, but it's been a busy few months! Meantime, here's some of our recent Throwbacks: pocketnow.com/2014/08/07/pocketnow-throwback-dell-venue-pro-review pocketnow.com/2014/03/11/pocketnow-throwback-htc-hd2-video pocketnow.com/2013/05/09/pocketnow-throwback-review-motorola-q-video ^M

[@StrickenWithFear]

Actually phonedog also does them but I understand you.

[@Pocketnow]

***** We built it into the Pocketnow Weekly as a guest-host program instead. We discovered it's more fun to talk tech with our colleagues than interview them - for us and for the audience. Still, we might do the occasional VIP on the Weekly. ^M

[@KanishQQuotes]

I see no reason why this design style cannot make a comeback. Its awesome. Perhaps Microsoft should offer something like this , a compact tablet or netbook

[@l4n1301]

I agree..I loved this form factor. Something akin to the Nokia N93/93i. The Clie looks slightly better I think and still looks good now in 2015. I'd buy this in an instant, no doubt

[@RiskyRantung]

they are going to, just wait wait the windows 10

[@harisnaufal3259]

and then surface duo happened

[@JeffreyHeesch]

You'd think on a Dragonball processor you'd be able to run at least 9,001 applications at a time...

[@randombrowser6692]

Its over 9000!

[@motap4935]

9000 processes is more reasonable

[@Muggy]

I love the intro. After 13 years, Michael Fischer finally got his dream phone. Pocketnow is definitely the highest quality channel about mobile devices aside from MKBHD.

[@Muggy]

Whoops, I mean 12 years later.

[@bubblecraftgaming7748]

HorsemanMedia | Gaming/Tech News & Rants I Agree But I Would Also Add Austin Evans Those Would Probably Be My Top 3 Favorite Tech Reviewers

[@Ski3HigH]

Yes Pocketnow and MKBHD are the top 2! Everyone else falls in between.

[@AYURBHATTA]

Pocketnow is Better than MKBHD

[@juffurey]

Cowboy from Hell I agree, mkbhd is overrated. I used to like him until he started making videos that covered these irrelevant features and covered products like that mac pro that he couldn't even utilize, it was just like "look at this cool computer". too fanboyish for me, he's basically the pop star of mobile tech reviewers.

[@ephraimcaangay4815]

I had one when they first came out, and I loved it. My favorite part was the IR blaster. I could sit at my favorite bar, and change the channels. That alone made it worthwhile!

[@no1DdC]

Wow, my first smartphone from 2010 (LG P500) had the same display resolution as this device. 480x320 must have been absolutely incredible in 2002.

[@largol33t1]

I still don't understand why Sony refused to make this into a cell phone. Palm would have COLLAPSED if they had. Palm never invented the PDA smartphone like their fans claim. Handspring did this first. I had a Visor PDA that could swap out modules such as memory cards, games, etc. It even had an MP3 player LOOOOOONG before Apple came around to that market. And you could snap in an antenna for calls. Yes, it could be converted into a CELL PHONE. Sprint offered calling plans for it too so it could replace your existing cell phone.

[@MrAnarchyReign]

I love old tech reviews. please do more!

[@pankajkumar996800]

Me too dude

[@dismaniac1]

I still have a working unit. About 5 years ago, I replaced the battery. I don't use it for much except to show people how far advanced Sony was at the time. There was a small wireless type card that plugged into the slot on top of the unit. I never got it to work but didn't care as standalone apps were enough for me to load connected to the pc . Also, the headphones were high tech with volume and track selection for mp3. It was expensive in 2003 dollars at over $500. When you compare this unit to the ipod that was out back then, Sony could have owned the mp3 player market but, like the Beta max, their great piece of the future did not stick.

[@ArariaKAgelessTraveller]

I mistook this video as *WHEN PHONE WERE FUN*

[@SeanKearney]

I first saw this on Jake 2.0, a short-lived television show, and immediately bought one. I carried that thing everywhere and loved it!

[@JaesadaSrisuk]

This device was so ahead of it's time. I'm imagining a future wherein Sony developed personal communication devices and phones that caught on with the public before Apple did. Great video! I was eleven that year and would've drooled over the the Clié!

[@MrZancruz]

Sony always makes some of the most state-of-the-art products, they just don't know how to market it properly.... Smh

[@shamsiqadirli]

MrZancruz Absolutely agree with you! It was great times... I really miss...

[@ukaszbaranczyk1393]

yes it was expensive but you had something special now people pay diamonds for crap old tech look like magick and now you have just lousy screen with social media bullshit and unusable apps xd we can only pray that facebook losers forget to breathe some day and world will be free again

[@MrWalker1000]

i have the xz1 its a great practical phone. what makes the s8 better? i bet this phone is faster, smoother, and more reliable in the long run. The japanese are modest people they dont like to market that they are better than others. but they definitely need better marketing.

[@kornkernel2232]

What I also like about Sony is when they make hardware especially at that time, they have this sleek, futuristic look but not gaudy. Their industrial design tends to last or age well. Looking at today it does looks old, but not that old considering with its rather sleek sharp lines with some amount of curvature. Not as sleek as Apple's, but certainly not gaudy as most gadgets at that time that doesn't age well in terms of looks.

[@d9zirable]

see: vita

[@Gmiah08]

I still have Sony Clie as my PDA. (Personal Dinosaur Associate). Got mine in 2002 and upgraded version 2003. I wouldn't leave home without them. Love this channel man glad you finally got one. You know they had Wi-Fi adaptor. Sold separately about $60 more. If you could afford a wireless carrier. I think TMO was it's provider. Thanks for those good old memories. I may just polish mine off the shelf. Find all my accessories and cases for them too. 🐸👍📱

[@SuperMinecraft2]

I saw the vignette of the video and thought : "Wait! I have one somewhere in my house!" Found it! PEG-NR70V/E. The model with the camera. Thank you for reminding me I had this thing.

[@raufsaleem990]

This comment section is really old

[@brundle_fly_3895]

ikr, I was just thinking that

[@sharathshaiva]

Yeah same thinking here

[@ADeeSHUPA]

@@brundle_fly_3895 uP

[@suiiperable]

Watching this in 2018 and it's like a throwback of a throwback

[@science23]

watching this in 2024 is like a throwback of a throwback of a throwback

[@doggod106]

If you could get a screen without the bezel like the Sharp Aquos Crystal, a better keyboard, and an updated hinge with the same industrial design language I think a phone like this could be something people really want.

[@Pocketnow]

Agreed. We miss the days of bold hardware experiments like this. ^M

[@duck1590]

Agreed. It would be a valid design for a smartphone. The rotating screen would allow one to use it as a normal smartphone, but one could also open it and use the keyboard as needed - and it's a vertical keyboard, that you can use with only one hand, while you are walking, as on a Blackberry. You would have the right ratio for the screen without needing to make the phone awkwardly taller in order to fit a one-hand keyboard. It looks very convenient.

[@PoisNpiLLz]

My dad got me one of these back then. Best gift yet. I was such a Sony fan boy back then.

[@ventroid4473]

So it's like Sony's version of the ipod touch except that it was made 5 years earlier.

[@steventhompson2914]

Boy do I miss my Clie! I loved everything about it except for the camera which could have been better, it was a Sony for Pete's sake! My wife hated the fact that I would change the tv channel every time we went out to eat at a restaurant or sports bar. It was so much fun watching how puzzled the restaurant employees looked trying to figure out how the channels were being changed. Oh so many fond memories!

[@tonyhewett3729]

I had from 2003 and still own the Sony Clié peg UX50, to me it was the best bit of kit in the world. I have kept it along with its docking station, extended battery, telescopic stylus and selection of memory sticks in the hope that one day it may be possible to flash it with a modern operating system and start using it again.

[@ChiHungLiew]

I really miss this clie. Used to have one..

[@XtremeKillah101]

that intro was so awesome! Michael and Jayce have the most unique ways of reviewing their products.

[@morganmartino1071]

Yay! Throwbacks are back. They're what drew me here in the first place

[@Dataiconroy]

Such a unique form factor. Very innovative for its time.

[@shamsiqadirli]

Your speaking bring me back to the childhood. Pocketnow is my favourite KZbin channel! Great man and great review! Thanks!

[@OpoSai]

I remember buying my first high-end phone at the time, it was the Motorola L7. I thought i was so cool because i actually bought it when i was 16, with my own money working two weeks in the summer. It had iTunes, and it could hold 100 songs, and you could expand the memory with an sd card. I got it prepaid with Xingular and the store representative gave me a free activation on the phone because i was getting a high-end phone at the time. It didn't have an actuall 3.5mm jack, but it came with an adapter to hook up your headphones. The camera was so bad compared to today's standards, and the screen was so small.

[@Ski3HigH]

Keep it up! it's nice to see a different video from the typical weekly lineup once in a while.

[@talaltashkandi4291]

I remember this , My tech loving heart misses these kinds of innovations :< .

[@markplott4820]

PocketNow - actually you could SYNC to the Internet with the IRDA port , and some locations had KIOSKS where you could get INFO, Weather, Store data , Movie Times by Syncing the IRDA. however , it was FASTER sync through the USB. NX-73 had a optional WiFi (flashcard) Adapter w/ a Tiny antenna.

[@DarthMagister]

I remember drooling over the Sony Clié in tech magazines. The 2000s had so much fun technology thanks to the progress in tech.

[@arjungandhi1242]

Miss these series. Would love to see more

[@dhanush329]

2020 and this video is now a throwback..

[@CharlesStoddardPastor]

I had (and still do) the Sony Clié PEG-NR70 and used it a lot. It does have another way of communicating other than docking it - It had a wireless card that you plugged into the top. Mine worked great and I used it all the time. I think I will pull it out tonight and try it out again :) Thanks for a walk down memory lane.

[@JoanseCastillo]

1:26 and 3 years later michael finally made the review

[@insertcoolnamelater9334]

Love these throwbacks, one of the things that make this channel so good

[@khunMooPing]

Back when phone were fun take me here

[@IamCorrosive]

I totally have one of these in box somewhere in my storage. Loved it back in the day, even though it had its issues.

[@kevinlau6372]

It brings back memories of my high school in 2002.

[@freddoublestuff7403]

YAY ! You brought back thé throwback! Keep these coming !

[@RACaptialRegion]

Definitely wanna see more throwbacks on Thursdays! Also worst gadgets too!

[@TheRealConcertKing]

Hanson is still making music and selling out shows. They just did their 25th anniversary tour last year and played a 2.5 hour long set.

[@core2idiot]

I miss my jogdial. I feel like all our square rectangles are not designed for single handed operation and one way to make that easier is a jogdial.

[@andrewsmactips]

I remember thinking how utterly cool it looked back in the day, and I still do.

[@vmsr1]

How does en remember the Sony P990 OMG that was the "smartphone" that change my world.

[@putugunarko]

Even now its still great style for now

[@4ksandknives]

Actually, there was a Wireless adapter that you inserted at the top of the device. It may be a different model however. We had two.

[@lukeofkeys]

Hey Jaime, Michael deserves a raise. ;) This was so awesome - both entertaining and interesting. Loved the Hanson bit.

[@Panzer_Z]

Man I remember wanting this thing so bad back in the day.

[@Cornel1001]

I have one of them! Still working! The amazing part it is a CF Card with GSM Module. The external quality of this merchandise it is above any mobile phone of today, 2018. Was build to last !

[@africanhistory]

I remember this was the bomb back in the day. I was so backward that when I heard PDA would have phones I was repulsed.

[@magicwill25]

I used to have a Tapwave Zodiac 2! Loved the physical buttons and joystick for emulating NES, GB, etc. Plus dual SD function was nice. One slot for my WiFi SD card, and the other for my data. Good times.

[@sburton015]

Just now stumbled on this video. About when this device was released was about the same time that I graduated from highschool. My graduation date to be more exact was on May 20th, 2002. However, I do remember my very first PDA device that I remember that I bought even before this. It was a Compaq iPaq pocket PC 3650 if I remember correctly. I paid about $600 for it at Sears in July or August of 2000. Just like this, it didn't have any kind of built in wireless connectivity, however for much more money, you could purchase expansion cards or sleeves that let you connect it by dial-up modem or ethernet. I think it also had an expansion sleeve that let you connect it to a cell phone carrier, but at the time, this would have costed hundreds more dollars on top of the $600 for the device itself and mainly only very wealthy people were able to afford it at the time.

[@daniel.santos]

I love these interesting form factors! Sony has always been so futuristic. I wish they had some better designs these days. Love long phone, but just like how you mentioned in the video, *everyone* is just making square screens with no buttons.

[@Teradmc]

You should do a throwback episode of the Nokia 7710 touchscreen, I loved that phone!

[@TheWolod]

I am getting so much nostalgia from this thing. I think I like the old tech better than the new one. There's just something to it.

[@Settiis]

It is sad no one makes this kind of cool phones anymore... :(

[@nucleard3]

Nice throwback review. Keep up the great work.

[@xs3tsunax]

this kind of design needs to come back. i don't care if it will be slightly ticker but i want phone with nowadays spec in this awesome design

[@TVperson1]

What you have to remember is that this was running *Palm OS 4* on the old Motorola CPUs. What that means is that even Palm's own devices didn't support a res higher than 160x160, music playback or a Camera on that OS or CPU, yet Sony somehow managed to shoehorn in those features. When Palm went to ARM and released *Palm OS 5* , they all got those features, but before that, they were pretty much an organiser with a colour screen.

[@DougGrinbergs]

Over the years, I had several Palm PDAs and a Handspring; I really liked the Clié a lot.

[@pascaladjaero]

OMG!!! That design... OMG

[@largol33t1]

Amazing how the design has held up over time. It still looks sleek and new. I'd buy one if it had at least a 4G cell phone built in with WiFi and Bluetooth.

[@shadman95]

Still have mine! Very futuristic device for 2003

[@cromtuiseagain]

Can't wait to see more of these. Keep up the good work.

[@madzoroyal]

Sony was so good 🔥🔥🔥

[@zenithquasar9623]

I miss the old Sony so much!

[@CaptainFox23]

I want a physical keyboard on an android my galaxy stratosphere was my baby but I had to switch to a new phone now I have an s5 and I miss the days where u could bang out a text without worrying about hitting the wrong key

[@ChrisHarwick]

I love theses throwback reviews!! Keep them coming!!! :)

[@ytht21]

I HAVE THAT! 6 years after it's release. It's an awesome device. IF something like that with today's spec, I would go for it.

[@metalheadmalta]

I had the NX70V.... full screen book reading, especially with the CLIE interface... loved it. And it had infrared... easy connection to pcs at that time.

[@jimmyjw88]

Man! This makes me really want this now! Awesome throwback!

[@thecampbells3908]

Still have mine! It charges, fires up and still works properly, despite being a little less pretty. Also had my MiniDisk player, which I still have and works!!! They're all sitting next to my D-131 and original Gameboy. 😏

[@jacobreed47]

enjoying these throwback videos. keep an coming please. and Thank you!

[@uNkLeRaRa4]

Throwback's back! :D

[@AdrianJoldis]

Nice to remember from where we started from

[@freddoflintstono9321]

I loved the IR remote control facility - and the NR73 had a socket where you could plug in a WiFi module.

[@PRH123]

I used to sit in waiting rooms, bars, etc and change the channel to something I liked better.

[@corvetkidable]

The only thing that would make this video better if it were uploaded tomorrow for throwback Thursday

[@dxnnxxmc]

I love shows like this. Please do more 😊

[@wonseokyang3200]

That model was the last moment that sony felt that they are the top of the manufacturer of portable electronics in the world. Japan miss that age. Now? we have apple and samsung.

[@italiansunrunner]

I remember beeing in elementary school when I first saw this in a tech mag and I thought it was the coolest thing ever.

[@DreamMaker_23]

I had that same Samsung phone and wanted this clie so bad! Then I started my palm 600-755 era.

[@tagallo]

This Throwback series is amazing!

[@zitrodivad]

i had it too 😊 it was awesome. i was in high school and i had my whole schedule in there and my homework assignments and contacts. loved it. i still have it lol but it won’t turn on anymore

[@jasonbrown467]

i had one of these. mine had the camera and it was great for making home made pron back in the day

[@BenjaminMois]

I too had one of those and used the heck out of it even up until 2013... :) Great hackable tech! Thanks for the trip down memory lane. :)

[@SWOgottaGO]

Does anyone remember when this guy hosted this channel? Good times.

[@aaronbarkley81]

That's one fierce beer coaster...

[@ricardonegrete4172]

Now this is how someone should do a smart/flip phone. I would buy it in a heartbeat if it came with today's specs.

[@Y0mAmA84]

This is awesome. I still have my Sony Clie NX80v. Man, I used to use that thing so much.

[@killertruth186]

I am defiantly sure that there would be a successor would make similar design. But sleeker, powerful, and brighter.

[@jojenkins3495]

my PDA was a HTC XDA orbit 2 branded by O2 here, it was one of those ones with a phone built in that where really the first kinda "smart" phones as we see them today

[@AgentMoler]

Excellent, please do more of these.

[@zackrider3708]

smartphones like android and iphone didn't just change the mobile industry, it Changed people's lives

[@ComboBreakerHD]

Thanks for the throwback! I used to love the Clie line, I had most of them. Even had the Sony Ericsson P900/P910, those were fun times.

[@largol33t1]

I saw one of these when it first hit the market in a store in California in 2002. I still can't understand why people plopped down $550 for a stupid Palm M500-series when this thing for the SAME price, did a hell of a lot more, blew it away in design and LOOKED the part of a business device. The M500 series looked like a fancy calculator by comparison and had godawful screen resolution. I had a crappy Sony Clie (only about $122 at the time!) that had double the resolution of a Palm PDA in the same price range! Sadly, even back then, people had "Apple syndrome" where they only cared about ONE brand and refused to even hear what the competition had to offer. It got to the point where some believed that Palm was the ONLY maker of PDAs! WRONG. Dead wrong. Sony, Handspring, HP and Microsoft were all making PDAs at the time Palm was at the top of the handheld market.

[@realistbeliverofsecondcomm2410]

it still drives crazy