Nokia E7 Features
- Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support
- Anodized aluminum unibody
- 4" 16M-color ClearBlack AMOLED capacitive touchscreen of 640 x 360 pixel resolution
- Scratch resistant Gorilla glass display
- 8 megapixel fixed-focus camera with LED flash
- 720p video recording @ 25fps
- Symbian^3 OS
- DivX and XviD video support
- Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
- Flash and Java support for the web browser
- Good quality audio
- Symbian^3 is still behind Android and iOS usability standards
- Ovi store content is inferior to Android market and App Store
- Fixed-focus on an 8 megapixel camera is just wrong
- Camera interface is decidedly outdated
- Battery is not user-replaceable
- No microSD card slot
Now, Nokia reconfirmed their commitment to Symbian in the short-term, but that doesn�t mean much. So if the Nokia E7 does at least as well on the market as the N8, it might as well buy the platform a few extra years.
As you can see from the lists above, the Nokia E7 is basically a larger N8, trading the camera bulk for a a larger and better display and a full QWERTY keyboard. The Nokia E7 certainly won�t have an easy ride throughout this review. The Nokia E7 is either the best Symbian^3 smartphone on the market or the second best. Symbian has been questioned and doubted but Nokia are giving users something to hang on to, something to use in their defense. Even the best Symbian^3 devices aren�t quite on par with the competition. It�s that bit of touchscreen magic that has so far eluded Nokia and Symbian. Frustrated to the point of giving up, Nokia are looking to Windows Phone 7 to get their inspiration back.
Nokia seem to have somewhat regained its brand�s positioning in a cut-throat smartphone market competition with the successful launch of its flagship Nokia N8 in the global market. The Nokia E7, or Nokia E7-00, caused quite a stir at this year�s Nokia World and is the second device (after the Nokia N8) to be powered by the latest version of the Symbian OS � Symbian^3.
We like the Nokia N8. With the Nokia E7, it�s a similar �spec-tacular� story with its 16:9 nHD 640 x 360 pixels AMOLED display, Symbian^3 OS, slide-out QWERTY keyboard and an 8 megapixel snapper.
But does the Nokia E7, along with Symbian^3 and the Nokia N8, have what it takes to re-establish Nokia as a name to be feared in the global mobile phone markets? If you�ve seen any videos or shots of the E7 you�ll know that it is a very similar looking device to the Nokia N8 (113.5 x 59 x 12.9 mm). On top of the E7 is a MicroUSB port, HDMI port, the power button and a 3.5mm jack input. The battery, like on the Nokia N8, is non-removable so users now have to slot the SIM card into a little iPhone-esque pop-out tray that�s located on the right-hand side of the device. A bit further down the right side is the device�s dedicated camera button, which activates the camera with a single press.
There is a single menu hard key on the E7, which sits on the device�s slidable display. One press of this and you�re taken to a familiar Nokia menu. We do have one issue, though, with the E7?s design, and that�s the QWERTY keyboard�s sliding mechanism. We have give Nokia credit here: it knows how to do its hardware.
However, the big thing with the Nokia E7 is its operating system which, in case you didn�t know, is Symbian^3 � AKA: Nokia�s latest attempt to realign itself with the likes of iOS and Android. Overall, the experience of using Symbian^3 is vastly improved and adds a level of maturity and, dare we say, modernity, to how you interact with your Nokia handset.
The Ovi Store is integrated well into the UI as well. The web browser on board the Nokia E7, like the one on the Nokia N8, is pretty good packing in Flash Lite 4, HTML, XHTML MP, WML and CSS support. Setting up and using email on the Nokia E7 is also very straightforward. Then there�s its ability to shoot video at 25 fps in HD quality 720p resolution and its front-facing VGA (640 x 480 pixels) camera, which makes short work of video calling. All in all, the Nokia E7 is a thoroughly decent phone.
The keyboard is the best we can remember using on any Nokia. Finally: a straight-up great Nokia keyboard without any fatal flaws like an off-center spacebar or a slider that doesn�t slide far enough � it just works. Nokia basically invented the QWERTY-laden business phone with its Communicator Series way back in 1996. Fast forward fifteen years, and we now have the anodized aluminum chassis of the Nokia E7 waving at us, claiming to be an honorable heir of Nokia's enterprise series phones with physical keyboards.
Retaining most of the wonderful features and design cues from the Nokia N8, the E7 just might have the perfect mix of ingredients, with its peculiar looking keyboard, to consider itself as being the next big smartphone from Nokia's camp.
Nokia E7 Design:
The Nokia E7 is essentially a longer and wider version of the Nokia N8, but manages to pack on a landscape keyboard to its 0.54� (13.6mm) sleek anodized aluminum casing. The weight is actually quite decent for a handset with a large screen, physical keyboard, and a metal shell. What's equally impressive about the E7 versus other Nokia smartphones is that it sizes up with an ample 4� AMOLED ClearBlack Display with 360 x 640 resolution, and support for 16.7 million colors. In the rear, we're greeted to the handset's 8-megapixel camera and its dual LED flash, probably the same one we have on the Nokia C7. In short, if you are a Nokia fan, you won't be disappointed with the Nokia E7.
If you�re in the market for a touchscreen smartphone with a QWERTY keyboard, then the Nokia E7 could be the perfect device for you. We already know that the Nokia E7 is a fantastic handset, having played with it at Nokia World late last year. The keyboard is big, well made and comfortable, and the sliding design works fluidly and faultlessly. Build quality is also second to none, offering a similar anodised aluminium design to the Nokia N8.
With regard to the keyboard, Know Your Mobile goes on to say: �The E7�s keyboard, as we said, is a full on Qwerty and features ever so slightly raised rubber keys that feel extremely comfortable whilst typing.�
All About Symbian states: �At first glance, the E7 might seem like just another slab smartphone, but the ingenious opening mechanism and accompanying QWERTY keyboard shows that this is very clearly a device with a dual nature. There�s no doubt that the keyboard is the star of the show.�
We already know all about the Nokia E7?s Symbian ^3 operating system � as it�s the same OS that�s featured on the Nokia N8, Nokia C7 and Nokia C6-01. It seems that the Nokia E7?s 4-inch screen has also won a few friends, with All About Symbian stating: �The results are extremely impressive, giving the E7 one of the best screens on the market. The guys at Tech Radar also seem impressed with the Nokia E7?s screen, pointing out: �The contrast ratios are great, the colours really pop on the screen and it�s easy to see the difference between the Nokia E7 and older phones.�
Rounding off its review, Know Your Mobile states: �All in all, the Nokia E7 is a thoroughly decent phone. In a market being overrun with touchscreen devices being at the top, not everyone wants a purely touch-only device. Nokia has taken feedback from their previous QWERTY slider phones and improved on the experience on the E7, for example there is no longer a navigation pad. The large 4-inch touch screen uses Nokia�s new technology called CBD (Clear Black Display) which helps with the screen contrast and also reducing the usual reflections on the screen, giving you blacker blacks which can really be noticed especially outdoors.
The hardware is excellent, the camera is up to date in technology terms, producing good quality pictures and HD video, the screen is large with the excellent CBD technology, the keyboard beats the alternatives like the HTC Desire Z and Motorola Milestone 2 and with Nokia promising to update Symbian with a new look later on in the year, this is a phone for now and the future.
If you�re familiar with the popular Nokia N8, the Nokia E7 looks very similar � a solid, metallic unibody design with a large 4-inch touch screen � but when you flip it sideways and open up the sliding keyboard, the handset transforms into something totally different and reminiscent of the N900 or the decades-old Nokia Communicator. Since the Nokia E7 comes in a unibody casing, the battery is built into the device and is not user-replaceable. Nokia was able to make this handset a bit thinner but carving out a few millimeters off the unibody which somewhat buries the display panel into the body.
When closed, the touch screen has a virtual keyboard you can use to navigate and make calls or send text messages. Sliding out the full keyboard allows you to type longer messages at a much faster rate � like composing mails or even mobile blogging.
The large 4-inch screen is among the largest I�ve seen on a Nokia handset � it�s clear, bright and crisp, thanks to the AMOLED screen and Nokia�s ClearBlack display. The E7 is among the few Nokia handsets that have move on to using capacitive screen and the performance on this unit is pleasantly surprising. Probably the biggest debate among smartphone users is the Symbian^3 OS that�s installed in the handset. For Nokia N8 users, this is practically the same. In any case, if you�re very familiar with Symbian phones, this handset will not disappoint.
If you�re into apps though, there�s the Nokia Ovi Store you can browse thru to download games and other apps. Photos take with the Nokia E7 are decent but not exceptional. Understandably, this is Nokia�s way of drawing the line between their business class E-series phones and the multimedia class N-series phones. Video playback is good as well as the audio quality.
It�s a slightly larger handset than the N8 in all directions, to accommodate not only the keyboard but the 4-inch capacitive touchscreen display, but it�s just as well made. Keeping Symbian moving is a 680MHz ARM 11 processor, paired with 256MB of RAM and OpenGL 2.0 graphics support. Connectivity follows Nokia�s throw-in-the-lot pattern of recent devices, with pentaband UMTS/WCDMA (supporting Euro, T-Mobile USA and AT&T 3G bands in a single device), WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0, GPS/A-GPS and an FM radio. Controls are limited to a power/profile button on the top edge (in-between the HDMI and 3.5mm headphones ports), a volume rocker and camera shortcut on the right edge, and a lock switch on the left edge. You honestly have to search hard to find a hardware point on which to criticise Nokia. Nokia bills the E7 as the new Communicator, and fans of those business-phones� full keyboards won�t be disappointed.
It can be easy to overlook Symbian�s strengths. Alternatively there are more on offer to download in Nokia�s Ovi Store. Beyond that it�s generally Symbian as standard. Preloaded is the Ovi Store, Nokia�s photo and video editing apps, QuickOffice and Ovi Maps, among others. Nokia�s sharing functionality falls well short as well; perhaps we�ve been spoiled by Android�s all-inclusive Share feature, which offers both the platform�s homegrown apps and any compatible third-party methods as well, but Nokia�s standard options � by email, message or Bluetooth, or on Facebook or Twitter � fail to open up to other apps you might download from the Ovi Store.
Nokia�s native browser is also due for an overhaul, useful since right now it�s outclassed by rival devices. Nokia has built a reputation for high-quality cameras on its mobile devices, and the E7 follows some way in that tradition. Phone performance is solid, as we�ve come to expect from Nokia, though the absence of the camera hump meant that the speakerphone sounded a little more muted than on the N8. There are several reasons for which we want to love the Nokia E7. The physical design is cleaner than the N8, build quality puts rival handsets from Samsung and LG to shame, the physical keyboard could give RIM nightmares and, mediocre display resolution aside, Nokia�s hardware spec sheet is bulging with everything the smartphone needs to be taken seriously. If the Nokia E7 was running Android, or Windows Phone 7, it would undoubtedly be a best-seller. Nokia�s quality design and construction are rightly admired, and for text entry the E7?s physical keyboard is superb. Where the original Nokia Communicators drove innovation in the mobile segment, however, blurring the lines between phone and computer, the E7 falls short.
Nokia E7 Review (Video)
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