The NOKIA 7610 is a fairly hyped-up model. I would say it’s a way-station on NOKIA’s road to a stable & feature-rich model. It brought an end to the dominion of noisy, dot-matrix-style models like 3310 and 3315. It’s the ’’first of a kind’’ mobile in many aspects. Read on for more info...
It’s the first model to incorporate SYMBIAN o/s in full swing. And the first model to give 1 megapixel camera with night mode and self-timer features. Hey folks, let me tell you... the picture quality/clarity is ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT, EXCELLENT, WONDERFUL, LOVELY! Plus you get an extra 64-MB multimedia card, just in case the default quota of 8 MB doesn’t suffice. Ideally you could get yourself a 1 GB multimedia card (it’s just 1, 500 bucks) and forget about capacity limitations. It’s also the first mobile to come with POP3 eMail support. Last but not least, it’s the first model to come with a sexy look. Guess what, actually, it was this very ’’look’’ for which I fell in love with it! You also get STYLE PACKS and XPRESS-ON COVERS for more vibrant looks.
The display area is pretty large, and gives a breath-taking 65535-color depth. The display looks & feels very much like Microsoft Windows. You can work on multiple applications like games, organizer, compose, gallery, etc. And switching between active applications is a breeze, it just involves a single keystroke. You can assign shortcut keys for all applications. There is a multipurpose COPY-PASTE button which comes-in handy during any/all activities involving text. Battery life is excellent, a single charge-up can hold good for 2 days if you don’t shoot using the camera. Software stability is good, I hardly remember rebooting my handset.
It has in-built support for WAP, Bluetooth and MMS. You can download games and applications with the advanced XHTML browser. You can add your own fancy category to phonebook entries, like say ’’Workshed Number’’ or ’’PP Number’’ etc. FYI majority of other models only allow you to store a number under pre-defined categories like GENERAL, MOBILE, HOME, OFFICE, FAX, etc. With 7610, you can create your own category and then store the number under it. Such user-defined categories cannot contain upper case characters, thatz how you differentiate them from the in-built ones.
It comes with a DKU-2 USB interface cable (just read it as DATA CABLE for simplicity sake!) for sharing stuff with your PC. You can import and export pictures/movies from and to your mobile. Direct printer connectivity thru USB cable is supported, but I haven’t checked it out yet. Also, you get a CD containing some blah...blah... utilities, I never got the time to check them out too. I remember seeing some ’’remote control’’ softwares on the web (https://symbiangear.com/includes/download.php?prod=48693) that let you control the mobile from a desktop computer!
Now coming to the dimmer side, the disadvantages I faced in my 7610 are as follows:
Ringtone quality really sucks. The 7610 loudspeaker jars when playing shrill ringtones. So, those of you who want to ’’make heads turn’’ will find it disappointing coz the slightest shrill music in your ringtone creates an irritating gurr in the loudspeaker.
Truetones (MP3 ringtones) are not supported. Such a masterpiece without truetone support is quite upsetting.
Most of the games available for download (on AirTelWorld.com website), are not supported by the 7610 handset. I don’t know about other websites, pardon me for that folks. But my presonal opinion is, game download is a horrible, harrowing and frustrating experience for 7610 owners. I mean imagine going thru the list of supported handsets and NOT finding your model number there. It’s frightening, yikes!
A display resolution of 65535 colors is pretty decent, but one must also take note of other models with much higher figures like 2147483647 colors etc, that are roaming around in today’s market.
The AMR and 3PG movie formats (in which my 7610 stores its movies/pics) is not readily usable with desktop PC’s. You need a freeware converter of some sort.
Absence of FM Radio is a major aversion-spawner.
Composing messages is a tedious chore, especially for the nimble-fingered among us, as there is a prominent delay in keystroke processing. Right from unlocking/locking the keypad to composing text/email messages. For a mere silly routine like unlocking/locking your keypad, you need to wait 1 full second between subsequent key presses. I would be nice if the world too operated in slow motion eh?
The Multimedia Card cannot be changed without switching-off the mobile. FYI today’s models allow changing of MMcards while the mobile is still on.
The sudden and sharp fall in price (from 26k to 14k) has left many tech-savvy customers whining and grumbling. But (sigh!) thatz the order of the day, and we gotta live with it!
Hope my short write-up provided you with a considerable insight on NOKIA 7610. It’s definitely an explorer’s haven with its host of exciting features like video editor, hotsynch, bluetooth, etc. But in a fast-n-furious advancement trend in the mobile market, I really doubt if a silent expert like 7610 can make heads turn. It only reminds me of Somerset Maugham’s famous story ’’THE GIFT OF THE MAGI’’ where the loving husband trades his wristwatch for a hand-carved comb for his wife’s beautiful long hair, while the wife cuts and sells her hair in exchange for a golden phob chain for her husband’s wristwatch.
In conclusion, I’d say that NOKIA has compromised on a few VITAL basics while looking to promote SYMBIAN O/S via its 7610 model, thereby making it difficult for prospective buyers to decide in favour of it.