I am back with another mobile review, or I should say another Nokia mobile review. Just for record, this is my seventh mobile review, and fourth Nokia mobile review. I am using this mobile for last few days, so thought of sharing my views on it.
Talking about basic features, it is having 8MP camera with dual LED flash, 8GB storage capacity using microSD card (expandable up to 32GB), GPS, Wi-Fi & 680MHz ARM 11 processor.
Design
At first sight, it looks attractive with large 4in screen and somewhat unique angular looks with four grills on each corner. It seems as these grills house speakers in it but actually only bottom two have speakers; other two are just for symmetry purpose. Handset feels solid with 146gms weight and 11.9mm maximum thickness.
The top of the phone has 3.5mm headset jack, microUSB port and ON/OFF switch. Interestingly, there is no usual Nokia specific charger slot. Nokia has shifted to USB charging option.
The backside of the phone is metallic and curved that looks attractive and durable. It gives the feel of premium handset. I have seen few high ends phones from Samsung equipped with plastic cover that is total turn-off.
There are four side buttons/ slots that housed in this curvy back plate. On the left are slots for memory card and SIM card. These two are very tricky to open but easy. You have to press the slots to one side to open it. The slot covers are not attached to the frame and came out with a holder for SIM and memory card. I didn’t like this design, as it seems that those parts can be damaged or lost very easily.
The other side has camera and volume button. These buttons are in level with the frame and it is hard to feel those buttons. You may take time to get used to these types of designs.
On the front there is 4in huge AMOLED screen with resolution of 360x640 pixels and only one Menu/ Home button in middle at the bottom. The screen glass is anti-scratch gorilla glass. There is no front camera in this mobile.
Performance
The phone is equipped with 680MHz processor but it nowhere lags behind 1GHz processor phones. Actually Symbian is designed in a way that it doesn’t need high-speed processor. It offers great responsiveness to touch input. The sweep between three homescreens is very smooth that you will hardly notice any delay.
The phonebook is just like the old Nokia phones although they have added few details to it. There is no direct linkage to social networks. You have to manually connect each contact individually to social network, so you can imagine if you have a large contact list.
The call quality and signal reception is forte of Nokia and it goes well in this phone also. While communicating over phone, just be aware to keep the touch screen portion of the phone away from the cheek and ears. The touchscreen is so sensitive that even earlobe can disconnect your call or put you on hold.
The onscreen QWERTY keypad is bit cramped unlike phones from other brands. You may take time to get used to it. There is option of switching keyboard to alphanumeric mode also.
The 8MP camera is ok but doesn’t have the capabilities of Nokia N8. It can record videos at 720p resolution. And yes, there is no front camera and I am surprised that in this 3G world why they have not given that option.
The USP of this phone is the amazing video playback capability. It is just a pleasure to watch videos on this 4in AMOLED screen.
Sound quality is good, courtesy to its two speakers. But personally I don’t feel the clarity in the sound when I compare its sound to Nokia N8.
There is 350MB internal storage and Nokia provides 8GB memory card with this phone. It is having 32GB memory capability. Internal storage is always a better choice when comparing to external storage.
There are all the major connectivity options in this phone. It even provides USB-on-the-go feature but there is no cable provided for that (unlike Nokia N8) and you to purchase it. The web browser is just ok but have all the basic features. I personally prefer Opera mini browser for my browsing need.
The 1300mAh battery lasts for two days with normal usage. The battery is covered under non-removable metal plate and it is not user accessible. It is not a problem unless your phone hangs and in that case you have to hard reset the phone, which is not a preferable option.
The phone is currently running on Symbian Anna but the latest version- Symbian Belle is about to launch in a month time with many improvements.
Symbian vs. Android
This is the most talked about topic whenever we talk of Nokia phones. As per my opinion both the OS has its own limitations and advantages. I will try to briefly compare both the OS.
Symbian has better battery performance when compared to Android.
Android always scores far ahead when we talk of Apps, but the bigger question is how many of us regularly use apps.
Symbian is user friendly OS and customizable.
Symbian is still using old school of menu layouts- the style that was used in first Nokia mobile. It is expected that they are revamping the whole look in the yet to be launched ‘Belle’ version (already in use in newly launched mobiles).
Symbian updates are more inclined towards performance boost unlike Androids that is loaded with useless apps.
Android is for complicated users with lot many options. Symbian is best for those who use mobiles for calling and browsing.
Default web browser of Symbian is comparatively slow but there is always an option of Opera or other third part browsers that work better.
Symbian provides lifetime free map support unlike most Android phones that provide limited accessibility.
Nokia X7 vs. Nokia N8
This comparison is for those who are inclined towards Nokia phones but unable to decide the model. The closest competition for X7 is N8 so am pointing out the major difference between these models.
X7 has 4in screen as compared to 3.5in of N8.
The standby time of X7 is better than N8, due to its higher capacity battery- 1300mAh compared to 1200mAh of N8.
N8 has 12MP camera with Xenon flash, whereas X7 has 8MP fixed-focus camera with twin-LED flash.
N8 has 16GB internal storage; an X7 comes with 8GB microSD card for storage.
There is no HDMI support in X7 when compared to N8.
N8 comes with all the necessary cables.
Must have Apps
Swype- It enables you to write mails and messages in sweep steps.
Sleeping screen- A unique screen saver option where you can have any picture as screen saver in pixilated form.
fMobi- An interesting app to satisfy your FaceBook requirements.
Opera Mini- It is must for faster and cheaper web browsing.
Pros
Large and awesome display with good video playback
Overall hardware and design
Battery standby time
Lifetime free Nokia maps & music support
Cons
1. No front camera
No built in storage
Relatively low screen resolution
Sluggish default web browser
Fixed focus camera
No HDMI support
No physical unlocking button
Recommendations
This is the trickiest part of this review to write recommendation for this phone. I just can’t ignore the existence of Nokia N8 in the market. And considering N8, I will never recommend this phone. The phone is priced in the range of Rs.20k and N8 is priced at Rs.22k.
There is only one positive aspect and that is its 4in screen. You can go for this phone if you are fan of large screen else just blindly chose Nokia N8 (if you really want to own a Symbian-based Nokia).