Nokia C7 Review
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Nokia C7 Meets just about all Your Smartphone Expectations!
The Nokia C7 is the toned down version of the bigger cousin, Nokia N8. Reviewing a higher end smartphone from the Finnish mobile phone veteran these days is a daunting task as invariably and sooner or later in the review, you have to talk about how sluggish or problematic the Symbian platform is
But fortunately, the Nokia C7 uses the more recent Symbian version 3 of the operating system and this is delightfully more robust than all earlier versions and this is readily reflected in almost silken smooth functioning of it. The rest of the software and hardware of this smartphone is expectedly of a standard and level that is very high. All this does render the Nokia C7 a smartphone that most users would be happy to use. The issue here is that Android has actually spoiled the customers here to a great extent and hence the expectations are rather high.
We are actually living in a time and space where maximum expectations run even for low priced smartphones leave aside the slightly on the higher-end phone handsets like the Nokia C7. Therefore, a more balanced and objective analysis is required for not just the Nokia C7 but for any other Symbian run smartphone for that matter.
And this is exactly what we have tried to do here. To begin with, we are not at all getting into whether Nokia is doing the right thing by sticking to the Symbian platform or whether it should also latch on teo the Android bandwagon here. We are here focusing solely on the Nokia C7 that uses the Symbian version an d not on issues that could have been.
Further, the Nokia C7 smartphone handset has a lot more stuff by way of software and hardware going for it than simply the latest Symbian OS running its affairs. Superlative intenet connectivity, data networking features, an eight mega pixel camera, social networking integration, and more are certainly there in this smartphone along with some additional attributes. The Nokia C7 also sports an exquisite design and is certainly great to look at.
The Nokia C7 is expected to compete with the likes of the HTC Wildfire S and the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc, etc.Does it have the requisite werewithal to stand up to these smartphones and a few others in the market place? Well, you never know.
Here, the factor of prices also needs to be taken into account.
Now, it is appropriate here to take a closer peak at some of the more important technical specifications of the Nokia C7. This has been given as a listing below –
Dimensions and Weight – 117.3 x 56.8 x 10.5 mm and 130 gms
Touchscreen and Display – 3.5 inches wide 16:9 nHD 640 x 360 pixels AMOLED display. There is support of 16.7 million colours
Keys and Input Method – Physical keys (menu key, call key, end key, power key, lock key, volume keys, voice key, capture key); Finger touch control; On-screen alphanumeric keypad and full keyboard; Dedicated camera and volume keys; Possibility to use capacitive stylus; Handwriting recognition for Chinese
Battery – BL-5K 1200 mAh Li-Ion battery eztends talk time of up to 576 minutes and stand by time of 555 hours under GSM network environment; Video play back time 6.5 hours, video recording time of 3.8 hours and video calling time of up to 160 minutes. Music playback of up to 543 hours. All with a single charge of the phoe device
Operating System - Symbian^3 OS
Processor – 680 MHz ARM 11 processor and Broadcom BCM2727 GPU
Memory – On board memory of 8 GB. Provision for expandable memory of 32 GB using mciroSD cards
Internet Browsing and Connectivity related features – GPRS/EDGE class B, multislot class 33, HSDPA Cat9, maximum speed up to 10.2 Mbps, HSUPA Cat5 2.0 Mbps, WLAN IEEE802.11 b/g/n , TCP/IP support, Capability to serve as data modem, Support for MS Outlook synchronisation of contacts, calendar and notes.
Easy-to-use email client with attachment support for images, videos, music and documents .doc/ .docx, .xls/ .xlsx, .ppt/ .pptx, .pdf, .zip, HTML support for email, Unified email client for multiple protocols: Yahoo!® Mail, Gmail™, Windows Live™, Hotmail and other popular POP/IMAP services, Mail for Exchange, Email web widget for home screen, Unified MMS/SMS editor, Conversational view for SMS, Push email and expanded portal support available through Nokia Messaging for email and instant messaging
Camera – Primary camera is eight mega pixel with auto focus, Fullscreen 16:9 viewfinder with easy on-screen touch controls, dual LED flash, full focus, face recognition, digital zoom up to 2x for still images and 3x for video recording. The video capture of up to 720p high definition.
Secondary VGA camera for video calling.
Media Player – Nokia Music Player. Audio file formats supported include – MP3, WMA, AAC, eAAC, eAAC+, AMR-NB, AMR-WB. Ovi Music Unlimited service. DRM support WM DRM, OMA DRM 2.0
Gaming – Dedicated graphics processor with OpenGL 2.0 enables 3D graphics. You can use the touch interface and accelerometer Io play the games. Java games.
Navigation – Integrated GPS, A-GPS receivers; Ovi Maps with free car and pedestrian navigation; Wi-Fi network positioning; Compass and accelerometer for correct orientation of display; Use Nokia Ovi Suite to get the latest country maps for Ovi Maps for free
Applications – Calendar, Contacts, music player, internet, messaging, photos, Ovi Store, Maps, Videos, Web TV, Office document viewers, Video and photo editor, Mail, Radio.
PC Applications: Nokia Ovi Suite, Nokia Ovi Player
Now, let us delve a litle more deeply into some of these features –
The Nokia C7 ought not to be compared with the Nokia N8
Here, it may be pointed out that we should avoid the temptation of comparing the Nokia C7 smartphone with that of the Nokia N8. This is a simple and straightforward case of unfair comparison. As even a ten year old child would tell you the the Nokia N8 is a bigger smartphone and with higher prices.
The Nokia C7 has one of the finest hardware in the business!
It is true. Bet it the touchscreen, the process or simply its design element, the Nokia C7 sets for itself a standard that is indeed very, very high. It is only slighly on a lesser keel than its bigger cousin, the Nokia N8. Even the 720p high definition eight mega pixel amera is streets ahead of most of its rival handsets carrying similar cameras.
The Symbian v 3 is also okay up to a mark!
This is where the issue lies, if at all there is one. The Symbian version 3 that is present in the Nokia C7 is able to perform most of the functions to the satisfaction of everyone concerned. But when it comes to more complex tasks like downloading flash heavy web pages or doing multitasking in an unhindered and speedy manner. But this cannot be helped.
Though what Nokia could have done is to provided for a few more tweaks to the OS.. The lack of an equally robust user interface also rankles
Prices are also lucrative enough!
O2, Orange and T-Mobile are the network service providers who have led the way when it came to selling the Nokia C7 in the market place here.
They have floated in enough cheap Nokia C7 contracts that will delight the average customer here. A monthly payment plan ranging from £ 20 to £ 30 for the period of 24 months is all you need to obtain this smartphone for free. The unlocked, SIM free prices start from £ 221.81 only.
There are some Nokia C7 pay as y ou go deals as well. T-Mobile offers the C7 device at the PayG price of £ 275. 49.And O2, Orange and Three Mobile have the Pay G offer of £ 299.90 only for the Nokai C7.
Conclusion
There are more reasons that go in favour of the Nokai C7 than those that go against it. Many veteran Nokia phone users will vouch safe for the fact that the Symbian platform is not as bad as it is made out to be in the media and by vested interests who are egged on by Nokia's rivals. Yes! There is every scope for improvement and it will happen also in the coming editions fo the Nokia. With such a fantastic phone, you really should not be thinking that deeply. You also need to figure out the value you would be getting in return for the amount you will be paying for the Nokia C7.
