NOKIA is currently facing problems due to a lack of features in its phones and a drop in build quality. The Nokias of the 90s were innovative (think the Nokia 3210, the first mobile phone without an external antenna, and the iPhone of its day when it first came out), well built, and able to withstand numerous drops on the floor as well as the occasional dip in the puddle.
The same can't be said for its last generation of phones which consequently resulted in Nokia losing market share to the likes of Apple, Motorola, Samsung and Google.
The Nokia X7 is the latest generation of affordable (but not cheap), fashionable smart phones from Nokia which promises to be stylish and well put together.
In the box, you'll find all you would expect from a phone nowadays (charger, headphones, USB cable). The build quality is top notch, with the solid feel of the curvy metal casing and the gorgeous 4-inch Amoled screen being the main attraction.
However, the first snag I hit was putting in the SIM and memory cards. The casing is built much like an iPhone, meaning that you will have a heck of a time changing the battery. The slots for the cards are placed externally, on the side of the phone, making it cumbersome to open.
The Symbian 3 operating system (the latest called Anna) does a decent job of managing the X7's computing power but the interface is not as smooth as it is in its Android and iPhone competitors. This is the same problem that has plagued the Nokia E7 which also runs the same OS.
That said, the X7 features a default three home screens which can be customised to your liking. This includes placing shortcuts for your Facebook account,
Twitter streams, news feeds and favourite contacts whose pictures become clickable icons for faster dialing.
The phone features an 8MP camera with flash that does a great job of capturing photos in bright environments, producing sharp, beautiful pictures. However it can't seem to take any good shots in darker situations as with most camera phones. Using the flash mostly makes the photos come out worse as it's not powerful enough to illuminate the entire frame, leaving you with partially lit, grainy pictures.
However, the phone's audio quality is good, performing better than most phones would in places where the signal strength is known to be terrible. As previously mentioned, this phone comes preloaded with more multimedia and social apps than you can count. These apps require constant connectivity, meaning that the WiFi and 3G antennas will be working overtime to keep up with demand on the default setting. This sucks up a lot of juice and quickly drains the battery after a day of typical use.
Also, unless you have an unlimited 3G plan or you're planning on only sitting around WiFi equipped areas, walking around with this phone without changing its wireless settings could cost you a pretty penny in data charges, as I painfully found out. That 4-inch AMOLED screen plays videos beautifully. The sound is pretty good and loud too, allowing you to listen to songs and videos in public places without headphones (if you don't care about being labelled "that guy").
Now you can share your music and videos with your friends on-the-go.
One pet peeve is that the system launches a separate screen when you're trying to type anything, which gets to be very annoying. In most situations, the X7 performs well enough, scoring points for innovative design and build quality, but falls short of achieving greatness due to its mediocre OS and unpolished user interface. Let's hope Nokia's recent decision to switch over to the Windows platform will create another 3210 for the company.
Verdict: If you're a staunch Nokia fan, this will be a good update from the previous generation of Symbian Nokias. If you're not hung up on the brand, check out an Android- based phone or the iPhone 4.
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