Nokia E7 Review

Courtesy of Simon, i am given a chance to review a Nokia E7, for 24 hours LOLL..Simon was reviewing it for Maxis10 and i am his guest blogger. Well, now what make u guys think i am qualify to review this phone? since i am such a android fan boy now ;P

A little bit about my experience on mobile gadget (opss), I am not a professional reviewer and all the review i wrote is based on my personal preference. I have been Nokia user since 2003 till 2010. Nokia phone that i have use b4 were 3310, 8250, 6600, forgot model, forgot model, forgot model, forgot model and finally, my last nokia phone was my belated N900 :( Nevertheless, i have been watching Nokia Symbian grown until today, so i am actually quite familiar with the UI and etc. Once hands-on on Nokia E7, i get to access all apps and menu very fast.

A basic specification for Nokia E7

* Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support
* Penta-band 3G with 10.2 Mbps HSDPA and 2 Mbps HSUPA
* 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
* 680 MHz ARM 11 CPU and 256 MB RAM
* Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
* microHDMI port 720p TV-out functionality
* GPS receiver with A-GPS support and free lifetime voice-guided navigation
* Digital compass
* 16GB of on-board storage
* Active noise cancellation with a dedicated mic
* DivX and XviD video support
* Built-in accelerometer and proximity sensor
* Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
* Stereo FM Radio with RDS, FM transmitter
* microUSB port with USB On-the-go
* Flash and Java support for the web browser
* Stereo Bluetooth 3.0
* Good quality audio
* Smart and voice dialing
* Office document editor preinstalled

This are suppose to be a standard package that come with Nokia E7. As i said previously, Nokia E7 was designed for business class man. The design was sleek and nice, sexy and hot plus, my favourite qwerty keyboard ;)

* Headset, Phone, USB Cable, Charger and 2 cable to USB-on-the-go and HDMI output *

A short comparison in terms of size and thickness for this phone with my BB and Tabbie to give u guys a better idea how sleek is E7 eventhough it packed with qwerty keyboard.

* Meet the Purpleberry, E7 & Tabbie - Amoled screen FTW!*

* Thickness comparison *

It is not reli hard to type though even ppl with fat thumb like me able to type fast. Mayb because i use too much qwerty on my belated Nokia N900 and current Blackberry. In the same time, the virtual keyboard button design kinda consistence and well arrange. I have no problem typing with it too.

The SIM slot was on the phone right side. It required to take off the small SIM holder and put it on it then slide in back LOL u need a long nail to pull d holder out though.

Next, Symbian^3 OS UI was change a little bit compare to previous version. It enable scrolling to left and right on the desktop but only limited to 3 pages. Like Android and Maemo, it enable to add widget or shortcut icon into the desktop but, u r not given freedom to arranged it d way u like.

The next thing i tested was the web browser. I dowan to compare it with my other devices but the web load kinda slow. It took around 2~3 mins to load my blog. Compare to my Tabbie who using the same wifi, it just took less than 20 second to load my blog. My blackberry? ok even hopeless LOL..nevertheless, Nokia E7 web browser was packed with Flash Lite 4.0. Which mean u able to view Youtube video on any website, but obviously kenot use it to play facebook game.

Another thing i love is the multi tab on web browser ;) I can open few windows in the same times.

Like most of the smartphone nowdays, it allowed to setup for email, or else it wun be a smartphone rite? LOL

The phonebook is pretty good since it allowed u to quick access to their social network, call, sms or even video call.

Now, the things i love most on Nokia is the OVI Map. They reli go offer very good service for GPS, 1 of the best offline Navigation tool beside Garmin. During my test on this set, it required me to connect to Data or Wifi, however, it still allowing for offline search and navigation. Obviously, it came together with voice assistance ;)

Tested with the sound and video as well. It is clear, solid and 1 of the best speaker ever :)

In addition, Nokia E7 was packed with 8mp camera, with fixed focus....This is a big disappointed for a photographer like me. During my test on this phone, i unable to capture a sharp image of my object thanks to the fixed focus (and i forgot to transfer out the pics from the phone to my pc T_T). Din get to test on the video recorder since i am not fans of video. I guess N8 still d best camera phone ever.

Another things i love on E7 is the cable for USB-on-the-go that allowed me connect any USB reader. I tested it with my memory card and surprisingly it able to view all the pics taken by my camera :D it will be useful for document, images and even music transfer directly to the phone ;)

Eventhough it came with 680 MHz ARM 11 CPU, the scrolling on the desktop wasn't smooth. Abit sluggish if u ask me. However i am glad that it doesn't affect some game performances. Tested it with Angry Bird and it is smooth like hell ;D

So overall, is this phone is good? Bad? I would like to conclude it with my point of view..You may skip d above and read here if u r lazy :P

This phone is good in terms of :

*Sleek Design
*QWERTY keyboard for those who hate to type on virtual keyboard
*Anodized aluminum unibody
*4inch size
*ClearBlack AMOLED capacitive touchscreen
*Scratch resistant Gorilla glass
*Good GPS AKA Ovi Map
*Good speaker and HD video display
*cable for USB-on-the-go that allowed files transfer between phone and other driver
*Symbian OS is user friendly. Even my dad know how to use it.

And this phone is bad because of :

*Symbian^3 still left behind if wanna compare with iOS and Android that stay strong on market nowdays
*OVI store dun have alot apps compare to Apple and Android market
*8mp camera with fixed focus is totally a joke. At least HTC Desire HD camera is better in my POV
*RRP for this phone is RM1995, too expensive though. Nokia N8 just cost +-Rm1.6k and other high end android devices cost almost d same.
*Battery is not user-replaceable, like iPhone :P

This is totally base on user preference when come to :

*No microSD card slot but the phone come with 16GB built in memory. Might enuf or might not for certain user especially those who love to download movie and watch it on phone
*680 MHz ARM 11 processor. A little bit higher speed than iphone 3Gs and low end android phone but totally out match with current High end Android phone that running 1Ghz single/dual core and iphone4 A4 processor that clock to 1ghz speed also. It might be better if they able to make it to 1ghz processor too and i m pretty sure the UI will smoother.
*Dun have much entertainment apps but if u can survive with it, y not?

Overall thats my point of view and conclusion on Nokia E7. I would said they launch it on wrong time..way too late to launch it. If they could launch it around mid last year, it might be everyone favorite.

Finally, thanks for Simon to lend me this phone to make a short review ;) My review not necessaries correct, but it was all based on my personal opinion. Sorry if it sound BIAS :P