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(More customer reviews)This is a good phone. But no gadget is perfect and I will go into the pros / cons. Hopefully this will help those who are on the fence to make up their mind.
(Really, the Symbian / Nokia users need not much convincing and are already very aware of the phone; while the android / iOS fans will probably just stick with what they are comfortable with).
First, I have been a Nokia / Symbian user for a long time. My wife has an iPhone; so I can appreciate both. Played a bit with android but did not spend too much time with it to give a fair opinion on it. On to the review:
What about the Hardware?
First, the hardware is very nice and is a major selling point. The OLED screen with 'Clear Black Display' really looks nice on the eye. If people are impressed with 'Retina Display' they should be equally impressed with E7 screen with the vivid color and unparalleled contrast. OLED also draws less power and have tricks with the sleeping screen (check Nokia Beta Labs - Sleeping Screen app).
The form factor is another reason to consider E7. For those like me, who prefer a hardware keyboard... Let me say that the keyboard is one of the best. The slide mechanism is solid and impressive too.
The GPS function can easily replace a dedicated unit out there. Especially since you can sideload map from all over the world free using the OVI Suite.
USB on the Go, HDMI output, QuickOffice offer great flexibility in sharing / viewing / moving your files and media. The media / music player is an included standard feature as well.
Do I need to mention that the E7 cover all the international variants of GSM / HSDPA frequency band? This means you can access 3G pretty much all around the world where they are available. (Most other phones cover all the GSM frequency variants but not HSDPA.)
In a nutshell, the hardware is a solid five. Some may disagree on the camera though. Being a fixed focus with EDOF (Extended Depth of Field), you will not be able to take close up picture. This is a trade-off for the slimmer body. Still, the picture is usable (I suggest to change the color to vivid and use sharpest setting - the camera processing seems to produce a very subdued picture). You may want to check Nokia N8 if camera is more important to you than a hardware keyboard.
What about the software?
Symbian^3 is a major step up from the earlier version. Still, to really enjoy it, one has to actually go into it and learn the intricacies. So yes, it is not as intuitive (simple) as iOS. But some may actually prefer the flexibility that comes with this. Here is a couple of tips (things I always do when I get a fresh Symbian phone):
- Give accompanying OVI suite a try (try the beta version.. it's faster). I mostly use it as an easy way to tether my laptop (yes sir, big reason why I love unlocked Nokia phone) but some of the other features are nice too.
- Update all the firmware / apps.
- Reorganize the icons into folder structure that make sense to you. It is a hassle the first time but will make a difference as to how you use the phone. (Option > Organize)
- Play around with the setting. (Seriously..)
- If you really have to have iOS style interface, you can customize multiple shortcut widgets on your 3 home screens. Frankly, I never see the need to do this.
- The search widget is quite useful... but do go to the setting to exclude items that you don't want it to index.
Here is a tip... touch and hold is like a mouse right click. It brings up context menu for many items in the phone.
What about the apps?
Sad to say, this is a major con when it comes to Symbian. If you come from Android / iOS, the first thing you will notice is actually the lack of it. This is especially a concern now since Nokia announcement to transition to Windows Mobile. It makes for less incentive for software developers to further develop apps for the platform.
That said, thus far, I am still seeing new apps every now and then. And Symbian is feature rich enough that you don't necessarily miss them. Still, here are a couple apps you should get if you do get the phone.
- Opera Mini / Mobile : Trust me, this will make your browsing experience much, much better. Nuff said. (also, please tinker with the setting.)
- Swype : You don't really need it for this phone because of the hardware keyboard. But if you are lazy to flip it open.
- Gravity : Facebook / Twitter client
- JoikuSpot : turn your phone into mobile WiFi HotSpot.
- Nokia Internet Radio / Tunewiki : Good for listening to Shoutcast radio.
- Try out any of the apps from Nokia Beta Labs / Check out Ovi Store...
- If you are adventurous, scour the net for various app out there in the net too (I typically go to allaboutsymbian.com for tips, etc)
Frankly, there is not much essential apps to mention for now.. I do wish we have a kindle app for the phone (are you listening Amazon?). Maybe Evernote. And maybe more games too. Again, here is an area where I have to say that I envy my wife and her iPhone.
What about the performance?
So far, the phone is snappy enough. The only time it sometimes seems to freeze is when I am installing new apps (it will resume to normal if you leave it, I just feel apprehensive whenever that happens).
So there you have it. The phone does have potentials. Whether it will meet your needs or not is another. I am done tinkering with my phone for now to make it works the way I want and am quite happy with it.
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