[June 10, 2004]

Product Review: Nokia 7650

BY NINA MOHADJER

The Nokia 7650 uses the Nokia Series 60 platform, and is a combined mobile phone, digital camera and PDA.

The phone has four MB of onboard memory, a color screen, a digital camera that takes 640x480 images and has screen dimensions of 176x208 pixels.

The 7650 is a little taller, wider and deeper than many other existing mobiles, when you consider what this phone is offering to the user. Features like Bluetooth, GPRS, MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service), and, best of all, the built-in camera, mean that this phone is set to be a hit.

The first thing I noticed was the missing numeric keypad: There is a slide-out keypad that also doubles as a lens protector for the camera. With the keypad retracted, the height is around �", and when expanded, 5/8".

The device can fit in the palm of your hand comfortably. The only negative aspect is when the case is opened, even though the camera is not �sticking out,� holding the phone might result in fingerprints on the lens.

The numeric keypad is user-friendly, although most of the device navigation is not done using the keypad; that is done with the small black joystick below the screen. The joystick allows for four-way navigation, with a press-in to select. There are two hardware buttons right below the screen. Depending on which application is being used their function will change. There's also a dedicated Menu, voice-record and On/Off button. The numeric keypad also offers an "ABC" button, which allows selection of T9 text, and acceptance of some other general text options, such as Insert word and Insert symbol.

Software-wise, the device has SMS, e-mail and WAP built in and supports the new Multimedia Messaging format (MMS). Standard PIM Contacts, To-do and Calendar are all there, as are a couple of somewhat basic games.

The absolute attraction of the Nokia 7650 is without a doubt the camera. With a practically empty memory, the 7650 can keep around 60 high-resolution 640x480 images. There's the option to switch image quality to High, Normal or Basic, which allows for saving more photos into memory. Additionally, a fairly basic "night mode" helps with low-light picture taking. When in camera mode, the screen becomes the view finder, and the joystick takes the picture while an audible clicking sound is emitted, to ensure the picture has been taken. After the picture has been taken it can be saved to the Images application or transmitted via Bluetooth, infrared, e-mail or MMS. The photo quality is not comparable with professional print pictures, but definitely useful for �snap-pictures.� In general, the phone is very user-friendly.

Except for the already mentioned minor concerns, I could not really discover any major negative aspects to this phone. All in all, I found the navigation to be good and the phone a pleasure to use.

Built-in software:

• Telephone
• Contacts
• Call log
• Messaging
• Camera
• Images
• Calendar
• WAP
• Profile management
• To-do
• Connection manager
• Notes
• Calculator
• Currency converter
• Voice recorder
• Ringtone composer
• Clock
• Games (Snake Ex, Mix Pix)

 I tested this product by carefully examining the specifications.

Optical Appearance:
Size, Display, and User Interface    

• Weight: 154 g
• Dimensions: 114 x 56 x 26 mm, 138 cc
• Illuminated high-contrast, full-graphics color display
• Graphical user interface
• Joystick with five-way navigation
• Series 60 platform

Nina Mohadjer is a freelance writer who reviews products for TMCnet.