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Nokia 7210
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By Sindre Lia, Monday 25 November 2002  
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After a spending a few days with the Nokia 7210, Sindre Lia is ready to pass judgement on Nokia's first Series 40 phone - a world phone with a color display and a high price tag.
The Nokia 7210 is the first phone from the Finnish manufacturer to hit shelves based on the Series 40 operating system. Mainly, Series 40 represents an evolution of the well known Simplex UI used in countless Nokia phones, and in the particular case of the Nokia 7210 offering 12-bit (4,096) color, 8 lines of text and a 128 x 128 pixel resolution. Both font size and contrast can be adjusted.
 | Nokia's 7210 is the manufacturer's first model using the Series 40 OS
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Nokia 7210
In addition to the first and most prominent changes in terms of color and resolution, the menu system has been expanded with 'Applications' and 'Gallery'. Applications contains a catalog over J2ME applications downloaded by the user, while Gallery holds pictures received via MMS (more on this later). With support for EGSM 900/1800/1900 MHz, the Nokia 7210 operates on GSM networks over the entire world - including the U.S., where GSM and GPRS are making good progress.
A new keypad layout has been implemented on the 7210, and despite its somewhat funky look it hasn't proved difficult to use. The navigational buttons for left-right are worth mentioning in particular since these allow one-press access to 'Calendar' and 'New message' respectively. The left-right and up-down buttons are otherwise actively used when for instance inserting special characters into messages. Previously, users could only navigate left and right in the table containing such characters, often calling for numerous key presses to reach the desired character. In Series 40, this has been approached in a bit more intelligent manner by allowing users to navigate up and down.
The 7210 is otherwise equipped with an integrated FM radio, and comes with a set of earplugs of good quality. A loudspeaker is also integrated, but if you want to listen to the radio through this the earphones have to be plugged in first. Otherwise, the loudspeaker also provides speakerphone functionality. As for talk and standby times, these will vary strongly depending on the use of screen savers, J2ME applications, the FM-radio and soforth - but with a brand new battery, we managed to achieve 3 hours of active use of the phone.
Memory capacity
The memory of the 7210 is dynamic, meaning that if you have 60 ringtones stored in the phone you will not be able to store MMS messages without deleting a few of these. The integrated phone book holds up to 300 names, while up to 150 SMS messages or 50 picture messages can be stored. As for MMS, up to 15 such messages can be stored with a maximum size of 30 KB per message. 31 Polyphonic ringtones come pre-installed on the phone; 20 of these can be deleted, and up to 60 can be stored at most with an average size of 5 KB. The Gallery can store up to 35 pictures with an average size of 10 KB per picture, and it also comes with 10 pre-installed pictures. Its calendar stores up to 250 notes, the To Do list up to 30 items, and finally the phone can store up to 6 J2ME applications with a maximum size of 64 KB per application - 3 applications are pre-installed.
Conclusion
For a mid-range phone, the Nokia 7210 gets an approved stamp for its polyphonic ringtones, message features and easily accessible calendar. It having a color display is in itself no surprise as most mobile phone manufacturers are undergoing the transition from monochrome to color screen phones right now, but the quality of the display is somewhat low when considering the introduction price of the 7210 - 550 EUR. Surprisingly high, the price means the 7210 should expect strong competition from other manufacturers who have proven themselves able to deliver quality products at the same or lower price in this particular segment.
| Features | 7/10 |
| Exterior | 7/10 |
| Ergonomics | 6/10 |
| Performance | 7/10 |
| Value: | 5/10 |
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iSW Score:
6.4/10 |
Conclusion
For a mid-range phone, the Nokia 7210 gets an approved stamp for its polyphonic ringtones, message features and easily accessible calendar. It having a color display is in itself no surprise as most mobile phone manufacturers are undergoing the transition from monochrome to color screen phones right now, but the quality of the display is somewhat low when considering the introduction price of the 7210 - 550 EUR. Surprisingly high, the price means the 7210 should expect strong competition from other manufacturers who have proven themselves able to deliver quality products at the same or lower price in this particular segment.
What's positive:
Good message features; polyphonic ringtones
What's negative:
Pricey; screen quality somewhat low
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