NOKIA E7 REVIEW

Specifications
Rs 29,999
www.nokia.co.in
Dimensions (WxHxD): 123.7 x 62.4 x 13.6
mm; Weight: 176 g; CPU: 680 MHz ARM 11;
Display: 4-inch AMOLED 360x640;
Camera: 8 MP; Connectivity: Wi-Fi b/g/n,
Bluetooth 3.0, EDGE, 3G.
Contact Nokia India
Phone 011-30303838
EMAIL NA
Verdict: A great phone for Nokia
loyalists, but does not live up to
expectations.
We’ve been without a Communicator for
quite some time now, but then again, Nokia
hasn’t quite been at the top of its game
lately. But now, it’s back with the E7.
It takes its cue from the funky looking
anodized aluminum shelled N8, but the E7 is
quite larger and heavier (176 g). The 4-inch
AMOLED capacitive touchscreen (360 x
640) should have featured a higher
resolution, but it does boast Nokia’s
Clear Black Display technology, which
makes the display phenomenal in virtually
any lighting condition. It’s easy on the
eyes and extremely responsive, and encased
in Gorilla glass, you’re assured a
scratch-free screen.
Form Factor
The Home key has been moved to the bottom-
centre of the handset. A micro USB/charging
port, mini HDMI and 3.5 mm handsfree socket
are located on top. As well designed as the
provided handsfree is, we were unable to
use any other handsfree with the E7. Like
the N8, the E7 is completely sealed, with a
little tray that can be extracted to
slip in your SIM card. To make matters
worse, it features 16 GB of internal
storage with no microSD card slot. Keeping
with tradition, the E7 Communicator
comes with a large QWERTY keypad under the
display. While the keypad was comfortable
to use, accessing it will take a bit of
getting used to. It requires a very
precise push to pop it up, but once open, the
viewing angle and keypad layout is great. The
keys are soft and easy on the fingers and
the separated buttons are perfect for
speed typing.
The E7 is a stunning looking handset that,
although slightly on the heavy side, is
the sleekest Communicator we’ve ever seen.
If only Nokia had perfected the slide out
panel, we’d have absolutely no gripes
about the design.
Interface
The Communicators were traditionally
considered to be the most powerful mobile
handsets, but the E7 cannot boast the
same. It packs a disappointing 680 MHz ARM
11 processor and a Broadcom BCM2727 GPU and
1 GB ROM. In this age of dual core processing
speeds on mobiles, how is this going to
survive? Still, the E7 is by no means
sluggish. We could use over ten apps at
the same time and still watch videos and
access the Internet without much lag.
While most functions run quite
smoothly, a few UI quirks could really
get to you, especially if you’re
switching over from another smartphone OS,
like Android.
The world has moved on to virtual QWERTY
keypads even in standard mode, but Nokia is
sticking to the alphanumeric num-pad
style, with no option to change. The onscreen
QWERTY in landscape is a little
constricted and not as functional as some
others. Symbian "3 feels outdated in some
ways; the desktop widgets and
shortcuts seem a little too ridged and
structured, and sending messages
requires a couple extra key presses
than it would on other platforms. That
said, access to new messages and
connectivity options is quite easy from
the desktop. The task manager option is also
handy and easy for multitasking or closing
running apps.
Media
The Nokia Music player is better than
average. The few presets, stereo widening
and loudness settings do help enhance the
audio quality. Tone quality is
excellent, with highs moderately divided
to enhance vocals and higher frequencies, and
the bass line is of superb clarity.
What’s disappointing is the lack of a
customizable EQ. The FM radio didn’t work
as well as we’d hoped. It was able to pick
up only four of the nine stations.
The E7 doesn’t share the N8’s penchant for
video playback. While most H.264 and WMV
files in DivX formats played without a
hitch, some coded in XviD didn’t. Nokia has
added apps for streaming files from
Paramount Movie Trailers, CNN Video,
National Geographic and E! Entertainment.
Video and photo editing software are also on
board. TV out via HDMI supports Dolby
Digital Plus. The E7 didn’t come with any
preloaded games.
Connectivity
The E7 supports all kinds of
connectivity, from 3G to EDGE, Wi-Fi and
Bluetooth (with A2DP), but lacks DLNA
support. The native browser is fairly
competent and allows you to pinch or double
tap to zoom in or out of screens. With
Flash support, Web browsing is close to
the desktop experience.
Nokia’s Social Networking app allows you
connect to your Twitter and Facebook
accounts and update both
simultaneously. You can upload images to
Twitter or Facebook, but nowhere else; not
even Flickr. Another serious issue with
Symbian "3 is that the social networking
integration with your phone book is poorly
managed. You have to manually sync contacts
to their Facebook accounts individually.
Nokia Email works well and it’s a breeze to
set up accounts. For the handset’s GPS
functionality, Ovi Maps are on board.
They’re quite intuitive, with an easy-
to-use UI and speedy satellite sync
ability. Nokia has added in access to
Burrp for places to eat, and TripAdvisor
and a Lonely Planet app for travelers.
Miscellaneous Features
The E7, being part of Nokia’s business
series, comes preloaded with functions for
the business user. QuickOffice is not a
read-only app, but is fully registered
and can be used to even create new documents.
Adobe’s PDF reader is also preloaded. F-
Secure virus protection is preloaded
with security features like remote
wipe, and locate and locking options. The E7’s
camera is a bit of a downer. Nokia didn’t seem
to think the 8 megapixel camera with dual
LED flash required autofocus. The
quality of images in most lighting
conditions proved to be quite good with
colors and details retained to quite an
extent. HD video recording (720p at 25 fps)
is also supported with image
stabilization. The 1200 mAh Li-ion
battery didn’t seem sufficient. With Web
browsing, messages and calls, social
networking and a little music thrown in,
we needed to charge the handset on a daily
basis. Talk time averaged in at about 4
hours 35 minutes.
The Bottom Line
With a price tag of Rs 29,990, the Nokia E7
does not live up to its Communicator
legacy. Nokia loyalists will find great
value with this device, but with the
current level of smartphone technology, the
E7 is a little behind, even as a business
oriented device. Nokia needs to seriously
rethink the Symbian "3 UI; that’s all
that’s keeping the E7 from its true
potential.