Nokia 7710 > Reviews (3)

I've had this phone for 6 months now, I got it *free* on a 30GBP per month O2 contract. The phone retails at 500GBP sim free, would I pay this? I don't think I would.

The phone is undoubtedly one of the most advanced and featured packed on the market. A list of features that would have put a windows PC to shame just a few years ago make for exciting reading to anyone thinking of buying one. Heres a brief resume of its features:

Touch screen 16bit LCD colour display resolution 640x320 Pixels

90mb internal meory, 128mb MMC memory card supplied

Weight 6.67 ounces

Dimensions are 5.4 x 2.74 x 0.75 inches

Bluetooth

Polyphonic, real tone and MP3 ring tones

Fully featured web browser supporting full HTML - GPRS and WAP compatible

Email software supports POP3, SMTP, IMAP4, APOP - suports email attachments

FM/AM Radio

MP3 and Real Player with speaker or headphone function

MS Office compatible software: Word, Sheet and Powerpoint

Java games

MMS, Video and SMS text messaging

To do list, calculator, calendar, voice recorder and image editor

1.3 megapixel digital camera

GPS Satellite Navigation compatible

As you can see, the 7710 is more like a PDA than a phone!
The real boon of the unit is the huge screen, its well lit, vibrant and clear (so no eye strain!). However it could make trying to compose a private text message on the bus with people behind you a tad difficult!

The unit is up to Nokias usual standards in terms of build quality, everything fits well, no loose parts or thin plastic, although I found the back is very difficult to remove should you need to access the battery or sim card!

The box comes with various accessories including a carry case with a screen wipe, spare stylus, PC software and a PC link cable (USB). The user manual is very thick - and its all in English...so quite a bit of bed time reading there!

You might find the lack of a keyboard disconcerting at first but you soon get used to using the on screen keyboard..however you might find you cant type as fast on the on screen keypad! There are bluetooth keyboards available if you really want to use a keyboard instead of the touchscreen! The text messaging also supports handwriting recognition!

Now for the not so good bits. The phone sometimes runs really slow, as the CPU cannot handle the amount of data the phone sometimes requires. Sometimes the phone locks up completely - then you need to remove the battery to reset it! That can be quite annoying.

Secondly the battery life sucks on the phone if you use any of its more advnaced features. Playing games, surfing the web or using the camera gobble the battery life. After 6 months my battery has degraded to the point were I am charging it every other day.

Finally if you like playing java games...be aware that lots of them arent compatible with the 7710s screen format! Its very hit and miss unfortunately so dont buy games unless they specifically say they are compatible.

In summary...the Nokia 7710 is surely the shape of things to come, but like most 1st generation technology - fails to inspire and leaves you wishing you had bought something else.