Latest Nokia Mobile

The Nokia 7380 Fashion Phone

The 7380 is your typical, every-day oddball Series 40 900/1800/1900 triband phone. It doesn't even look like
a phone - more like those old 110-cartridge cameras they had in the 80's.

Beneath the shiny exterior houses a 2 megapixel camera (with flash), loudspeaker, fm radio, bluetooth, mp3 player, and...uh....that's all. Note that there's onboard music player software but only 52 megs of internal memory. No expansion slots here.

"Seeing the Nokia 7380 phone for the first time might make you wonder where the familiar keys are. How do you dial a number and how do you navigate through the various menus." - Nokia web site

Damn right! The buttons are definitely gonna take some gettin' used to. You see the outer ring of that stylin' circle design on the bottom of the phone? Those are your Left/Right selection, Send, and End Call keys.

The Nokia 7380 phone has a "revolutionary" screen design - when in standby mode, the screen transforms into a mirror finish display. So you can't really see the screen until you bring it out of standby mode. Ok, I admit it - I actually find this feature kinda cool.

Of course, it wouldn't be an oddball Nokia phone without their trademark oddball keypad. And in this case, the 7380 has no keypad. Yep, none to speak of. To type in numbers or characters, you'll need to use the "Navi spinner" aka Click Wheel technology and rotate the spinner to select stuff. If you're thinking what I'm thinking, then I think we can agree: this is extremely annoying.

But then again, who cares? Lookin' slick with your Nokia 7380 Fashion phone should be your first priority.

The Nokia 7380 phone retails for 359 pounds - $640 US dollars.

The Nokia N71 Phone

The N71 is basicaly a smaller, lighter N90 with an additional camera for video conferencing, a crappier screen, and support for miniSD over MMC.

Form Factor: Flip
Bands: Triband 900/1800/1900/WCDMA 2100
Weight: 139g / 5 ounces / .30 pounds
Thickness: 25.8 mm thickness
SAR value: .36 W/kg ear, .19 W/kg body (more info on SAR values and cell phone radiation here)
Battery: 970 mah
Talk time: up to 4 hours
Camera: 2 megapixel w/ flash, interior VGA camera for videoconferencing
Interface: Symbian OS 9.1
Other Features: Bluetooth, loudspeaker, expandable miniSD, visual radio, mp3/video, push to talk

It's got your standard Symbian OS interface, and standard Symbian features - video, mp3, games, applications, etc. The displays aren't exactly something to write home about: the main screen is a 262k color screen at a resolution of 320x420 pixels. Actually, the internal screen is quite large, both pixel-wise and overall size-wise: it's 2.4 inches. Compare that to the Nokia N90 which has a 2.1 inch, 352x416 pixel display.

The "cool" feature on the Nokia N71 is the addition of a second VGA camera to complement the external 2 megapixel camera on the outside. Useful for videoconferencing or taking lousy quality pictures of yourself.

Other than that, there's no WLAN/wi-fi on this phone - it's one of the more "budget" phones on the Nseries line.

Retail price of the Nokia N71 phone: 400 euros / $492 USD

The Nokia N70 Phone

Bands: Triband 900/1800/1900, WCDMA/3G
Weight: 126 grams / 4.44 ounces
Thickness: 24 mm
SAR value: .95 W/kg ear (more info on SAR values and cell phone radiation here)
Battery: BL-5C 970 mah
Talk time: up to 3.5 hours
Camera: 2 megapixel w/ flash
Interface: Symbian
Other Features: Bluetooth, dual cameras (2mp + .3mp), IR, loudspeaker, video calling, expandable RS-MMC, mp3/video, push to talk

The Nokia N70 phone was one of the first Nseries phones released by Nokia. It's a triband 900/1800/1900 mhz/WCDMA 3G phone with a candy bar form factor. The main display is a 176x208 pixel screen supporting up to 262,144 colors.

Like the Nokia N71 phone, the N70 has dual cameras: a main 2 megapixel camera located on the back of the phone (with a flash) and also a VGA, 0.3 megapixel camera on the front. The outer/main camera is accessed via a sliding mechanism which also serves as a lens cap. Very nice. The VGA camera is used for taking horrible quality pictures of yourself or for video calling. I think we'll choose the latter.

The N70 has support for expandable memory in the form of Reduced Size MultiMediaCards (RS-MMC). This is in contrast to the newer Nseries phones that require miniSD or microSD. RS-MMC really seems to be a dying breed of technology.

Like all smartphones equipped with the Symbian OS, the N70 can run numerous applications and games designed for this operating system. This includes SmartMovie (divx video player), and a whole lot of other programs. Note that due to the normal screen size on the N70 it is not as limited as the N90 in terms of application compatibility. You also don't get that bloatetd from Java applications. On the flip side, videos are just not as nice looking.

If you're looking for a cheap Nseries phone, look no further - they don't get any cheaper than the Nokia N70. The good news is Nokia has given the N70 a feature set comparable to the way-more-expensive N71 flip phone, and it's probably one of the better candy bar smartphones out there.

I could go on and on about the N70's lesser features (visual radio, active standby) but these are nothing new and/or exciting.

The Nokia 6270 Phone

Bands: Triband 850/900/1800/1900
Weight: 125 grams / 4.4 ounces
Thickness: 23 mm
Nokia 6270 SAR value: .74 W/kg ear (more info on SAR values and cell phone radiation here)
Battery: BL-5C 970 mah
Talk time: up to 5 hours
Camera: 2 megapixel w/ flash
Interface: Series 40 Third Edition

While the Nokia 6270 phone doesn't hold a candle to the likes of the Nokia N80 (the REAL slider phone), it still manages to pack some very decent features at a very decent price. Designed as a mid tier phone, the 6270 (unfortunately) uses the Series 40 Third Edition user interface. Guess if you're Nokia you can't make another Symbian slider phone without interfering with the N80. (by the way, read the Nokia N80 phone preview here)

It does have active standby, which, for those of you who don't know, is a very handy feature. Active standby places upcoming calendar/notes/to-do items and shortcuts on your Nokia phone's idle screen. You can add up to 4 or 5 shortcuts, and map your left and right selection keys to 2 more shortcuts.

Most slider phones have one annoying "feature" in common - a tiny keypad. After all, when the keypad is sliding out from under the phone you don't have a whole lot of space to use. Thankfully, the keypad on the Nokia 6270 phone is generous by any comparison. It's actually quite large.

Did I also mention that there's expandable memory? MiniSD, to be exact. It's amazing how this phone is turning more and more into an N40 - half an N80 phone. The whole package actually comes with a 128 mb stick of miniSD which is fairly generous (compared to other Nokia phones, but not other manufacturers' phones). My N71 just came with a 128 mb stick and come on - the difference in price is pretty large.

Other notable features are Bluetooth, nice sized 320x240 screen, FM radio, push to talk, infrared, and Java.

Which brings us to the retail price of the Nokia 6270 - it's $550 USD. Should be a lot cheaper on ebay.

The first thing you'll notice when picking up the N71 is that it has a sort of plasticky feel to it. Mine makes some "creaking noises" when shifting around, opening up the flip, etc. It feels cheaper than a razr, but we know that any Nseries phone will blow the razr out of the water any day.

I'm very satisfied with how the phone looks - Nokia has done a great job with their new line of flip phones (considering all they made were candy bar form factor phones in the past) and the N71 is no exception. The inside has a "brushed aluminum" look but to be honest most of it is plastic.

The Nokia N71 phone is definitely a little thicker than your average flip/clamshell type cell phone. It's not really that heavy (all that plastic does have a benefit), but it's at least two razrs stacked together.

There's a single dedicated button on the front of the phone for silencing calls - the thing is, you can't answer calls while the phone is closed. Being able to answer calls without opening the flip can be a lifesaver while driving and you don't have a Bluetooth headset (like me). Volume control has changed to the old style where you can't change the volume unless you're in the middle of a call (no dedicated volume keys). I'm not sure if this is a plus or not.

What I am not liking with the N71, and incidentally all Symbian 9.1 devices is software compatibility. Many of the Nokia's Nseries and Eseries lines of phones are using Symbian 9.1 (N80, N91, E60, E70, etc) and sadly, there's no backwards compatibility with previous versions of Symbian. Software developers will need to make Symbian 9.1 version specific applications and games from here on out for the 9.1 devices. As of now, there's a pathetic amount of 9.1 software available, and something like 75% of these are different Sudoku games. Ridiculous.

Nokia's strategy of using dual cameras on the Nokia N71 (and the other Nseries phones) is kind of a hit and miss. It's cool to have two cameras until you realize you can only take a self-portrait with the internal camera - in order words the 0.3 megapixel one. Having a camera positioned directly on the front definitely has its drawbacks. And I don't video-conference anyway.

The N71 has the best external speakers I have ever heard. Ever. The mp3 sound quality is amazing. I almost can't believe how clear these speakers are. I thought the N90 had impressive speakers, but the N71 definitely rips it apart in that respect.

Rounding out some of the odder aspects of the Nokia N71 is the placement of the power button (on the bottom of the top flip). It's a little unconventional, but it does look very cool.

Ok, I think that's it until my real review comes along.

The Nokia 6280 Phone

Bands: Triband 900/1800/1900, WCDMA/3G
Weight: 115 grams / 4.07 ounces
Thickness: 21 mm
Nokia 6280 SAR value: .80 W/kg ear (more info on SAR values and cell phone radiation here)
Battery: BP-6M 970 mah
Talk time: up to 4 hours
Camera: 2 megapixel w/ flash, 0.3 megapixel
Interface: Series 40 3rd Edition
Other Features: Video calling, miniSD expandable, active standby, FM radio, Bluetooth, Loudspeaker

With a large 240x320 display supporting 262,144 colors, the Nokia 6280 phone is aiming to break the budget barrier set by its "predecessor", the Nokia 6270 phone. Well ok, not really. The 6280 has some better features but lacks the quadband access of the 6270. And it's a good bet we won't be seeing the Nokia 6280 in the 'States ever.

However, Nokia has produced a sliding phone with a pretty nice feature set here, starting with the dual cameras.

Dual cameras as in good camera, bad camera. A 2 megapixel camera with integrated flash rests under the top slide while the crappy 0.3 megapixel VGA camera on the front face can be used for video conferencing. Which brings me to an important topic: does anyone actually video-conference on their cell phones? I can't really see it being a highly in-demand feature. I mean, people aren't going to be protesting in the streets for video conferencing capabilities. It makes me wonder why we keep getting all these great new kickin' features on new high-end phones and yet the battery life still manages to suck it all up big time.

On the Nokia Europe features site for the Nokia 6280 phone, we see this cryptic comment:
"Note: The front VGA camera can only be used for video calls."

Wow. So it looks like you won't be taking pictures of yourself and your ridiculous friends in self-portrait mode after all.

Typical bells and whistles abound for the Nokia 6280. Series 40 3rd Edition which gives you active standby, expandable memory with miniSD which is just a nice touch period, and Bluetooth among others. MP3s, video, blah blah blah.

The Nokia 6280 phone retails for 375 euros ($479 US dollars).

The Nokia 2610 Phone

Bands: Triband 900/1800 and 850/1900 configurations
Weight: 91 grams / 3.2 ounces
Thickness: 18 mm
SAR value: not available yet (more info on SAR values and cell phone radiation here)
Battery: BL-5B 970 mah
Talk time: up to 3 hours
Camera: uhh...no.
Interface: unknown.
Other Features: Loudspeaker, voice recorder, mp3 ringtones, expense manager, power organizer, coin flipping game

Taking a short look at the features, we see a lot of unknowns right now. That's okay, hopefully the blanks will be filled in by the time Nokia officially releases this phone.

The Nokia 2610 is your pretty standard, basic, normal, baseline "business phone." I use the term business phone extremely extremely loosely, because it barely fits into that class - it's just that some of the applications are definitely more business oriented ("expense manager," "power organizer?").

To me, the 2610 looks like a sleeker version of the Nokia 6030 phone. But of course it's not all about looks, it's what's under the hood that counts. And under the hood appears to be a Series 40 interface (sort of?). Unfortunately, Nokia's website isn't exactly too helpful here. All it says is "Menu screen with grid layout."

So among the typical Nokia budget phones the Nokia 2610 fits right in. I wouldn't exactly call it a cool phone to look forward to, but maybe it'll function as a good backup phone. What a boring preview, eh?

Now I haven't exactly been the greatest supporter of the Nokia Fashion Series. I think most of them are ridiculously ugly and highly dysfunctional. Generally they lack many of the higher-end features (decent camera, Symbian, etc) even though they sell at a premium to phones with similar options. Of course, like Nokia's Vertu line of extremely overpriced phones, the look is everything - and they're banking on that fact to sell these phones.

Enter the Nokia 7390 phone, Nokia's first real 3G fashion handset. I have to give props to Nokia's design team on this one - I think it's a great looking phone. It isn't over-elegant or overly-stylish. But looks aren't everything of course.

The 7390 is a flip phone and comes equipped with a 3 megapixel camera (autofocus and integrated flash included), one-touch music player, and video calling capability. I'm not 100% sure of the camera - as you can see in the picture below, there's a camera for video calling but it'd be rather odd to put a 3 megapixel on the inside flip - what're you gonna do, take pictures of yourself all day? And sadly Nokia's information on this is sorely lacking.

There will be two versions of the 7390: a black "masculine" version and a girlie girl pink edition.

Unfortunately, there's a pretty steep price to pay to make a fashion statement: the Nokia 7390 phone is expected to cost 450 Euros (that's $576 USD, by the way). It doesn't seem like there will be Symbian, Bluetooth, or any other advanced features, so again you're paying top dollar for the looks. Is it worth it? Stay tuned for more information on the Nokia 7390...(means no)

The Nokia 7390 should start shipping this fall.