Nokia C7

Introduction
At first glance the Nokia C7 looks awfully similar to the Nokia N8. It is slimmer and looks much simpler compared to the N8. Well, in our opinion the C7 is merely a N8 makeover. It provides a familiar Symbian^3 OS experience without the hefty price tag of the N8. The specs of the C7 are impressive but it is slightly inferior to those on the N8.

Design
The C7 has nice rounded corners which makes it very pleasant to hold. The front part of the C7 is mostly taken up by the 3.5” AMOLED display. The colours are rich and vibrant which makes it impressive, though not as impressive as Samsung’s Super AMOLED screens. There is an auto brightness adjusting function which enables the display’s brightness to adapt to your surroundings. On full brightness, the sunlight legibility is impressive as well. It is viewable in almost every situation with viewing angles.

Below the display are 3 basic keys; Menu, Call and Call End. The Call and Call End keys are easy to press compared to the slightly raised Menu key which is a bit stiff. There is no physical Menu Back key and we found the software one extremely uncomfortable, being in a different place makes the transition awkward and frustrating.

The Power key is located on top of the C7 alongside a 3.5mm audio jack and a microUSB port which is covered with a plastic flap. The microUSB port can also be used for charging which is a plus.

On the left we find the 2mm charger port, and on the right we find the volume keys, voice command key, a lock slide and a shutter key. The voice command key is practically useless as the Call key can be pressed and held to activate voice commands. It would be more convenient if it was made into a convenient shortcut for other functions.

The camera is located on the back of the C7, alongside the loudspeaker and dual-LED flash batched together on a horizontal silver strip. Although the camera does not protrude as much as the N8’s, it is still prone to scratches as there is no lens cover.

The overall design feels practical. Its well curved edges encourage a comfortable and relaxing hand holding experience. The lack of moving parts makes it feel distinctly durable and dense. Without any protrusions, it is comfortable to hold to the ear while making calls.

Features
The Symbian^3 OS experience is no different compared to the N8 since nothing was changed to differentiate the OS of the C7 from the N8. That being said, it is a familiar experience and it doesn’t take long to figure out how to get things done as everything is kept simple and similar. Another perk is that everything runs quickly without lag.

Text entry on the C7 is done on the standard Symbian^3 keyboard and is identical to that of the Nokia N8, with a portrait numeric pad and a landscape QWERTY.

The C7 is equipped with an 8MP sensor. Although it is perfectly adequate for landscape and distant shots, the lack of auto focus renders it completely useless for close shots. Without a Xenon flash, the dual-LED flash does not seem to be enough to make night time shots look like they should.

The loudspeaker performs fairly well with a slightly sharp sound. It does a good job of being loud and audible. Output from the 3.5mm audio jack is great. Connecting a good set of headphones makes all the difference, turning it into a very capable MP3 player. Video playback is also immense. The Nokia C7 is capable of playing everything up to a resolution of 720p (DivX/Xvid, H.264, MP4), and managed to play them smoothly.

  
Voice calls are clear. The audibility is good even in busy environments. The estimated talk time on full battery is 9.6 hours while the standby time is 18 days, which is pretty good. The C7 is capable of defaulting to power saving mode when the battery level is low, offering an extended battery life in case of emergencies. This option can be deactivated as the user sees fit.

Pros and Cons
The major advantage of the N8 is the camera. A fixed focus camera isn’t that bad in the end if it is able to provide the option of HD video recording. Plus it is slim and comfortable to hold. And more importantly, the price is fairly cheap.

The main disadvantage that we were disappointed at was the limited integration of Facebook and Twitter. Contacts can be sync-ed with your account but the process is not automated, making the whole process very frustrating.

Conclusion
The C7 is a decent phone. It is simple to make calls on. The build quality is also great. The functionality of Symbian^3 may not be everyone’s cup of tea since there are other platforms which offer a different premium OS experience.