Nokia 7610 Review

Overall Rating

Everything! To name a few:
Very extensive features, the best you will get on a non-PDA phone
Brillent style and build quality
Very big and clear screen
Good security
Full internet
Keypad
Standard memory capacity
Availabilty of software
Camera

Occasion lag
Mono MP3
No camera flash
No games

I have previously owned a Sharp GX10 and finding a phone that is good enough to beat and replace it was hard. The Nokia 7610 is one of a few phones that could do it.

The phone uses the symbian 7.0 OS with a Nokia series 60 user interface. This phone is actually the successor to the very successful 6600. The phones standard features and software is unrivalled. It has most thing you will want, all of which are easy to use and capable. If there is anything else you want it you can download it as there are literally 1000's or programs for it. The security features are also very good protecting SIM, phone and personal details.

The looks of this phone are also fantastic, very good looking, practical and pleasant to hold. It also looks and feels very solid and strong, nothing moves or creeks. It also has a good size and weight, big enough of the features but small and light enough to be practical and comfortable.

The screen, in proportion to the rest of the phone and in comparison to other phones is huge. Bigger than the GX-10. It is very bright and clear. 65K colours, this could have been improved to 262k but never mind it doesn't really spoil it.

This phone also comes with the Opera web browser offering full Internet at fairly high speed (nearly as good as my computers dial-up). The screen formats are also very good, either full size like computers or scaled down into very sensible viewing size. It also reformats the page to suite the screen properly. The phone also has full WAP, vodafone live and email and fax. Of course MMS and SMS are included and well as Bluetooth and an included USB cable.

As for the keypad, many have criticised the Nokia's new keypad designs. Most have been justified and the "new" Nokia keypads have been ... interesting... and disastrous. However they have got this right! The 7610's pad is very easy and pleasant to use, the shape and design work with the curve of your hand and thumb and the feel of it is excellent. Don't knock it till you've tried it, the keypad is very nice!

The phone has 8MB or internal memory and a 64MB RS-MMC giving you 72MB of memory. This is more than enough for software, games, tones, and photos. And even enough for one MP3 album. It can of course be upgraded.

The camera is 1 mega pixel and the overall photo quality is very good unless you are in the dark where it could benefit from a flash. The video camera is also very good and very sharp for such a small camera. Picture quality does suffer slightly under zoom.

The only problems I have really come across so far is and menu is not always instant fast. This is only to a very small degree it in no way hinders the use of the phone but it is noticeable at times.

The MP3, although very clear is only monotone, not stereo. This has a major slip up and should not have happened. If you want MP3 as a main feature you may wish to look elsewhere.

The other small complaint is that no games are included. On a £400 phone I'm sure Nokia can afford a game or too. Bit of a money maker. There are many games available for it but you will have to download them.

Overall with is one of the best phones on the market and Nokia's flagship at time of writing.

It works well on the Vodafone tariff and I would recommend one of their contacts.