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Review of Nokia 7250 - Triband GSM w/camera
An anonymous reader writes "The new Nokia 7250 is out. Small, very cool looking phone that even has a built-in camera. 3 page review with 6 pages of photos, including a photo gallery of images taken by the 7250 itself - with some human help, of course."
It looks more like a remote control than a phone. I generally don't look at remote controls as cool.
with a built in phone. I wonder if this phone takes photos.
Still, I prefer pagers. They don't cause brain cancer.
tcd004
The Slashdot Effect has already rendered this website inaccessible. Below is page one of the review:
It is no secret that I was no big fan of the Nokia 7210. The feature set was good, the look was, well, interesting, and it had a lot of things going for it. It just had the world's worst keypad ever. The buttons had a strange shape, were not lined up properly, and the direction buttons were just so poorly designed that I was constantly hitting the wrong one.
So in spite of a lot of potentially good things about the phone, I couldn't stand to use it.
Fast forward a bit to the new 7250. It has a shape similar to the 7210. It, too, has very creatively designed keys and buttons. It comes in vivid colors and user changeable covers and has all of the features that the 7210 had. It even has something new, a built-in camera.
The results of these few seemingly minor changes is astounding. The 7250 is an awesome phone.
The 7250 has all of the features that you want in a phone, for the most part. It is triband GSM, it has a color display, polyphonic ringtones, Java, and a speakerphone function, too. Sure, it is missing Bluetooth, but I pretty much have given up on Nokia and Bluetooth ever really working well together. For as much as Nokia seems bent on getting others to use their UI standard (Series 60), they sure seem unable to play by somebody elses rules (those of the Bluetooth SIG).
But outside of Bluetooth, this device has it all.
Color rules
Everything about the 7250 revolves around color, it seems. The covers are all very rich looking, with subtle textures looking like brushed metal. The color display is large and very bright, and it shows off the photos taken by the internal camera very well. In fact, I would say that the 7250's display and camera work better together than any pair I have seen on a mobile handset to date. When you take a photo with the internal camera and view it, it looks like how you saw it. Clear, bright, colorful.
The display is not made of the most modern technology, though. It is a 4096 color passive matrix display, just like the earlier color Nokias. In my mind, 4096 colors is enough for a phone. I don't think you can really appreciate more colors on such a small display. The images are not large enough to be able to appreciate subtle tone changes that higher color depths offer. I do think that a switch to an active matrix display would be worth it, though. But not really for the brighter colors or such, but to avoid display ghosting.
For the same reason that passive matrix displays were so unpopular on early color laptops, they should not be used here. Passive matrix displays show a lot of image ghosting in situations with high contrast (the calendar numbers on a white background) or fast action (the Bounce game). The ghosting in the 7250 is not as bad as the 7210, in that the calendar looks fine, but Bounce still does not look great. Any kind of scrolling game, like Bounce, demands an active matrix display. Triple Bop, on the other hand, runs and looks just fine as is.
But outside of Bounce, I think the display and phone are well paired. As I mentioned before, the images from the new internal camera really shine on the phone's display - something that is pretty rare. The image quality from the internal camera is quite decent in general, but it lacks resolution. This is not a problem for use as a wallpaper on the phone, but it is an issue if you want to use the image on your PC. The maximum resolution for a photo is only 352x288, but for such small images they still look nice on a PC. I have included a number of samples in one of the following pages after the end of the review so you can see for yourself.
The camera has 3 quality settings, Basic, Normal, High. I recommend using High at all times since the images are still very small (12K max, give or take), and the 7250 has so much free memory (5MB out of the box). That's plenty of room. There are two photo sizes, too: Standard and Portrait. Portrait shoots small images suitable for MMS messages. Perhaps the coolest thing the camera has is the Self-Timer function. This causes the phone to wait a few seconds before snapping the photo after you press the button, giving you time, presumably, to get into the photo. The problem with that scenario is that the phone is not very stable when standing on end. But I imagine that this would be useful in some situation, and it surely didn't cost anything to add the feature. So thumbs up.
Considering the lack of a need for an attachment, the negligible impact on phone size, and the relative good quality of the images, I would have to say this is my favorite camera in a phone. I'd like more resolution, sure, but I prefer image quality to resolution, so this is a winner in my book.
I've established a complete mirror of the images referenced by Mobile Burn. Perhaps "The Mysterious Future" was intended to enable the creation of mirrors by subscribers.
Do you like German cars?
...be set to stun mode?
I'll form my OWN solar system! With blackjack! And hookers!
It doesn't look all that great to me when compared with the SE P800...
The server has already pretty-much melted down, but it's another Nokia phone - all of the cells that I've had in the last few years have been GSM Nokias - they perform pretty decently, are easy to navigate around, but there's nothing ever really revolutionary...
I think my next phone will be the P800 - once the price drops a bit...
N.
"Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence." - Charles de Gaulle
here's the rest of the article:
Great voice sound, only decent ring sound One of the things that really impressed me about the 7250 was the sound quality of the phone calls. Part of this is due to the internal speaker, of course, but I credit most of it to the really strong reception ability of the internal antenna. This handset holds a signal much better than the Sony Ericsson T68i or the Siemens S55, and this means that I get clear voice sound even the radio tower black hole where I am living outside of Philadelphia. Reception is very bad in my apartment, but the Nokia performed better than any phone I have used here - including a few with external an external antenna. The fore mentioned speakerphone function also provides good sound quality. It is decently loud, enough so to be used comfortably in a normal setting. I am not sure how it would function in a crowded board room or a moving automobile, though.
The other aspect of sound in the 7250 did not leave me as impressed. Like most modern phones today, the 7250 has polyphonic sound. Unlike some other Nokias, though, the 7250's polyphonics are for the most part appropriately loud. And that's great, as it is my most common complaint. What it lacks is musical ability. The ringtones just sound a bit mechanical, especially when compared to last week's test of the Samsung SGH-S300. The sounds just don't match up. They are good, far better than what we first saw from Nokia (the 3510), but they just pale in comparison to some of the Asian handsets I have used. But as I said, they are still good, just not the best.
Another sound related failing is the lack of voice dialing and voice commands. I really didn't think this was possible, but I have gone through the manual a few times - and I can not find anything regarding voice commands. This is a disappointment since I use that feature quite often. I'm sure many other people will be similarly disappointed. I guess we will have to resort to speed dials.
The last sound related aspect of the 7250 would be the FM Radio. When attached to the supplied stereo headset, the 7250 can be used as a FM radio. The headset cable is used as the antenna, which is why the radio will not function without it. Even with the headset attached, though, there is no way to use the speakerphone function to listen to the radio. That's a shame, but Nokia does sell a stereo speaker cradle for the 7250 that you can place on your desk. I think that is a bit of overkill, though. In any event, the sound from the radio is good - provided you have a good signal. The auto tuning works pretty well, but seems to ignore a lot of stations that it considers to be weak. As such, a small change in your position can result in certain stations being ignored while new ones will be found by the auto tuning. You always have the ability to manually tune, too. I'm not sure what kind of effect running the radio will have on battery performance. I don't have enough time to let it run down and compare. And in case you were concerned, the radio turns itself off whenever the phone makes a sound or goes into a call state. You won't miss a call because of the radio.
Sync it While the 7250 comes with no included software, it is compatible with Nokia's PC Suite v5.1. PC Suite is available for download on the Nokia site.
PC Suite v5.1 has a lot of capabilities, including the ability to Synchronize the 7250's contacts with Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express, Lotus Notes, and Lotus Organizer. Synchronization was fast and simple after I accounted for the different names of the default folders in my German copy of Outlook 2002.
There is a phone browser app in the suite that will allow you to download the assorted images and sounds from the phone to your PC. The phone browser can be accessed in the main PC Suite application like the rest of the PC Suite features, but best of all, it is integrated directly into the Windows Explorer. Whenever your phone has its IR port on and is lined up with a similar port on your PC, you can just cruise through the 7250's internal file system as if it was a random hard disk on your computer. Works well.
The Phone Editor application lets you edit a small subset of the 7250's settings from your PC. The Phone Editor also lets you get at SMS messages that are stored on the phone and configure WAP settings and a few other things. Not as robust as some systems I have seen, but adequate.
There are also a few multimedia related apps in the PC Suite. These include the Sound Converter and Image Converter. You use these apps to format your images and sounds from your PC into a format that the 7250 can use. The Content Copier application then lets you backup your phone to your PC, or to restore everything to your phone.
All in all, the PC Suite worked well.
Main Features The 7250 supports all of the main features you would expect. The message system is standard Nokia fare, and works well - even if it does not offer as large a selection of message types as others. The SMS system is everything you would expect from Nokia. Easy to use, fast text input (with T9, of course), and SMS profiles. The MMS editor was a bit on the weak side since it does not allow for the entering of sounds into a message, only text and images. It also does not seem possible to enter pauses and such. What is lacking is real email support. There is no POP/IMAP/SMTP support in the 7250, only a feeble SMS-Email gateway feature that won't be widely used. I wish it had real email support, as it would be nice to be able to send the photos direct to somebody's desk.
The 7250's phone book is pretty good. It allows multiple numbers per contact, email addresses, street addresses, and note, too. You can tell it which number for each contact is the default number, but you can not set this globally for all contacts. You can define caller groups that the profile system can take advantage of, too. A few things lacking in the system would be T9 input in some fields (like notes) and the lack of picture caller ID. Considering the 7250 has a built-in camera, this seems like a glaring omission to me. The phonebook app also allows you to copy entries to/from the SIM card, and can make use of either the internal list, the SIM list, or both phone number lists when searching for a number.
The profile system in the 7250 is pretty nice. It allows you to configure the 5 pre-defined profiles decently. You can rename them, change ringtones, enable/disable the vibration alert, etc. That's all par for the course, though. The more important feature for many people will be the ability to use timed profiles. Basically, you can turn a profile, such as meeting, and have the 7250 automatically rever back to the general profile at some pre-determined time when the meeting will be over. No more missing calls due to a muted phone. The profiles can also be configured to allow/disallow certain predefined caller groups, too. These same caller groups can have ringtones that override the default profile ringtone. In short, the 7250's profile system is really ready for business.
The 7250's call register is top-notch. Not only can you track missed/received/dialed phone numbers, but you can also track GPRS usage. The GPRS counters separately track both data in and out, plus connection time. This will allow you to track your costs on most any of the current mobile networks. Easy to use, easy to reset. Nothing glamourous, but it does its job.
The settings section of the phone will be nothing new to anybody that has used a Nokia phone in the past couple of years. Sure, there are some new things like the Memory Status feature, and a screen-saver timeout that can be set to virtually any length, but for the most part it is all something we have seen before. Except for one noteable exception. The first option deals with the settings of the right softkey. By default the right softkey looks up names, just as it has in virtually every other Nokia phone made in the past 5 years. But now it can do more. Working much like Sony Ericsson's Shortcuts or the Siemens My Favorites list, you can now pick and choose the features that will be selected when you press the right softkey from the standby display. This will give you much faster access to commonly used features. For some reason, perhaps historical, you can not remove Names from that list, so it is not possible to make that right softkey act as a one-touch access to a feature other than Names. But you will want to put a list of features in there anyway, so that is not a problem.
Standard fare for a high-end phone these days is an assortment of PIM features. The 7250 covers this, too. The calendar app is useable, even if it is missing a weekly view. The To-Do list is simple, supporting just a short description and a priority, but makes up for that by allowing list entries to be saved to specific dates on the calendar. There is also an alarm clock thrown in to round things out. The Extras section of the 7250 offers up a few more related features, like a calculator, countdown timer, stopwatch, and wallet function.
There are a few applications included in the 7250 right out of the box. Two games, Bounce and Triple Pop, and one utility - Converter II. Other Java based games and apps can be easily downloaded using the 7250's WAP browser. GPRS setup for WAP browsing was pretty painless, and the system worked well. I downloaded a few sample images and ringtones from the Club Nokia website without a hitch.
Good to go That is pretty much everything. The 7250 has a lot of features, most of which that work really well. The new keypad layout is as usable as it is trendy looking, unlike that of the 7210. It has a great display, good audio capabilities, and a very usable internal camera. I only long for Bluetooth - proper Bluetooth that supported all manufacturers headsets and PC cards.
But in the end, I have to highly recommend this phone. I like the 6100 a lot, I like the 7250 a lot more. Ignoring Bluetooth, this is my favorite candybar shaped phone on the market. You will love it.
A ton of high-res photos are available on the following pages, including a small gallery of photos taken with the 7250's camera.
why is it that when a man talks dirty to a woman, it's sexual harassment, but when a woman talks dirty to a man, its $3.
The colour balance of the camera of 7250 is not good, too much red tinge in the pics. Overall I don0t like quality of photos taken by the internal camera. I like photography and atleast for me, small size of the lens is not an excuse for bad picture quality. Infact a I happened to use a prototype phone made by samsung as a friend of mine was working on that product, and the image quality was really good, 1024x768. In fact the picture quality of even Sony Ericsson P800 is much better than 7250. But I do like the fact that the reception of 7250 is better than T68i because that sucks sometimes.
What's under yellowstone?
I just don't see myself buying a new phone that doesn't have Bluetooth included.
I have a Nokia phone that has served me well, but I am looking to trade up to a new phone this year. Without Bluetooth, this phone won't be on my list of possiblities.
Shame, last time I checked Nokia still insisted on producing their phone synchronisation software for windows.
Anyone know of an open alternative? I guess it would need a depth of knowledge about the phone hardware which would be hard without Nokia support...
A Nokia color phone should get so much mention at slashdot. Samsung S105 with color screen (65k colors) has been around for sometime, with polyphonic ringtones, java et. al. And Sonyericcson t68i has bluetooth on top of color screen. Motorola T720i has all these + a color cam. Put simply - nokia isnt the first with color screen. Nokia isnt the first with java or cam. There are phones with all these features + bluetooth out there (for a long time now). Why mention Nokia on slashdot ?
Standard disclaimer - I am not trolling nor do I work for any cell phone company.
Hmmm...
The way the camera is situated on the back of the phone makes it very easy to surreptitiously take photos. You would merely appear to be dialing a number on your phone.
I'll bet this phone will become the next journalist's, spy's, and uber-geek's must-have toy. I can also envision many socially compromising situations when these covertly taken photos are eventually discovered, especially since the amalgamation of technologies encourages for these photos to be spread on the net.
"What??? I didn't know you were taking my picture! I thought you were just calling someone! Did I give you permission to take my picture and publish it? Get out of my bed, NOW!!"
For me, there is only one feature on a phone that really counts: the keys.
The best keypad I've used was on the Nokia 8310/8210 handsets: tough, precise, no wobble, consistent springiness, rectangular keytops.
The Sony Ericsson T65i has a really unpleasant set of wobbly keys, with inconsistently stiff springs. Similarly the latest Nokia handsets all have horrid keys.
Scroogle
Remember just two days ago when we were discussing the negative social effects of cellphones? Yet when something with all these flashy features comes out, everyone is *drool* *drool* *drool* :-)
This is undoubtedly a cool phone, and adds a bit of flair to Nokia's now-tired cellphone design (we've had to put with it for about 6 years here in Europe) but relating this to our previous discussion, are these features actually any use to business users?
I'm undecided. Stereo sound is pretty useless, color screens are pretty useless, FM radio is useless, and multiple color schemes? Please. Business users don't need that crap.
It seems like this phone has been decided to be the 'latest trendy thing' rather than something a nerd could have any real use for.
Having a tiny digital camera on hand is a great idea, to take pictures of number plates, crooks, and what not.. but it's not good enough res to be used professionally.
Tri-band is useful for the international traveller.. but where's the 3G? 3G is going live in the UK as we speak, and it's a waste of money buying a phone that can't deal with it.
Yup, this is just a phone for the socialites.
(P.S. Did you realise there's a $10,000 Nokia cellphone made in gold with encrusted diamonds.. not bullshitting, seen a number of stories about celebrities buying them. Anyone know what they're called?)
mogorific carpentry experiments
But outside of Bluetooth, this device has it all.
;) I am actually gonna be putting a wireless carphone rig in my car (at the same time as getting the Becker TrafficPro, new amps and new speakers), so any phone I get to replace my slow-interface T68m MUST have Bluetooth.
When will Nokia get on the ball? Bluetooth is too fun for stuff like phonelist/addressbook syncing, remote-controlling your Mac (cheap slideshow clcker, iTunes controller), doing GPRS dialup, wireless headset, wireless carphone, etc.
Now that I'm one of a handful of techies who just landed a job in NYC (thank you, thank you
And yes, I would LOVE LOVE LOVE a PDA with a thin HDD that had bluetooth, gps, gsm, a mic and camera, et al. Even if you could only use the phone functionality with a bluetooth headset. Maybe it could come with a stereo wireless headset with noise cancellation, bluetooth enabled so you could listen to music and it would pause when you place/receive a call...
There's more info:7 250-en. shtml
. mantere.sjr.fi/7250/
http://www.mobile-review.com/review/nokia-
Pics taken with it:
http://tude.tripod.com/temp.html
http://www
I just don't understand it. You know what I want? I want a phone that stores numbers, and when I call people it sounds crystal clear and I never get a "signal faded" notice and get cut off. That's it. No more, no less. Make the damn thing work like a phone and make it work well.
Nowadays it's all about how big the screen is and games and camera abilities and bluetooth and all sorts of irrelevant crap. Make the damn phone work so it sounds good when I'm talking to people!!
Besides, I can get a digital camera that will produce nice 6X8 pictures for about $150, so why pay $400 for a phone that has all sorts of bells and whistles, will take small crappy pictures, and sound like crap when I'm talking to someone? I just don't get it.
~ now you know
Homer: I gotta call the plant and warn them!
... now. ;)
BeeBleep! BurpBleep Bleep!
Operator: The fingers you have used to dial are too fat. To obtain a special dialing wand, please mash the keypad with your palm