Nokia 7280 review: A toy for the rich

The upper and down surfaces are placed a little inward. On the upper one there are two small white frames, the outer one of which can illuminate with a red light. Provided you activate the light effects function, that frame starts to blink to inform you about anything new or missed. This function can be either activated or deactivated, so you won't be able to chose certain ways of blinking for various events. As it is already a standard, a sign for the network access is also on, so the frame slowly lights up every twenty seconds or so. I felt like the mobile phone in front of me was breathing.

The small outer white frame can illuminate with a red light

The downside is decorated by a narrow projection creating one of the white lines. In it there is a slot for the strand connection. The most probable to be mounted here is the black-red leather wrist strand, which is a part of the original packing and suits the phone very much. Further on the small area there is another slot for the microphone as well as connectors for inserting the charger and the hands-free device. Do not even try looking for a data cable connection. It will be in vain.

Connectors and a bond for the strand • the elegant wrist band comes along with the telephone

You will not be successful looking for a battery cover on the back side of the telephone either. In other words - there is no way to get to it. It is hidden inside the phone and to change it you will have to visit a Nokia technician. The phone has a lithium-ion accumulator of 700 mAh capacity and is able to stay "alive" up to 240 hours or 300 minutes in case of permanent calling. I had to charge the phone every three days on the average.

A stylish telephone deserves a stylish charger with an unfolding cable

Sesame, open up!

You will be struck with surprise if you pull the phone when holding both its ends. The part where the ear-phone is placed comes out by a centimetre. On the front side it moves to the edge of the display, on the back - somewhere in the middle of the phone. The gap that appears as a result is colored in red which gives the telephone's look an additional stylish touch. If you turn the phone around you will find the camera lens hiding behind the cover and hence very well protected when the phone is closed.

Surprise changes into amazement - it is possible to make it even longer!

When the phone is ringing, you can accept the call by pushing the phone's cover out and end it by pushing it in. Here the leather-covered area on the right side comes to show its purpose. That is exactly where the thumb of your right hand would fit and quickly open the telephone without any risk of sliding on the glossy plastic surface. Those of you who are left-handed will however suffer from it again.

The leather-covered area helps opening the phone • open a red color comes out

The part that has been moved aside nicely fits into the edges. Unfortunately the manufacturer's work once again deserves to be criticized. The moving part's will to move is not so strong so the phone squeaks here even more. An interesting detail to mention is the light effect coming out through the penetrated cover of the ear-phone. I do not know if this was meant to be the purpose of it, but the line of red dots gives a strong impression.

Display and functional keys

The display is relatively good quality. It is active and would show up to 65K colors. It offers a resolution of 208 ×104 pixels. Unfortunately it is a little bit small, covering an area of only 15 ×30 mm. The picture is very fine quality though. It is not possible to set up the intensity of the background illumination, which is a pity for its reducing would be welcome at night as well as would be its increasing in daylight. Both would be useful for illuminating the mirror that covers the display. For the mirror is guilty for the display being almost unreadable in a sunny day light. I would solve this problem by turning the telephones towards me so that my dark clothes can reflect in the display cover.

The display is good quality, but very small and its reflexive surface causes it to be merely unreadable in sunlight

Right from the display the only five operating buttons of the phone are placed. The main one is the scroll operating button. In the middle of it there is a silver confirming key placed in an India-rubber target with a silver frame. Handling this button is very easy. When scrolling your thumb does not slide sideways thanks to the India-rubber and its movements are very sure. The pressing depth of the confirming middle key is not big, but is accompanied by a quiet click, which makes it absolutely non-problematic. The few buttons closer to the display are basically classic context keys, the buttons on the opposite side represent the pair of keys that serve for accepting and terminating phone calls. The red button handles both the switching off and on of the phone when pressed for a little longer. Unfortunately it is not equipped to change profiles.

The scroll button is very comfortable • all items are illuminated enough

The context keys are illuminated in blue, the red and green keys brighten in their own colors and around the scroll button there is a narrow ring of white light.