Nokia E7 review: Open for business
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- AnonD-123
- 4A$
- 03 Mar 2011
I find the web browser to be the most disappointing aspect of the E7 and Symbian^3 devices as a whole. As someone who browses the internet a lot on my phone, I want a good web browser. The Symbian browser just did not measure up to the Android browser. Not even Opera measured up.
There are many things I do like about the E7. The build quality of the keyboard slider mechanism is very impressive. The Clear Black Display is really nice even though the resolution may be low compared to other high end phones. I expect the sound quality to be very good as well.
Although I've used Android for the past few months and like it much more than Symbian, I feel I could have worked with Symbian as I owned an N97 before. Ultimately it was the poor browser and delay in release that made me decide against the E7. I had lived with Opera Mini for a while on my N97. I felt that I needed a better browser and there was nothing I saw from Symbian that appealed to me.
- D
- DevilG
- jhE
- 03 Mar 2011
Lets address disadvantages as the majority of other phones' users and why they shouldn't buy this phone.
1. "If your used to symbian as I am then it isnt a downside, I also own android, iOS and bada devices and I prefer symbian for whatever reason."
-Not many is used to symbian as you are and why should they?
2. "For me this is also an advantage cos I got sick of wading through piles of utter useless apps in Android market and App store."
-There are an informative database called "internet", in case you're living in a cave or something, where people review apps from App store and Android market all the time. It wouldn't take much time to find what app you need. I'm prefer having more choices than have nothing to choose.
3. "Acceptable compromise, I know nowt about cameras and edof will give me better results than I can get with an 8mp AF that I currently have."
-I don't give a sh!t about camera. Cell phone camera always sucks.
4."As above dont understand most things anyway so it doesnt matter lol"
-See answer#3
5. "Not a concern, will easily last a day, and I have a proporta 5000 and carrying the retractable lead isnt hard."
-What if it fails on you? Have fun sending than back to Nokia to have them charge your @ss for the service.
6. "Not a concern I will never fill the 16gb internal storage to need worry about an sd card"
16GB can be filled with a few HD movies. Also many people like convenience of swapping their SD card to transfer file rather than using a USB cord.
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- AnonD-123
- 4A$
- 03 Mar 2011
Anonymous, 02 Mar 2011it's funny. because when compared to an IOS there are many ... moreiOS does lack widgets. I give Symbian that for actually having widgets. They need to be the same size, unlike Android.
- ?
- Anonymous
- T7p
- 03 Mar 2011
The CPU spec should probably be in the disadvantage section
- H
- Hg
- U$M
- 03 Mar 2011
I just ordered the phone. I tried a unit at the store and it worked flawlessly on my most business task. That tilting 4" screen looks great.
Too many good features on this phone,
Symbian will be lasting as long as every other mobile OS on this planet, before it moves to another generation of hardware. The life of an OS depends on sales, profit and hardware technology.
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- AnonD-1082
- kJX
- 03 Mar 2011
Kudos to GSMArena for a great review. I do agree that it's not advisable to buy this device or recommend it since S^3 is about to get scrapped. I would not recommend buying this or the N8 to anybody as these devices have a dead OS walking.
Thank you GSMArena for making the call for what it is.
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- AnonD-2909
- uEx
- 03 Mar 2011
its a masterpiece product frm nokia, cos nokia still satisfied me with their gadget.
- S
- SEFAN
- mtd
- 03 Mar 2011
Not a Nokia fan myself... not even satisfied with the n97 I have used and I have to say I would always buy Sony Ericssion,Blackberry or Apple rather than a Nokia but I have to say I kind of like this one.
If I bought a Nokia I would go for this one. OK it hasn't the fastest CPU and such but it is enough.
For once I like the styling being clean, neat and looking well built and with quality materials.
Has far as a camera goes, it is wrong to have a 8MP cam with fixed focus but guys this is a business phone! Lets be reasonable and agree that to must business users having a big fancy camera isn't important. For that you have the Satio, N8 or whatever.
Stay real.
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- AnonD-2896
- nug
- 03 Mar 2011
Anonymous, 03 Mar 2011Eeew nuf said 680mhz & 256mb ram just plain sux! This i... morewhen will you grow up, symbian doesnt need highend processors to be efficent, just cos other bloated OS's do doesnt mean everything does.
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- Anonymous
- v0X
- 03 Mar 2011
Eeew nuf said 680mhz & 256mb ram just plain sux! This is for nokia loyalist only lol
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- AnonD-2896
- nug
- 03 Mar 2011
Lets address the Main disadvantages one by one for my case.
1. Symbian^3 is still behind Android and iOS usability standards
If your used to symbian as I am then it isnt a downside, I also own android, iOS and bada devices and I prefer symbian for whatever reason.
2. Ovi store content is inferior to Android market and App Store
For me this is also an advantage cos I got sick of wading through piles of utter useless apps in Android market and App store.
3. Fixed-focus on an 8 megapixel camera is just wrong
Acceptable compromise, I know nowt about cameras and edof will give me better results than I can get with an 8mp AF that I currently have.
4. Camera interface is decidedly outdated
As above dont understand most things anyway so it doesnt matter lol
5. Battery is not user-replaceable
Not a concern, will easily last a day, and I have a proporta 5000 and carrying the retractable lead isnt hard.
6. No microSD card slot
Not a concern I will never fill the 16gb internal storage to need worry about an sd card.
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- AnonD-2896
- nug
- 03 Mar 2011
Anonymous, 02 Mar 2011The E7 looks very good if you ask me. The camera is still b... moreYes this I know and one of the reasons I have been hounding Nokia for months to let us in the UK buy one.
Like I said with regards to HTC in both the case of the Desire and 7 pro, hardware is somewhat suspect and camera amongst other things suck.
The one piece keyboard on milestone 2 isn't nearly good enough.
If you're in the market for a touch/landscape qwerty hybrid the E7 is the only option that is viable.
- m
- m4
- 6D1
- 02 Mar 2011
Really, this camera UI thing is ridiculous nitpicking. How many phone users even know what the camera adjustments like ISO do? The kind of users who download an app where a simple browser bookmark will do just as well? The phone adjusts ISO and WB automatically, and my N8 does a damn good job at it. The only option I commonly use is forcing the flash off when needed, and that's within easy reach.
If you want something to really complain about, then complain how almost none of the popular phones have a dedicated shutter button. Not that I expect typical users to know about "focus and recompose", but I find it absolutely essential.
And while we're at the usability issue, I prefer the customizable sub-folder structure of Symbian, as opposed to having to scroll through dozens of icons on the same screen. Somehow, Apple's inability to implement subfolders and a file browser became a "feature" against which all superior phones are judged. Just laughable.
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- Santi
- L8h
- 02 Mar 2011
Please GSM arena, correct the information about the file size limitation of the video player. I'm a happy N8 owner (PR 1.1) and I can tell that I have watched Shrek 4 in 720p without any issue whatsoever and the file was an AVI file of 3.25GB. The video player allowed me to fastforward no problem at all and the response was instantaneous. I have also played mkv files both 720p and SD of more than 1.5GB without any problems and been able to navigate the video forward and backwards as well. However, I've had troubles playing 720p mkv files of less than 1GB and some avi and mp4 files as well (sound played perfectly but there was no video). All in all, I think the problem comes down to unsupported codecs and compression levels, NOT file size.
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- AnonD-2902
- Lqy
- 02 Mar 2011
I don't know what to do, I've always used old s60 3rd edition (I still own an N82), then i moved to Android (Sony Ericsson X8), and is the worst phone I've ever had, there are a lot of things that you can not do on android that my N82 did, but moving to Symbian^3 doesn't seem to be the answer, nokia hasn't improved its IU, I'd like to keep buying s60 3rd edition phones, but Nokia hasn't leaked more of them...
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- Anonymous
- ubH
- 02 Mar 2011
Can anyone explain exactly how "business" this phone is to justify its premium over N8?
Understand "business" users may not really need a 12mp cam, though why make it "fixed focus" on an 8mp unit? Can barcodes (as business a business feature) be scanned?
How about the non-replaceable battery? How "business" would that be if people simply can't bring an extra one? Any external battery pack would likely be (much) larger and cumbersome to carry around than a replacable battery.
The price of near US$692 (where I live) really scares people off....when other "business" phones from the same brand costs much less. Understand it costs more to make the qwerty keyboard, though at the same time E7 has a much lower quality cam than N8, so shouldn't this phone just costs maybe some US$50 (at most) more than N8?
Where I live some small shops already lowered the price by another US$50, yet almost nobody is asking for one.
Where I live a Desire Z costs around US$565 while the Motorola Milestone 2 costs around US$525, both costing much less than the even discounted price for E7.
I really haven't seen such case for a long time...in the phone forum where I live, almost everyday there is a new Milestone 2 user (until the phone went of stock at most chain stores), while ever since the E7 was released, only ONE user reported using one....who also emphasized the fact he got one for around US$512 (for reasons not to be disclosed). There is NO WAY he would pay US$692 for such a device in Feb 2011.
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- Anonymous
- sXD
- 02 Mar 2011
AnonD-2896, 02 Mar 2011Good review guys. Camera doesn't concern me in the sligh... moreThe E7 looks very good if you ask me. The camera is still better than a lot of Androids out there, and the screen is large enough to please any fans of big displays. It's what the N97 SHOULD have been.
- B
- Bricked
- sXD
- 02 Mar 2011
Anonymous, 02 Mar 2011it's funny. because when compared to an IOS there are many ... moreI've upgraded to an N8 too, because it was so cheap compared to other smartphones out there. Sure, it has some dated UI, but like you, I found it a delight to use after the 3GS. Now that i've explored its features, I'm beginning to customise it, and without the millstone that is itunes, I'm pleased. I'll still go back to my 3GS to browse the internet, or play some games, but the N8 has become my everyday device.
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- AnonD-2896
- nug
- 02 Mar 2011
Good review guys.
Camera doesn't concern me in the slightest, and will be good enough for the few times I will use it.
I don't think Symbian is nearly as dead as many people think, theirs PR2.0 to come along with the new browser and other things, and a very nice new UI in PR3.0 (probably around October by my estimates).
The alternatives listed fail in areas, HTC have rubbish cameras, speakers and microphones, as started the build quality of the Desire Z is suspect.
Moto Blur puts me off any motorola device, and if I ever buy a WP device it will be Nokia purely for the superior build quality.
I would like to see yous update parts of this review in the future, the device ships with the last version of Nokia social and in the latest version the contacts integration is alot better, albiet it the new version does seem to be in limbo somewhere.
PR2.0 should arrive soon so I would like to see the browser section updated as appropriate.
Thanks again
- B
- Bricked
- sXD
- 02 Mar 2011
Anonymous, 02 Mar 2011Very well reviewed GSMArena, I like the way you review the ... moreThis has Edof. Which i think is a software fix for fixed focus.