Nokia 7390 review: Fully loaded glamour

Not so far away from smartphones

Nokia 7390 features Series 40 3rd Edition. As we have already written a lot about this platform, let us borrow and use several basic paragraphs (updated, of course) from previous models we have reviewed.

Nokia 7390 is based on the latest, Series 40 third generation platform. The latter comes along with a new graphic interface, similar to the one applied in Nokia 6111 or Nokia 6280. In terms of common mobile phones this last-generation platform is pretty close to the behavior of smartphones. For example, Nokia 7390 can be switched on without a SIM card and you are given access to all the functions that do not require the presence of mobile network signal. The phone also features an active stand-by mode; several particular applications could be minimized while working, as well.

Active stand-by mode • settings in the active stand-by mode • a standard stand-by display with wallpaper

Nokia 7390’s interface responds to user’s orders quite fast. However, the third edition of S40 could have been even faster. Regarding the elevated number of errors we ran across in the test version of Nokia 7390, a conclusion can be made that the final version of the firmware is still to come.

Let us now compare the active stand-by mode in Nokia 7390 with some other Nokia models with Symbian. In this new model, the top bar features the icons of the applications with shortcut access. A little bit lower you will see other functions like typing a brief note, visualization of the names of running music files or radio pieces, a stopwatch, whose organization depends on your preferences. The organizer only displays the calendar for the actual day, which is rather unpractical. In other words, it doesn’t show the agenda for the following day until the clock does not reach midnight. The lack of a Tasks application is also a drawback.

The entire active stand-by mode is subject to possible modifications. The inconvenience is that it is located deep inside the menu. After all, the vagueness of the menu scheme is one of the most serious problems of the control of the new S40 3rd Edition platform; there is no doubt that the high amount of functions installed in the phone is not easy to order in a logical scheme, but even so, we consider this as a handicap. Even after having used Nokia 7390 for a long time, some users will still have difficulties with memorizing how and when some functions work.

Adjust it according to your needs

The left and the right context keys can be assigned a particular function. Should you use the active stand-by mode, there will be three configurable control ways at most. In the opposite case you can use all four ones. The confirming center provides access to the main menu.

The main menu can be organized in four ways: as a list, as a matrix grid, as a grid with legends or as horizontal fields. We found the grid without legends, where 12 icons fit into display, as the most suitable of all. All 12 icons can be relocated according to user’s will; the icon that is being moved gets highlighted in green, after which you need only to find it a new place.

The main menu in different modes

Nokia know pretty well that personalization is important not only for user’s comfortable control, but also for the creation of a specific looks of the phone interface, through which the owner expresses its preferences. Nokia 7390 meets both requirements brilliantly as it allows for every important, rational function to be user-configured. For example, in the “Gallery” you can choose which elements should appear directly: image thumbnails, full file names in a column, or file names and details about date of creation and size. There are numerous settings like this one in the menu system.

You like colors?

Nokia 7390 supports graphic themes, which not only change wallpaper on the main display, but also modify the graphics of the other screens. While a great part of the models based on S40 3rd Edition uses a blue default scheme, Nokia 7390 features several colorful combinations, which favor the final outlook of the phone a lot. Font color can be modified from the menu if legibility requires it.

Nokia 7390 offers plenty of graphic themes; others can be downloaded from Internet

The resolution of 320 x 240 pixels provides the phone (at least theoretically) with good visualization options. In this sense it is quite strange that the company’s designers have used unnecessarily big fonts, due to which only half of the possible information fits into the display. A similar problem exists with font visualization in the active stand-by mode, where letter borders always remain white and thus look somewhat unattractively. In this case the advantages of the QVGA display basically remain unused.

Call functions are brilliant

Nokia 7390 works in GSM networks at 900, 1800 and 1900 MHz, and also in UMTS (WCDMA 2100 MHz); it also supports data transfers via GPRS and EDGE. The ringtone of incoming calls can be silenced by opening the phone and pressing a particular key. The sound quality of the calls is good, but we know Nokia can make better ones.

Ringing profile setup • call register

On the other hand, however, do not forget that we pay attention to every single detail; any common user should be absolutely satisfied. The speaker located beneath the keypad creates sounds of satisfying quality too. Nokia 7390 also offers video calls.

The phonebook features several visualization options. You can set a classical font as well as a large-size font as a default one. The entries stored on the SIM card and those saved in the phone memory can all be displayed simultaneously. Nokia 7390 has space for 1000 contacts, each of which can be assigned up to 20 different fields.

Two of the numerous looks of the phonebook

In advanced setup levels you can state, whether contacts should be organized by first or last name. You can modify your selection further on by selecting among options like „list of names“, „name and number“ or „name and image“. The phonebook is searched by gradual typing of the letters of the desired name. Groups with special images and ringtones for better order in the contacts are available too.