Nokia 7610 review: The first megapixel

The megapixel camera

The most important 7610 innovation is the integrated megapixel camera.

New camera environment • 4x zoom

Because the original pictures in 1152x864 resolution are too large for the web, I have made photos in 800 x 600 resolution. I had two different handsets for the review and it seems that the quality of the pictures is somewhat different. If you have the opportunity to choose among different handsets, try them snap and take the best piece.

Pictures from phone A

Pictures from phone B

Photos in dusk: standard setting • night mode

Megapixel cameras are much better then VGA resolution cameras, but still can't be compared with classic digital cameras. The pictures look very well on the display and it's possible to enlarge them in order to see the details.

Picture preview in the gallery • picture detail • rotated picture in full display mode • enlarged photo

You can choose whether to store the pictures on the phone's internal memory or on the memory card. Considering the fact that every picture has size of about 250 kB at least, it won't take you long to meet a decision. Internal memory can carry about 25 pictures in full resolution compared to 130 pictures, which can be stored on the memory card. Such a large picture can even be sent via MMS message - when you insert a picture into a message it's automatically resized to a smaller size.

Camera lens system: glass is not embedded enough

The installed Kodak Mobile application is used for saving and sharing pictures on the www.kmobile.com. web server. It's a prepaid service with 90 days trial period. For every month after you have to pay $3.

Kodak Mobile application main display

The Print program is designed for printing from the mobile. You can print messages, phone book contacts, photos. You can choose whether you want a small or a large view and select the number of images to be printed per page. It's possible to print direct through a printer via Bluetooth or to save a print file on the memory card and use the card on the printer afterwards. I've seen some of the pictures printed and the result is really not bad, depending on what printer and paper you use.

Print menu

Pictures printed in a digilab are sharply better. In some cases you can't find the difference from a standard photo - if you don't examine it under magnifying glass, of course.

Movies and video-editor

It's possible to shoot videos with Nokia 7610 as well. You can choose whether you want to make short records up to 10 seconds or longer movies, which can take up to 10 minutes. You also choose a 128 x 96 or 176 x 144 movie resolution.

Camera environment

Records are saved in 3GP format and you can play them on your PC with the Nokia Multimedia Player, which is PC suite included. Movies look pretty well considering the capabilities of present mobiles. You can use up to 4x zoom for recording but the impact on the quality is not so strong.

• Sample of a video-record (200 kB)

Owing to the Real Player application you are able to play the records on the phone. The Real Player allows you to watch the movie only in a window. It handles 3GP, MP4, MP3, AMR, AAC and Real Media formats.

Real Player • movie play

The big fun comes with the video-editing programs. Two of them are available on the phone. The video-editor is able to remove sound, add a soundtrack or record your comments. It allows you also to put several records together, cut and remove the unneeded parts.

Video editor

The Movie director can turn a boring static movie into an attractive and dynamic clip. You choose one or more records, some of the styles in the menu, possibly you can step in a sound track or text comments. Phone processes your changes and gives you "a professional video" in less then a minute.

• Demo 1 (87 kB) )
• Demo 2 (285 kB)
• Demo 3 (89 kB)

Movie director main menu • choosing a style

Pictures, videos and sounds are stored in the Gallery. Graphics are shown in thumbnails, which can be enlarged. It's possible to send pictures via Bluetooth from the Gallery to a PC or to another phone.

Gallery folders

Nokia and MP3: tough luck

Nokia 7610 was expected to support MP3 music files. However, the phone supports MP3 and does not.

The integrated multimedia player (Real Player) works with MP3 format. It plays files stored in the memory or on the memory card, compiles playlists too. Nokia's Audio Manager application (PC Suite) is designed especially for recording songs and creating lists - or transferring files from the phone via Bluetooth, cable or memory card reader.

Real Player: playing MP3 file • playlist creation

The Real Player application plays MP3 files in a very poor quality and skips sound almost every second. The integrated speaker has no bass and the headphones can't be connected to the phone. The sound quality can be improved by using some special programs, e.g. Ultra MP3, but Nokia 7610 is almost useless as a MP3 player without the headphones. Tough luck - many people are waiting for this feature.

Ultra MP3 player