Hello, Neo, do you know who this is? (Nokia 7110)

Member Name: tomshanks

Product:	Nokia 7110
Date:	18/06/03 (499 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Large screen, ideal for WAP, Excellent menu navigation through the many features, That wonderful flip!

Disadvantages: Now looking too large, Poor battery life, Flip liable to break and cause other problems

Attempting to write a fair review of the Nokia 7110 is like trying to be objective about the Mini. There have been many cars before it, and there have been many after it, but it represents a landmark in automotive history, and has achieved iconic status despite its flaws. The 7110 may not have been the phone to ever have that flip, for which it is now famous (Nokia's own 8110 used exactly the same system), and there were other phones launched that year, such as the Siemens S25, which also had WAP, but there were none which had the exact combination of features which made the 7110 such a success. The Mini had not been the first car to use a front-engine, front-wheel drive layout, and neither the packaging (the Fiat 500 predating it in this respect by some two years), not the transverse engine was unique, but these facts did not bother the buyers. The Nokia was one of the most expensive phones around when it came out, and there were many which could have almost matched its feature-set for a lot less money, but the 7110 defied its competitors. Even today, it is one of the most sought-after mobile phones on the secondhand market, two years after its discontinuation, a fact brought home to me by my housemate's sale of his 7110 last month for £33.50, even if it was in only average condition. What makes this Nokia still have an endearing appeal for so many people is a complex combination of marketing, brand awareness, endearing features and, above all, style.

One of the less scientific ways to check whether a phone is still in common, acceptable usage is to watch a television programme where mobile phones are constantly used. One such programme is The Bill, where the whole of the police station CID and also the Community Safety Unit (CSU), keep in touch whilst on cases by mobile phone. For a while, it seemed that Motorola were sponsoring the programme, since for weeks there were only Motorolas ever appearing in the pockets of the officers, but above them a
ll has stood the colossus of the Nokia 7110. Used by PCs and detectives alike, the 7110 seems to be currently used by DC Ken Drummond, and although he is not the most fashionable character on the programme, this at least goes to prove that the phone is long-lasting enough to still be used for police work. Indeed, my housemate postponed selling his 7110 for a long time, despite the problems he had with it, due to its continued reappearance on the programme. However, it was a far earlier feature on the big screen which sparked off interest in this design.

In the first Matrix film, released in 1999, the most obvious piece of mobile phone product placement ever was rolled out on the screen before the audience's very eyes. Keanu Reeves' collection of the Fed Ex package containing the then new Nokia 8110 introduced the world to the phone which had a button on the back to open the sliding flip, rather than the more traditional 'clamshell' design, which is normally opened with two hands, or the design which was popular at the time, the simple flip to cover the keys. Just to reemphasise the brand, as Keanu Reeves dropped the phone off a building, the Nokia logo was almost frozen in slow motion as the 8110 fell from his hand. At the time, this was something of a revolution in mobile phone design, and it seemed that everyone marvelled at this great new thing. The updated version of this phone, was, of course, the 7110. Given the green theme of The Matrix, it was appropriate that the new model should be this colour, although it had a strange shimmering effect. This meant that the colour could be anything from dark red to dark blue, with the green spectrum in the middle of the two. This was yet another reason why the 7110 was an instant hit with the trend-setters in the fashion industry. However, there was more to the phone than just its external characteristics.

Despite being one of Nokia's last designs with an external aerial, which in ret
rospect was a little dated since the 3210, one of the first phones with an internal aerial, had just been launched, its shape has become iconic. Even now, skeleton silhouttes of the 7110 are shown on websites whenever a WAP feature is being advertised. There is little doubt in the minds of many that such a shape will last forever, even if the phone itself has been discontinued. What is contained within the phone is even more interesting. The buttons are unlike many of the later Nokias in that they have a rubberised finish, and they are black, rather than silver or clear. The screen surround is chrome, something which has only appeared on Nokias to a much lesser extent since. Also, this was the last time that Nokia used an on/off button on the front of a phone as opposed to one on the top, pioneered on the 3210. As I have always found the button on the top to be irritating, especially when trying to turn a Nokia on or off in a hurry, so it came as light relief with this phone that it is on the front. However, the unresponsive nature of the on/off button, which can be a problem with most Nokias, is no different on this one. When one has eventually managed to turn the phone on, however, things do improve.

With a huge screen, capable of displaying five lines of text in a large font, it is clear that the 7110 was designed around its WAP capability, rather than the feature being retro-added at a late stage in the design process. This makes it ideal for text messages, gaming and, of course, browsing the Internet. To be fair, using the Web function is just as slow as any other phone without GPRS, which was at least two years away when the 7110 was launched, and the lack of a colour screen means that the graphic options are limited, but at the time this must have been revolutionary. There cannot have been a better advertisment for the new technology than the 7110, since the screen was more than adequate, the browser is easy to use and the Navi-Roller key can be used
in a similar way to the wheel on a mouse, something which no other phone has really copied since. It is strange, therefore, to report that text messaging is a somewhat different affair. Despite having predictive text and a character counter, the 7110's rather unresponsive keys make text messaging more difficult than it should. This was compounded on my housemate's 7110 by having a very stiff hash (*) button, thus making it very difficult to change the capitalisation of words, and the bottom row of keys would sometimes be a little too close to the flip, making it slightly uncomfortable to press the essential space key! However, there is more to the 7110 than just its ability as a mini computer.

Although it was not a new idea to have downloadable pictures and ringtones, and also to have them sent by text message, the 7110's comparatively huge memory means that more than 150 text messages and 200 numbers can be stored, along with all those ringtones and pictures. This was probably not the first phone to be able to store the information that was normally on the SIM card on the phone, but it certainly set the pattern for successful follow-ups, such as the evergreen 6210, universally known as the 'dealer's phone' because of the amount of things which could be stored on it. The games on the 7110 were also great, apart from the fact that Snake II had to be played in an irritating maze, as opposed to on the later versions where there was an option to remove the maze altogether. The two-player Snake option through the Infra-red port was a stroke of genius as well, giving an instant lift to any train journey, as long as you could find someone who had the same phone. Ping-Pong, a version of which was one of the first computer games, also made it onto the phone, and provided for hours of entertainment. For the business user, it was possible to send names from the phone to another compatible device (such as my Trium Eclipse, or a PDA) in Vcard fo
rmat. The days of the electronic business wallet had arrived. However, it was not all good news for the 7110.

One of the principal features of the Nokia business phone series, as well as the old 5110, was the fact that the same battery was used right up until the current 6310i. Although this meant that the colour of the back could not be changed, it at least allowed for component standardisation. This way, it is possible to upgrade the battery life of your old 5110 to extra-ordinary levels by fitting it with a Lithium polymer battery from a new 6310i, but at the same time, there is a basic design flaw. This is that the back can work itself loose from the contacts just through normal wear and tear, thus causing the phone to inadvertently turn off. My old Sagem MC920, with a similar set up to this, used to turn itself off, as did a 6210 owned by a friend of mine, and unfortunately the 7110 owned by my housemate suffered the same problem. A new battery did not improve things either, and it was then that one of the other main problems with the 7110 was discovered. The initial battery, which was a slimline lithium ion one, was replaced since the life went down to under 24 hours standby. A new Nickel Metal-Hydride battery was purchased (being a student, I could not afford anything else), but this only increased the battery about twofold, leaving me to believe that one of the fundamental design flaws of the 7110 was a short battery life. Given that my housemate's new phone, a Sagem MYG-5, now lasts over a week without a charge, I would say that technology has moved on a lot since the time that it was launched. Also of note is the flip itself.

Despite looking amazing, and really being a talking point upon unanswering calls, the flip on the 7110 is not the most robust pieces of equipment. After a couple of years' usage, anything can go wrong with them. I have had friends who have kept the flip up with elastic bands because the clip that holds it up
is broken, other friends who have had to open the flip with two hands because the spring-loading has failed, and my housemate's phone needed coaxing sometimes to open. Also, the keylock, which is affected by the position of the flip, is liable to go on an off at any time, even if the flip has not been moved at all. This can be a real problem. Also, given the size of the majority of phones these days, and that external aerial, the 7110 is still one of those phones which need to be worn on the outside of a pair of jeans, as opposed to simply fitting into the pocket of them, an area where my housemate's new Sagem MYG-5 certainly scores.

There is a lot to like about the Nokia 7110, and if someone really has their heart set on one, then nothing this, or any other review can say, will put them off. It is a design classic, still has many useful features, and can still command silly prices on Ebay for what is a four-year old phone which many would see as a brick. When this phone was new, it did not represent good value, except on contracts, but this did not stop thousands buying it, if just for that image. Not even Nokia's own 7650, which in some ways was a bigger step forward than this, has created as much of a following as the 7110. Long may it stand as an example of how to make progress in style.

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