Classy Phone (Nokia 7200)

Member Name: thespurs

Product:	Nokia 7200
Date:	23/07/04 (1073 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: See review

Disadvantages: See review

MAIN FEATURES

The main features of the Nokia 7200 are as follows:
--Instead of the standard covers on older mobile phones, you can replace the textile covers with new sensual xpress-on covers.

--The display is colour and it generates a TFT display of up to 65536 colurs

--The phone comes with a soft covering pouch, so you don't have to buy a naffy black leather case. There is also an incorporated wrist strap so it's easy to carry.

--There is an intergrated digital camera and the capability to record video footage.
It offers 'presence-enhanced' contacts

--As is becoming the norm on most Nokia mobiles nowadays, there is a stereo FM radio.
Another very handy feature, is the intergrated handsfree speaker

This mobile phone, is probably the best that Nokia have ever designed and then gone on to produce. It is absolutely perfect, with all of the features I need from a mobile phone. It is also very cool, so you will want people to know you have got it and show it off to them. I would prefer to have on of these over an iPod, because it is a communication tool as well as something that can entertain you on a journey. I know that some of you will say there is no comparison between a mobile phone and an iPod, but i would definetly go for the phone if I had to choose one.

SIZE/WEIGHT

This phone is a reasonable size, but for its many functions is relatively small. It fits easily into the palm and that allows for easy and simple operation for the user. When closed or shut, the phone measures 86mm from top to bottom and 5cm across. It is similar in many respects to the Sharp gx20 so it is just the right size for your pocket. It is only 26mm thick, so when folded it is a very compact mobile phone. It is very light as well, weighing in at just over 110g which is very good. I placed the 7200, alongside my Motorola a835 and it put it to shame. The Motorola is certainly an i
ndustrial house brick and very ugly.

LOOK?DESIGN

The styling of the this mobile phone, has clearly been well thought out and considered. Nokia have come up with a stunning looking phone, that incorporates all of its features in a superb fashion. They have given it a really trendy look which is aimed at youngsters who want to show off. It has changeable textile covers which is a new feature in the world of mobile phone technology. These covers, protect the hands-free speaker unit that is situated near the 'hinge' of the phone. This phone just has something about it that is difficult to explain. To appreciate its beauty and style you need to see it for yourself. When the fella' took the phone back from me, I felt a strange sadness and that was overcome by a desire to own the phone one day.

CAMERA/PHOTOS

The camera on this phone is probably the second best feature, after its styling and design. It is situated at the top of the phone when it is folded open and is slightly off centre. It generates up to 640 x 480 resolution which is very handy. The camera has three different settings for taking photos and they are: standard, portrait and there is a special night setting, for when there is minimal background lighting. I was shown a couple of shots taken on the night-time setting and they were, in a word, absolutely stunning. Yes I know that's two words but the quality was that good. I took a couple of standard snaps and I was jolly impressed. I was surprised to discover that there is a timer function on the camera. If you want a family shot, you can line the camera up, set the timer and quickly move into position. Now this phone is getting really, really good.

VIDEO CAMERA

The video camera is a very good addition to the phone, although I wouldn't use it much to be honest. I can't really think of something that I would want to video. The quality is very good so if you want a phone with a video ca
mera, you should have a look at this model. The images can be recorded and played back in three different formats, which are: basic, normal and high standard. The higher standard setting, does take up more memory so it means you can't record for as long, so the normal setting is probably the most viable.The quality on the normal setting is more than acceptable for any video phone. The video recorder is a SubQCIF, which is in the H.263 format, if that means anything to you.

SCREEN?DISPLAY

The outstanding picture quality, is displayed on 27.3x27.3mm display, which is exactly square. This isn't a feature I have come across before and it does seem to give the quality that added edge. It is a TFT display, much used on the mobile phones of today so it does churn out some good quality images. It can hold-up 65536 colours, within 128x128 pixels. Yet another feature of note, is the 16 pixel font for letters in text messages. The screen can display 5 lines of text at any one time and it can do it in very high quality.

NAVIGATION

Using the phone and moving through the various menus is very easy. I find that all Nokia phones are logically organised and the actions that will be performed are made very clear. There are three keys that allow you to scroll up and down and left to right, but I can't remember if they allow you to select your options or not. You can adjust the other two soft keys to perform perform specific actions. This may be handy for somebody who is left handed and wishes to change the keys around. The menus can be adjusted so that they are shown in different forms. You can choose your options to be shown in a list of in a grid. The grid formation, makes navigation a lot easier than the list setting and is also much faster. The graphics on the menu are animated which is really cool but a bit bizarre. This is probably the easiest and most understandable phone I have ever used.

GALLERY

There is a gall
ery on the phone, where all of the video, audio, still images, graphics and finally your ring tunes are stored. From here, you can manage them with a great deal of ease. You can view the images and video clips here and also sample your different tones. From this menu you can select images and graphics to appear on the screen saver and on the main background. It makes managing your phone so much easier than models made by other brands, because Nokia keep it very simple and uncomplicated.

OTHER FEATURES

The other features of the phone include:

--Personal shortcuts that the user is able to set to their needs

--Timed profiles which can change at a specified time, for example, you can leave your phone on silent during the night and set it to loud at 8 o'clock in the morning. This means that you won't miss a call if you forget to adjust it.

--Alarm clock, Stereo FM radio and the radio can be set as the alarm call.

--Automatic volume control

--Extensive calendar with busy view of the week, snooze on calendar alarm

--A Notes and To-do list that can have up to 30 entries at any one time.
Wallet, to make carrying the phone easy and safe.

--WIM (Wireless Identity Module)

--Stopwatch, Countdown timer and a Calculator

--Wallpapers are Full-screen color images and you can have animated black-and-white screensavers. The colour schemes of the menu's can also be changed.

GAMES

The games are all in the widely used Java format. The phone comes with three programmed games: backgammon, ten pin bowling and disco. I had a go at the ten pin bowling and I was extremely impressed with the quality and how real it seemed. I haven't got a clue what the game disco is about and backgammon speaks for itself. You can download further games through Club Nokia and also the Software Market.

APPLICATIONS

There are a number of Java enabled appli
cations which are as follows: a converter (for currencies, weight and distance and temperatures), a clock that displays the time in different parts of the world and a very basic language translator. You can download more applications, to a maximum size of 64kb. You can remove any of these applications, to make way for new ones. I think the converter is the most helpful of the features as it would come in handy an awful lot.

RINGTONES

There are 31 pre-programmed ring tones that can't be removed. There are 20 polyphonic, 10 monophonic and 1 Nokia tune. An outstanding feature of the ring tones, is that you can use a video clip instead, as your alert. This can be very interesting as you can experiment with different sounds and noises. This is another reason why this phone is such a must have.

CONNECTIVITY/DATA

Connectivity and Data Transfer on this phone is second to none. It has the Pop-Port interface, which will become a common feature of future mobile phones. The infra-red capability allows wireless connection with another phone and even to a PC. You can install new applications such as Word, via your PC onto the phone. The web browser is very good, allowing WAP 2.0. The browser also supports JPEG and PNG so you can view pictures via the web. There is also an OMA lock, which protects information on the internet. Data transfer is courtesy of EDGE, which operates at 177.6 kbits per second which is highly efficient. It is only around 57.5 kbits per second on GPRS networks, but it is still very good.

MEMORY

The phone has a combined memory of 4mb. It can data and media in the following sizes:

---Notes: Up to 3000 characters in one note

---Email messages: Max 30 kB per message

---Ringing tones in Gallery: 31 preset, polyphonic ringing tones removable

---Images: 11 preset wallpapers, 10 preset SMS pictures, 10 preset frames, 14 preset clip art pictures, 8 screensavers, 5 animate
d MMS message templates in the phone

---Video clips: Up to 94 kB per clip

---Camera images: Approximately 25 high-resolution VGA images

---Business card images: Up to 100 portrait- size images

---Multimedia messages: Max message size 100 kB per MMS

---Java? applications: 7 preset, max download size 64 kB per application

---Phone book: Up to 500 contacts with all entries filled, in addition to SIM card contacts
SMS messages: Up to 150 maximum-size text messages in addition to SIM card inbox messages

---Calendar notes: Up to 250 maximum-size entries

BATTERY

The battery used on this phone is the Nokia BL-4C and its capacity is 760 mAh. This power generates talk-time of between two and five hours, depending on various circumstances. It has a standby time of and incredible 150-300 hours which is truly amazing. This means that you can have your phone on for over a week and the battery will still have bags of power remaining.

VERDICT

I would strongly reccomend that you go out and get this phone. If you need a new mobile or are due and upgrade, nip in to your local mobile phone shop and see if you can acquire this. You will look cool on the street and all of your mates will want a look and a go on it. This phone will take a while to go out of fashion, because it is that good. The features and reasons for buying this Nokia phone are endless. The main reason for me would be that it's a Nokia and you can't go wrong.

AVAILABILITY

(Carphone Warehouse)

This phone is only available on the Vodafone and 02 networks. It is free on some tariffs, but can be as much as £179.99 on some of the cheaper contracts. It is worth every penny of whatever you pay for and you may even get it for nothing.

Summary: