Finnish handset maker Nokia recently introduced three feature-packed, mass market smartphones, bringing the latest smartphone functionality at attractive price points. While all three smartphones contain recognisable Nokia features, they each represent a very distinct set of priorities to allow users to choose what matters most in a smartphone. A compact touchscreen monoblock smartphone (Nokia 700); a sleek and stylish one with a bright mobile display for indoor or outdoor use (Nokia 701), and Nokia?s loudest entertainment smartphone (Nokia 600) all bring firsts to the Nokia product portfolio. Symbian Belle powers all three, with single-tap NFC technology sharing and pairing, the most personal user interface so far and a more powerful mobile Web browsing experience.
Of these, the Nokia 701 is a sleek, slim smartphone incorporating the world?s brightest ever display, based on a 3.5 inch ClearBlack display that makes it perfect for indoor and outdoor use, claim Nokia officials. It also has active noise cancellation for the clearest sound quality and, like the other new smartphones, provides single-tap NFC pairing and sharing capabilities, allowing content to be shared and sound to be streamed wirelessly to headphones and NFC-enabled speakers.
Based on the popular Nokia C7 design, the Nokia 701 smartphone has a 1 GHz processor, 8 MP full focus camera with dual LED flash and 2 x digital zoom, second front-facing camera and HD video capture. It comes with 8 GB internal memory and the possibility to increase to 40 GB by installing a 32 GB microSD card. Thus, Nokia 701 has most of the features of C7 at a much lower price and a much needed software update, Belle.
Carved in metal with a compact and solid feel, this elegant looking phone has an extra-bright 3.5 inch capacitive touch display with gorilla glass. The 8 MP camera is placed on the back with some altered arrangements, such that you don?t have to take out the battery to replace a SIM card, as it is positioned above it. The front has VGA camera for video calling facility.
Moving onto the user interface and the classy display, we found six displays that we easily flipped though. Response is quick, with bright and big icons. This is primarily because of the new Symbian Belle OS. With a resolution of 360 x 640, it is as good under sun light. The touchscreen boasts of a full-fledged keypad with fast typing experience. The display is available in landscape as well as in standing mode, both assuming their position the moment you rotate the device.
Belle OS comes with new widgets, useful business apps and highly integrated NFC technology. Those using Symbian Anna can update to Belle for free. In Belle, the number of home screens has increased from three to six, giving instant access to all your apps. Belle is faster than its predecessor with better processor and 512 MB RAM. You can add any number of widgets, such as email, video player or calendar on the screen. Other improvements in Belle include a different looking navigation and options bar.
The Nokia 701 will be known for its features and value, but what makes it a real deal is the NFC technology, a short-range wireless communication that takes place within a range of 20 cm, preventing any unauthorised communication. It scores over various shortcomings of Bluetooth such as high power consumption and security concerns. All you have to do is tap your Nokia 701 with another NFC enabled phone and you can instantly share your pictures, videos and apps. You can also tap to play multiplayer games or connect with NFC headsets with a tap. But, why should one use NFC when there is Bluetooth? That is because, NFC doesn?t require pairing to connect with other device and consumes little power, so won?t drain your battery like Bluetooth.
The Nokia 701 has a fixed focus camera and records 720p HD video at 30fps. The quality is good under all lighting conditions. The device is integrated with social media apps, such as Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. Nokia Maps offers seamless navigation with an integrated lonely planet app.
The verdict: Nokia 701 is a great device with better RAM and processor than its predecessor Nokia C7.
Overall, a great comeback smartphone from the Finnish handset maker with answers to all the previous inadequacies, at an attractive price.
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Specs
w Dimensions: 117.2 x 56.8 x 11 mm
w Touchscreen: 3.5-inch Clear Black LCD display
w Operating system: Symbian Belle
w CPU: 1 GHz processor, 2D/3D graphics HW accelerator with OpenVG1.1 and OpenGL ES 2.0
w Camera: 8 MP EDOF with LED
dual flash
w Memory: 8 GB internal, microSD card support up to 64 GB
w Radio: Stereo FM radio with RDS, FM transmitter
w Talk time: Upto 17 hours (2G) / Upto 6 hours and 45 minutes (3G)
w Music play: Upto 71 hours and
25 minutes