Nokia E7 in Review
By Mike Browne on December 23,
 2010 at 00:00,

The Nokia E7 is a stunning messenger smartphone that takes the styling of the Nokia N8 but adds a slide-out QWERTY keyboard to help make it even more versatile and perfect for anyone who puts messenger and social networking at the top of their list of needs. Check out our Nokia E7 review of the year for the full details behind this smartphone….

The smartphone that would become the Nokia E7 was initially leaked onto the internet in March, far ahead of its official announcement in September. This made for one of the longest ‘is it, isn’t it?’ debates around, with some sites even claiming it to be the Nokia N98, then the Nokia N8.

However, it finally emerged at Nokia World as the Nokia E7. Built around a 4-inch touchscreen display, this is the largest such panel Nokia has ever released. The screen uses AMOLED technology, offering stunningly bright and vivid colours. The capacitive screen technology means you can tap out texts and messages with ease, while the 640 x 360-pixel resolution means you can watch HD content with ease.

Carrying on the theme of HD content, the 8-Megapixel camera allows users to record in 720p HD, while storage space comes in the form of 16GB of internal memory, although there’s no support for extra storage as the Nokia E7 lacks microSD expansion.

We managed to get our hands on a preview version of the Nokia E7 in early September and found it to be ‘remarkably similar to the Nokia N8, with which it shares its styling. Here, however, there’s a slide and tilting display as well, leaving a large QWERTY keyboard below.’

When it came to reviewing the Nokia E7 we weren’t lucky enough to be the first of the block, with Into Mobile snapping up that one. The website praised the Nokia E7 for its design, stating that Nokia “has done really well on the aesthetics front”. They weren’t so impressed with the sliding mechanism of the keyboard – finding it tricky to open the first time – but this is something you become accustomed to with use.

We already know that the Nokia E7 is built like the proverbial outhouse, with an incredibly robust anodised aluminium casing, but what about the rest of the device? Know Your Mobile are fans of the screen in particular, pointing out that the 4-inch AMOLED display is “every bit as good as it sounds – blacks look intense and brighter colours simply jump off the page”’

The Nokia E7 is a unique product in an ever expanding smartphone market. Perfect for the traveller looking for a device to use on the move and stay constantly in touch, while equally usable by the mainstream media junky who loves Facebook, Twitter and staying in control of their daily lives.

What do you think of the Nokia E7, is it the most innovative smartphone you’ve seen in 2010, or if there were things you’d change, what are they? Let us know your thoughts in the Comments below.

  • Shiv

    Well the E7 is almost perfect, it had what the N8 missed out, and was found to be missing by quite a no of (messenger) folks – the QWERTY keypad. I wanted to see the N8 being rolled out with a keypad as well, yeah, it happened, almost.

    I don’t know why nokia had to pull back on the camera front, even if the xenon flash wasn’t found to be necessary, a carl zeiss lens would have been wonderful :( . Now am actually torn btw the two phones N8 or the E7, pretty confusing, considering that I want the 4″ CB screen, qwerty keypad and the 12MP carl zeiss lens as well.

    Shiv

  • Matt

    I’ve had the same dilemma.

    I wanted the N8 camera and the E7 keyboard.

    However, the N8 also has an SD slot, FM transmitter and is considerably cheaper.

    Re the keyboard, I’ve been using Swype on my N97 for a few months and I’ve become very proficient. I don’t even pop out my N97 keyboard any more, I just use Swype.

  • JT

    I’m going to give the E7 a miss – I wanted to see a better camera on this and coming from a N97 16gb is a step back for me, its a shame Nokia. Hurry up and get something just a little better to tempt me to stay with you. Pleeeease?
    One thing to note in the Know Your Mobile review, they say that the N8 has a 1Ghz CPU, which it doesn’t. For a site called ‘Know Your Mobile’ they clearly don’t live up to their name!

  • roahithraj

    damn, i thought this was gonna b the nokia n9, having all d features of n8, and wid dat sleek qwerty keypad, this one lacks the SD slot and the 12 mp camera! it wud hav been better if n8 had a qwerty keypad. :( i wud hav gone straight for n8, if it had dat! :( :(

  • 0batman

    The e7 looks kind of bulky. A 4 inch qwerty phone should be thinner. Reminds me of the old brick communicators. I think this is part of that very series of heavy “hand” phones.
    So no thanks. I will wait for the n9, which looks leaner.