The Nokia X7 has been officially announced and we managed to get our hands on it at an exclusive show-n-tell in London this morning. If you're looking for the top line on what it offers, then you'll find the Nokia X7 is fast, very fast. Find out what else it has to offer with our Nokia X7 Hands-on First Impressions Review.

Did we say the Nokia X7 was fast? We meant blistering! Yup, we've just had it in our hands and can confirm that the mix of Symbian Anna, which is the new name for Symbian^3 PR 2.0, and the new faster 680MHz processor combine to make the fastest Nokia smartphone ever.

The 4-inch touchscreen display uses AMOLED and comes with Gorilla glass technology to give some pretty amazing and sharp images, as well as making it as tough as old boots. In terms of design, the flat face of the Nokia X7 is mirrored on the back by a rather funky and fresh stainless steel body. The four vents in the corners add a nice retro look to it – think the movie Metropolis meets those aerodynamic cars of the 1950s and this may well be something of a timeless classic.

The tapered edges of the Nokia X7 give it the illusion of being wider than it actually is. We have to admit it still feels wide in the hand, but it’s surprising lightweight for the size.

The 8-Megapixel camera is EDoF so comes with a fixed-focus, the same as the Nokia E6 and Nokia E7 smartphones. The advantage of this is that you won’t find a bulging camera part on the back of the Nokia X7 like there is on the Nokia N8.

The new additions brought in with Symbian Anna, such as the onscreen QWERTY keyboard in Portrait mode and the new icons give it a fresh new look. Typing on the Nokia X7 in Portrait mode is nice and quick, we found it easy to get to grips with but others we were talking too found that the Landscape mode keyboard was still favoured.

The Nokia X7 is a bold new direction for Nokia and is certainly a change from the myriad number of iPhone clones other vendors seem to be peddling these days. Designed to stand out in the crowd, the Nokia X7 is fast and impressive.

Check out our Nokia X7 Hands-on First Impressions photo gallery: