It's a big day for Nokia, with the official launch of Symbian Belle and several exciting new handsets to talk about. One of them is the Nokia 701, and you can read all about it below.
The Nokia 701 is the most high-end of the three new Symbian Belle handsets Nokia has announced today, and matches the attractive and powerful new operating system with an impressive set of features.
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From an appearance point of view the Nokia 701 certainly seems to share some design DNA with C Series handsets such as the Nokia C7 and Nokia C6-01, featuring similarly rounded lines and the same sloped bottom edge.
But the Nokia 701 is very much its own device, and has plenty of innovative new features to offer.
We'll start with the 3.5-inch ClearBlack Display, which we already know means vibrant colours and sharp contrasts – in fact, Nokia says it's the world's brightest mobile phone display in any smartphone, an impressive feat indeed.
Under the surface the Nokia 701 is equipped with the 1GHz processor that seems now to be the baseline for new Nokia smartphones, and that's just fine by us. Tucked in beside it you'll find 8GB of internal storage, and of course you can add up to 32GB more yourself via microSD card.
The camera too is likely to be a favourite with Nokia 701 owners. The main unit is an 8-megapixel full focus affair with dual LED flash and 2x digital zoom which can also record HD video at 720p and 30fps. But you also get a second front-facing camera too, which we're pleased to see.
And then there's Symbian Belle, which is packed with great new features, including twice the homescreens as before (six), new resizeable widgets, a single pull-down notification bar and several other improvements.
It also brings with it deep NFC integration, which really looks set to be one of the most exciting areas of development for Nokia going forward. With Symbian Belle running on NFC-enabled Nokia hardware such as the Nokia 701, you can share files between two phones, for instance simply by tapping them against each other – the rest happens automatically.
Similarly, if you want to connect to a Bluetooth accessory such as an external speaker or headset, simply tough the two devices together and the connection will be made.
And speaking of connections, you won't be surprised to hear that the Nokia 701 is well covered when it comes to connectivity options. Aside from NFC you also get Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and a-GPS.
Available in steel dark, silver light, amethyst violet and white, the Nokia 701 is set to touch down later in the year and will cost €290 plus local taxes and subsidies.
What do you think of the Nokia 701? Is there anything in particular about it that catches your eye? Let us know in the Comments below.
Check out our Nokia 701 picture gallery:
