You don't know what you got 'till it's gone
Written: Jul 31 '04 (Updated Aug 04 '04)
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Pros: Size, design, Pop-Port, easy interface, FM radio
Cons: Feature-to-price ratio of a new 7210, mediocre screen, not enough memory
The Bottom Line: Nokias infuriate me because they always rip me off. But at the right price, the Nokia 7210 is a fantastic phone.
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| sanjayschrapel's Full Review: Nokia 7210 GSM / EGSM Cellular Phone |
I've had an interesting experience with this model of Nokia. Let me tell you how I came to acquire one of these works of modern art.
It was January 2004 and I had just come back from France. Understandably I was suffering from major depression, what’s there to be happy about being back in dingy Adelaide when I was only in one of the world’s most beautiful cities only a couple of days before! Anyway, at the same time as my return, my whole family came over to celebrate my grandmother’s birthday. Little did I know, my uncle had bought me a new phone! He brought it back from China, because my mother wanted to get me a new phone, apparently. So I’m asleep in my room, and my mother comes in, telling me about my uncle's purchase. Excited, I forgot about jetlag and rushed straight for the dining table, where I saw the Nokia 7210. To say the least, I was EXTREMELY disappointed. Why? Because for an extra $40, I could have bought myself a Nokia 3650, with tons more features. The 7210 was overpriced and underfeatured, and I hated Nokia for producing phones like this (the 7250 is a prime example of this, where spending the same amount of money on a product from a different company would have provided you with a superior phone). Anyway, it was better than my 3330, so I used it.
First problem with this model: It would not receive any reception. So I took it into the Nokia Care Centre, with my receipt from Hong Kong, and after me having to drill the fact that this model had an international warranty on it for 10 minutes, they took it in. The problem was severe; they had to replace the phone’s entire mainboard. This took a month and a half, during which I became quite accustomed to my 3330 again. I received the phone back, only to find the radio didn’t work. Another 4 days, and they realized that the headset that came with the phone was faulty, and so they replaced that.
So the model had spent 2 months in the friggin’ Care Centre already. I really did not like this model any more than before. Not only was it not worth the money, it was faulty as ever. Trudging along with this model just generated scorn and hatred when I pulled it out, so I decided to sell the 7210 and buy my dream phone, the 3650. (Believe it or not, I now have a Sony Ericsson P800, and am selling my 3650). The 3650 had all the features the 7210 didn’t: a screen that had a refresh rate of more than 1Hz, a screen that was thrice the size and a million times the quality, a camera, video recording and playback capabilities. It had expandable memory, looked better and had SYMBIAN SERIES 60 SOFTWARE. It was my dream phone, through and through.
So if I hated the 7210 so much, why am I writing a review on it? Well, stupid question you might think. But, many months later, I got tired of lugging the extra bulk of the 3650 around. It did not have a radio, and I listen to the radio all the time, so I needed to carry around both the 3650 and n-gage to perform all the tasks I wanted. My mother was changing jobs, and she needed a new phone. I jumped to the opportunity, and scored her a boxed Nokia 7210 with USB data cable. Also I bought her two original covers, one beautiful orange and a very sleek black, like the one I had on my original 7210. I must say the green buttons contrast beautifully with the black cover. She now uses one of these as her main phone, and I'm insanely jealous.
Let’s see why. Even if my Nokia has all the features of Apollo 11, it’s about the same size. And coupling that with the n-gage that I have to carry if I want radio is just ridiculous. The 7210 has all the addictive games that I play on the 3650 (a.k.a BOUNCE! The best phone game EVER), it has a great sounding FM radio, and is absolutely tiny. Not “gets-lost-under-your-fingernail” tiny, but the perfect size. You don’t notice it in your pocket, but it fits in your palm perfectly.
So, I used my mother’s new phone for a couple days and was in love. I no longer hated this phone, what I hated was its price. In January, the phone cost $300. I bought my mother’s one for $190, and that included a $100 DKU-5 USB cable. Now I paid what I wanted to pay for this phone, I was totally happy with it.
It sounds great, like all other Nokias I’ve used. The stereo headset that comes with the phone sounds impeccable, and the microphone has excellent pickup. Anyone on the other end of the conversation always heard everything I said, even in a busy street. I also like the necklace-style headset, where you wear the whole piece around your neck, with the earphones dangling on each side and the microphone is the pendant. I could have one ear in, both ears in, or neither, if I wasn’t using the phone for listening to radio or talking. Pure design brilliance and convenience. The only gripe I would have about the handsfree is the difficulty in plugging it into the Pop-Port. A bit stiff, but gets in with the right amount of force.
So what’s the Pop-Port? It’s the new connector you will find on the bottom of all Nokia Series 40 phones (all the ones that use the same operating system as the 7210, like the 3102 and 5100). You can plug in USB cables, headsets, cameras, and MP3 players, anything that’s designed for this connector. A true triumph, because it ensures total compatibility between different phone accessories. No longer do you have to upgrade all your accessories when upgrading your phone. One gripe I have about it though, is the non-standard handsfree port (i.e. Pop-Port), meaning you have to use Nokia headsets and only the Nokia stereo headset for listening to the radio (of which I do all the time). But hey, I’m over it. Especially considering I conceded this phone to my mother, after all it is hers.
In terms of features, the 7210 isn’t revolutionary. It has a nice colour screen, albeit a tad small, but that’s because I'm used to the humongous screen on the 3650. Its small size and low resolution makes it unsuitable for MMS, because most images that appear on the screen are unrecognisable. It also has WAP, GPRS and IrDA for interfacing with other devices, and J2ME. The first two are pretty standard, but the IrDA irks me. On the newer 3200, and my 3650, you can send and receive multimedia files to and from other phones, and of course my laptop. This does not work in the 7210, which requires the Nokia Data Suite in order to transfer these files. Therefore the IrDA is a feature that could has been under-implemented, and is a real shame. J2ME is good, but the phone only has 1MB to place all your ringtones and Java apps so you have to be selective as to what games you will have. Games can be transferred via the Data Cable, or downloaded via GPRS.
The keypad is one aspect that I was weary about; when seeing it I wondered how it would affect the ergonomics of the phone and text input speed. Astonishingly, the odd design makes it easier and faster to input text and numbers. I think the vertical bias that the buttons have increases accuracy. But apart from that, its just a little quirk that makes life easier.
On the battery, it is a Li-Ion one, pretty light, but lasts ages. A week of standby or about 3 hours of talktime, it's amazing how much juice can be squeezed out of the tiny battery.
In conclusion, if you can get the phone for a reasonable price, the Nokia 7210 is certainly worth it. Not worth $300, but certainly $150. I miss my old 7210, even if my 3650 and P800 have more features than an expensive car. Sometimes, certain features that I never use (lets be honest, how often have I used the video recorder in the 3650?) can be traded off for beauty and extreme portability. But only at the right price.
PS All currencies are in AUS$. I suggest you whip out that currency converter!
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 300AU
Recommended for: Stylish Trendsetters - Hip and Trendy
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Epinions.com ID:
sanjayschrapel
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Member: Sanjay Schrapel
Location: Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Reviews written: 5
Trusted by: 1 member
About Me:
There just ain't enough space here
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