Nokia 7610 review: The first megapixel

Nokia 7610 is the first Nokia camera phone with a megapixel resolution. It looks cool, has a bunch of memory and unexpectedly many applications in the basic set. Read our extensive review with a plentiful picture gallery.

Nokia has designed the most important features of its smartphones on the Series 60 platform, hence the ground for the new mobile is equal to the Nokia 7650, the first model for example. In contrast to Nokia 6600, which we consider as the predecessor, Nokia 7610 brings us many pleasant changes. On the other hand some of the expectations haven't been met.

Click on the thumbnails for full resolution pictures.



Nokia 7610

Construction

Nokia 7610 is a mid-big and mid-heavy phone standing alongside to the usual handsets but compared to other smartphones it seems very slim. Lying on the table, Nokia seems thinner then Siemens SX1 e.g., although both phones are equal in thickness. The 7610 mobile phone is much thinner than Nokia 6600. See summary of sizes and weight of some relative smartphones:

 

Phone	Dimensions	Volume	Weight
Nokia 7610	109 Χ 53 Χ 19 mm	109,76 cm3	118 g
Nokia 3650	130 Χ 57 Χ 26 mm	192,66 cm3	130 g
Nokia 6600	109 Χ 58 Χ 24 mm	151,73 cm3	122 g
Siemens SX1	109 Χ 56 Χ 19 mm	115,98 cm3	116 g

Light variation looks thinner then dark one

Design evaluation is subjective; everybody can make his own opinion from the pictures. Personally, I enjoy 7610 very much - it's an elegant phone, differing strongly from its predecessors. It will be available in two color variations: dark black-red and light white. Let me say my opinion: light variation looks better.

Dark and light variations

The main plan of the phone represents a refined rectangle with round edges. It's a little bit boring but convenient to hold in hand. The display, the keypad, and the small window on the rear side have the same form. If you look at it closely, you will find out that it looks like an image with several layers and a mirror in the background.

Round edges • art on the rear cover

The replaceable covers are okay, yet the phone construction will never be solid with them. Pressing the handset causes improper sound. Considering the rear cover construction the crunch should not expand, but still that's not a standard for a perfectly solid phone.

Comparing phone size and a credit card

One thing that annoys me a bit is the fact that Nokia is not very stable when on the table. It lies on the lens system and rocks when you touch it on any side. It's sticky in case when you want to type on laying phone. The good news is that Nokia 7610 can stand on its bottom side when on a flat surface.

Phone can stand on its bottom side

Pop-Port does not automatically stand for stereo

There are no buttons on the sides of Nokia 7610, except the main switch - a small button on the top. This time it's really pretty recessed and I recommend using a nail to press it. Alike to other Nokia models, pressing this switch button can change the ringing profiles.

At the bottom side of the phone there's a socket for a charger and a Pop-Port connection. For the first time Nokia uses a system connector for a Series 60 European handset. USB cable for a PC connection is also included in the package.

Pop-Port connector

The Pop-Port has been used as an argument in occasional discussions about the integrated MP3 player. But presence of a connector of this type doesn't automatically mean a stereophonic output. E.g. 7250i headphones are not compatible with the Nokia 7610 phone. Trying to connect those, the phone warns for an "Unsupported accessory". However, when all of the contacts were not connected and I held the connector in my hand, one of the headphones started to play. Of course, that's useless.

Only personal handsfree with one headphone or Bluetooth set can be used with Nokia 7610. You can find complete overview on Nokia web site.

The loudspeaker can be found on the left side of the phone. There is a slot for a leather hanger in the corner. You will get the hanger in the handset package (I haven't got it at my disposal, so there is no picture of it).

Loudspeaker • hanger slot and inconspicuous switch

The battery is hidden under the rear cover, which is secured by a small latch. It is of Li-Ion type with a capacity of 900 mAh. Nokia claims that it can last for 180 minutes in talk mode. This is a laboratory value, of course, during tests I successfully discharged the battery in one day.

Small latch secures the rear cover • view under the rear cover and the battery

The SIM card is inserted in a standard slot so there is enough space for a memory card beside it. Nokia uses the small format Reduced Size MMC and there's no way to fit a standard MMC card into 7610. Except the size, the cards are identical and you can use the small MMC in a standard card reader or other device owing to the adapter, included in the package. Nokia 7610 has a card with a sufficient capacity of 64 MB. It includes also software, which will be described below in this review.

Card placement under the battery • RS MMC card • reduction will extend the memory card to standard length • memory card data

How to get an ordinary MMC card into 7610

Let me add a note on the standard MMC card: Perhaps there is a way to get it into the phone. First, it is necessary to remove the SIM cardholder and to put the card straight on the contact. After partition removal - probably to file it off - the MMC card will get above the SIM and the battery will secure this "system". Surely, I can't try this technique with the test handset, but I think this might do the job.

Just remove the drawer and file off the partitions

Propeller keypad

Nokia is renowned for the keypad experiments and the 7610 model makes no exception. Keys look like somebody set them up into the matrix, spun it and the centrifugal force has made the rest. The biggest keys are situated in the left bottom corner; they are getting smaller on the way right and up and key 3 is two times smaller then "7".

Keypad looks nice… how does typing work?

It might seem that typing on a keypad with keys in a propeller layout is kind of hard. Actually, it's a piece of cake; you don't have to spend hours to get used to it. It took me just a short time to find the location of the function keys. Left-handers will enjoy keypad layout more then right-handers because number keys are situated in a block on the right. Right-handers should bend their thumb a bit more. Pushing the keys is really clear. I enjoyed typing very much and also appreciated that keypad is not rattling as by some other handsets.

Keys details

In its smartphones Nokia alternates joystick with directional function keys. The 7610 model features the second option. I've read complains about this type of control in some forums, but there are no objections from my point of view: it's comfy, fast and precise.

Keypad illumination: some keys shine more then others.

Display and environment

The TFT active matrix display shows 65k colors, all other parameters are identical to those of the older Series 60 phones. The display is large (35x 41 mm) in comparison with this of a standard phone. It features usable resolution of 176 x 208 pixels. Unfortunately, I don't have Nokia 6600 with, therefore I can't verify contentions that the display is apparently better and brighter. Let me just say that it's really a quality display, with no dead points, but image changes when you tilt the phone just a bit.

Brightness can be set on many levels; illumination can be switched off

Nokia 7610 runs on the Symbian platform, version 7.0. Environmental look can be changed to different graphical motifs, five of which are right on the phone, the other can be download from the Internet and installed on the phone. Nokia is offering one wallpaper only, which is really insufficient.

Here are some of the graphical motifs. Main display is in the first row; main menu is in the second row. See the photo gallery for more of them.

Controls haven't changed a lot. You can choose two functions, which are available through the function keys in standby mode. The main menu is standard, 3x3 items are displayed at once on one page - nevertheless it's possible to go through the menu. Pressing respective matrix keys 1-9 can run nine initial programs faster. You can sort programs according to your needs, move unused programs deeper into folders… Just as you already know it.

Main menu: nine initial programs • arrows will get you to the others • icons can be hidden in sub-folders

Nokia 7610 has been improved in one detail. With older phone types it was not possible to go from the first to the last item in the menu by just pressing the up-arrow key - you had to go through the whole list. It's annoying especially for closing programs because this command is typically to be found as last item in the menu. Things have changed and by Nokia 7610 you can go through the menu in both directions.

About memory

Nokia 7610 has 8MB of internal memory, the largest memory of all Symbian Series 60 phones. Since I don't have official memory data available, I can give you only the information right after startup and with FExplorer application running, when there was 9MB free in the memory. So, perhaps it's around 10 MB in total.

Considering that 7610 is a Symbian Series 60 phone, it's acceptably fast. As I already wrote I don't have the opportunity to compare it with Nokia 6600, nevertheless, according to the remarks in some forums the 7610 mobile phone is faster. The memory card with the installed applications slows down the phone, but without it the main menu it opens apparently faster.

For the first time Nokia has installed a SettingWizard application on the 7610 mobile and I'd appreciate that on every mobile. It finds out your operator (to which network are you logged in) and for few seconds tunes the settings.

SetrtingWizard works automatically -by pressing a single key

As Nokia 7610 is a Symbian phone you can load it with more programs designed for the Series 60 platform. The mobile phone supports also Java. By jBenchmark 1.0 speed test Nokia achieved 2524 points, which is by 100 points more then the older Nokia 6600 model. During tests with jBenchmark 2.0 Nokia 7610 got 162 points, with 40 points more than Nokia 6600 mobile phone. With these results Nokia 7610 ranks among the best of its kind.

The megapixel camera

The most important 7610 innovation is the integrated megapixel camera.

New camera environment • 4x zoom

Because the original pictures in 1152x864 resolution are too large for the web, I have made photos in 800 x 600 resolution. I had two different handsets for the review and it seems that the quality of the pictures is somewhat different. If you have the opportunity to choose among different handsets, try them snap and take the best piece.

Pictures from phone A

Pictures from phone B

Photos in dusk: standard setting • night mode

Megapixel cameras are much better then VGA resolution cameras, but still can't be compared with classic digital cameras. The pictures look very well on the display and it's possible to enlarge them in order to see the details.

Picture preview in the gallery • picture detail • rotated picture in full display mode • enlarged photo

You can choose whether to store the pictures on the phone's internal memory or on the memory card. Considering the fact that every picture has size of about 250 kB at least, it won't take you long to meet a decision. Internal memory can carry about 25 pictures in full resolution compared to 130 pictures, which can be stored on the memory card. Such a large picture can even be sent via MMS message - when you insert a picture into a message it's automatically resized to a smaller size.

Camera lens system: glass is not embedded enough

The installed Kodak Mobile application is used for saving and sharing pictures on the www.kmobile.com. web server. It's a prepaid service with 90 days trial period. For every month after you have to pay $3.

Kodak Mobile application main display

The Print program is designed for printing from the mobile. You can print messages, phone book contacts, photos. You can choose whether you want a small or a large view and select the number of images to be printed per page. It's possible to print direct through a printer via Bluetooth or to save a print file on the memory card and use the card on the printer afterwards. I've seen some of the pictures printed and the result is really not bad, depending on what printer and paper you use.

Print menu

Pictures printed in a digilab are sharply better. In some cases you can't find the difference from a standard photo - if you don't examine it under magnifying glass, of course.

Movies and video-editor

It's possible to shoot videos with Nokia 7610 as well. You can choose whether you want to make short records up to 10 seconds or longer movies, which can take up to 10 minutes. You also choose a 128 x 96 or 176 x 144 movie resolution.

Camera environment

Records are saved in 3GP format and you can play them on your PC with the Nokia Multimedia Player, which is PC suite included. Movies look pretty well considering the capabilities of present mobiles. You can use up to 4x zoom for recording but the impact on the quality is not so strong.

• Sample of a video-record (200 kB)

Owing to the Real Player application you are able to play the records on the phone. The Real Player allows you to watch the movie only in a window. It handles 3GP, MP4, MP3, AMR, AAC and Real Media formats.

Real Player • movie play

The big fun comes with the video-editing programs. Two of them are available on the phone. The video-editor is able to remove sound, add a soundtrack or record your comments. It allows you also to put several records together, cut and remove the unneeded parts.

Video editor

The Movie director can turn a boring static movie into an attractive and dynamic clip. You choose one or more records, some of the styles in the menu, possibly you can step in a sound track or text comments. Phone processes your changes and gives you "a professional video" in less then a minute.

• Demo 1 (87 kB) )
• Demo 2 (285 kB)
• Demo 3 (89 kB)

Movie director main menu • choosing a style

Pictures, videos and sounds are stored in the Gallery. Graphics are shown in thumbnails, which can be enlarged. It's possible to send pictures via Bluetooth from the Gallery to a PC or to another phone.

Gallery folders

Nokia and MP3: tough luck

Nokia 7610 was expected to support MP3 music files. However, the phone supports MP3 and does not.

The integrated multimedia player (Real Player) works with MP3 format. It plays files stored in the memory or on the memory card, compiles playlists too. Nokia's Audio Manager application (PC Suite) is designed especially for recording songs and creating lists - or transferring files from the phone via Bluetooth, cable or memory card reader.

Real Player: playing MP3 file • playlist creation

The Real Player application plays MP3 files in a very poor quality and skips sound almost every second. The integrated speaker has no bass and the headphones can't be connected to the phone. The sound quality can be improved by using some special programs, e.g. Ultra MP3, but Nokia 7610 is almost useless as a MP3 player without the headphones. Tough luck - many people are waiting for this feature.

Ultra MP3 player

Telephony: still the same

Nokia 7610 is a triple band (900/1800/1900 MHz) cell phone. Sound is average, not bad and not really good. For the phone book is using shared memory, it's not limited by number of items. You get into the phone book by pressing the main control key. You can search pretty fast, just write the initial letters of the name and if there are more possibilities in the selection, use the cursor keys to find out the name you want.

Typing a number on the display • dialing number • phone book search

Users can synchronize phone book with Microsoft Outlook or other organizers. In addition to phone numbers, e-mail and post addresses also comments or birthday dates can be stored.

Name detail in the phone book • birthday is not copied in the calendar

Pictures can be assigned to every name and they appear then as an icon in the phone book and with the incoming call. It's possible to assign specific rings to an individual contact or a group; the phone allows you also to use groups in order to filter incoming calls in ringing profiles. The options work the same way as by the previous phone models.

Name detail with the assigned picture; it appears on the display with incoming call • callers groups setting • ringing profiles

Nokia 7610 is able to play MID files on 48 channels. It also supports AMR real sounds as well as MP3 songs as a ringing tone.

The phone book has an integrated "Presence" service, a useful feature, which can be bound with the ringing profiles and lets other know when you are on meeting and can not receive calls. Similarly, you can be informed about the status of a person that you are willing to call. But there is a hitch in this feature: it requires support of a mobile operator.

Settings of the Presence service • status information should be displayed here

Messaging

I did not found serious changes at the messaging service. T9 is traditionally used as by other Nokia smartphones.

Messages menu • incoming message • writing a text message

MMS editor

E-mail browser works the same as by Nokia 6600, supporting various types of attachments.

Email box

Instant messenger is also installed on the phone. As the Presence, it requires support of a mobile operator or other provider.

Internet chat application environment

Organizer: alarm is the most important

Nokia still does not accept the fact that the alarm clock is the most important feature of the organizer. Hence it's the only part of the Clock application in the Extras folder. Still it is not repetitional and single days when it should alarm you can not be set.

Very simple alarm clock

The calendar looks the same way: it appears in daily, weekly and monthly view. But in weekly or monthly view it displays the event overview in a small frame. Till now you had to go to the daily view to see the overview.

Monthly, weekly and daily view in the calendar

Three different types of items can be inserted in the calendar: a meeting, a note, and an anniversary. They differs from each other a bit by details you can assign them. Events can be repeated, you can also add reminders. It's possible to synchronize the calendar with Microsoft Outlook, but text comments can not be added to the events inserted on the phone.

Possible types of events

The synchronization involves also tasks and notes. These applications are still very simple but they will intrigue most of the users.

Tasks and notes

There are some other small applications in the phone as well. Designers did a good work with the calculator but it ignores calculation priorities. Converter converts currencies and other units. You can save your secret data in the Wallet, where a password for access is required.

Calculator • units converter • wallet for secret data

Voice recorder can make up to 1 minute long records. You can listen them, send them via Bluetooth, e-mail or MMS. File manager is very simple, it does not display system files. I recommend you to download some freeware programs, e. g. FExplorer. By the way, there are no games installed in the phone.

Voice recorder • integrated File manager • FExplorer that I installed into the phone

Mobile internet: slow GPRS

Nokia 7610 still supports GPRS class 6 only and 3/2 timeslots. Nokia is presently the slowest from all top-class phones and with its GPRS speed it can be compared to the cheapest handsets.

I can't say anything special regarding the WAP browser but an Opera Internet browser is already pre-installed on the memory card and it can do most of the job. Opera, in general, has its shortcomings too. It is quite slow and the pages are often wrongly displayed. Undoubtedly, there are better programs available.

Opera in the upper row, NetFront below

Users can also find a two-week demo of the Eurosport application in the menu. It's the special Internet browser, which brings sports news from the Eurosport server to the mobile.

Dedicated browser Eurosport

Nokia 7610 can be used for Internet connection. It is connects to a computer via Bluetooth or USB cable. If you make a connection via Bluetooth, don't rely on the Nokia Modem Options, but enter initializing script into the modem options.

Full folder of the applications that Nokia brings on the memory card • funny program demo: what you say is repeated by an adorable hamster.

PC Suite and Bluetooth

In contrast to all former Nokia smartphones with own management software pack, Nokia introduced a remarkable change a few months ago. There's only one PC Suite version, which is compatible with all phone types: ordinary and smart. The way of connecting mobile phone to a PC via Bluetooth has changed. Don't look for Mrouter program icon in the right bottom corner - Mrouter has been used for setting ports where PC Suite works.

There's a new item for the connection settings in the control panel: Nokia Connection Manager. Don't try to set up Bluetooth in the control program of your adapter, because it won't work. Go to Nokia Connection Manager program, choose the way of connection and wait until the phone gets connected to the PC. Unfortunately, I did n't succeed every time and I didn't find yet how to manage it correctly once for all.

With this new feature the applications, which worked with Mrouter before, stopped working. The PC Suite occupies the port used for serial communication and doesn't allow anything else to get there. So it's really unpleasant for you not to see whether PC finds the phone or not. With Mrouter you can know it very easy by just typing the icon. This PC to Nokia phones Bluetooth communication deserves further investigation.

Conclusions

Nokia innovate the Series 60 smartphones very slowly. Just compare the 7610 features with the oldest 7650 model - most of the applications are still the same. As we wrote about the 6600 model, which it brings no radical change, I would write - except the megapixel camera - the same about Nokia 7610.

However, I think that it's not right to judge new phones only by the innovations in comparison to their predecessors. After all, we use the whole handset, not only the new functions and most important are the applications, which didn't change for a long time. From this point of view Nokia 7610 is a top-class phone and in my opinion it is the best one from the whole series. In fact, Nokia disappointed us in some aspects - the audio player and the slow GPRS.

The biggest competitor comes from its own series: Nokia 6600. It's almost identical from a functional point of view and much cheaper at the same time. Siemens SX1, is still not obsolete in multimedia services against the Nokia smartphones. This Siemens model has an integrated radio and it works as an MP3 player as well.

Pros and cons

+ Megapixel camera
+ Design
+ Many applications included
+ USB cable in the package
+ High-capacity memory card in the package
+ Possibility to use graphical motifs

– No radio
– Mono audio player
– Slow GPRS
– Nonstandard memory card

Sales Package Contents

Nokia 7610 imaging phone
64 MB Reduced Size MultiMediaCard (MMC)
Adapter for MMC
Li-ion Battery Cell (BL-5C)
Travel Charger (ACP-12)
USB Connectivity cable (DKU-2)
Wrist strap
CD-ROM
User's Guide