Nokia 7210 - Flashy, Bold and Contemporary
ngws 12th Oct 2002

The screen/Keypad

STN Screen

    With the 7210, we see yet another STN screen (jittery .. jittery). My views on this STN thingy are mainly from my experiences with the Sony Ericsson T68m/i and the older generation of laptops which produce 'ghosts' and the inherent slower interface. However all my views were thrown out of the windows when I reviewed the Nokia 7650 (which uses a STN too)... The screen on the Nokia 7650 didn't exhibit any slowdown at all. And it's fast and bright. Will the Nokia 7210 come up short? Well .. The ghosts are back. However, they are slight and barely noticeable. You have absolutely nothing to worry about as it's not as bad as the SE T68m/i and the 7210 is also much faster. I also  noticed some minor flickering on the right side of screen. You will need to stare up-close to see it .. maybe it's an isolated case.

STN screen reasonably bright & colorful / Date display (middle of screen?!)

A comparison of screens

Unconventional Keypad

    A new radically different keypad. It looks like a reverse Christmas tree; Tapering toward the bottom. The feel is comfortable (weight, size) and the buttons protrude just enough with a good amount of bounce with each press. However, the bottom three buttons, * 0 #, are placed too close together for my comfort. While my friends and colleagues in the office have no problem with that arrangement, I feel compelled to point this out. With this 'radical layout', the backlight is actually quite bright (Camera is not capturing what my eyes can see) and acceptable.  

Cool keypad / Nice Backlight

Menu/Settings

    The menu interface is typical Nokia. Newbies or oldies will have no problem fitting in. It's pretty straight forward with a main section followed by the individual sub-entries. For example, when you select Settings, you will have Call Settings, Phone Settings etc. Clean and concise. Alas, there is no control over the font size in the menu :( I believe some users would prefer to have a choice.

Easy and clear menu navigation / A 'quick help' description

    The usual icons are given a makeover and they look sweet. Certainly appealing, now that they are in color. Navigation is fast and the response is almost instantaneous.

Icons compared with Nokia 8850

SMS

    SMSing with a Nokia phone is snappy and quick. I can attest to that statement. This is something of a cult culture. It's a benchmark for others to follow. So, is there any noticeable lag in the Nokia 7210 like the SE T68m/i? Fret not, it's as fast as you can get. Every alphabet is promptly displayed on the screen as you type from the beginning right to the end. There is also an option to customize the alert tone under tone settings.

    An option to change the font size within the messaging section.

Big & small font size selection for messaging   

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