Nokia E7

“The Nokia E7 is either the best Symbian^3 smartphone on the market or the second best. This just can’t be bad news – whether you’re a brand-loyal upgrader or an unbiased user shopping for a premium smartphone.Symbian has been questioned and doubted but Nokia are giving users something to hang on to, something to use in their defense. The E7 has all the latest and most advanced ingredients: a ClearBlack AMOLED screen, USB-on-the-go, an HDMI port, penta-band 3G. HD video, the anodized unibody and a lifetime sat-nav license are also massive points in favor.But are we simply delaying the inevitable here? Even the best Symbian^3 devices aren’t quite on par with the competition. It’s not about the specs, nor is it about the power or performance. It’s that bit of touchscreen magic that has so far eluded Nokia and Symbian. Frustrated to the point of giving up, Nokia are looking to Windows Phone 7 to get their inspiration back.It obviously isn’t the E7’s fault but – just as obvious – the Nokia E7 will have to suffer the consequences. Politics aside, the E7 is having another thing to worry about. It seems a little overpriced at the moment and, we are afraid, by the time its price settles down Symbian will be a few months closer to its inevitable demise.That’s the curse the Nokia E7 has to live with. Last time we checked, Eseries were the easiest phones to recommend to anyone looking for a handsome, sensible and powerful business phone. And they didn’t even have to be die-hard Symbian fans. But things look different for the E7 – its timing just couldn’t have been worse. This may not be the end of an era – but the Nokia E7 certainly is on the wrong end of a generation gap.”

“With a redesigned Symbian letting you take your work with you, the Nokia E7 is one of the most convincingly business-like phones Nokia has put out for a while. Symbian 3 doesn't neglect your social life, either.”

“After spending several weeks with the Nokia E7, there's absolutely no doubt that it's one of the sexiest pieces of hardware we've played with in recent months. Perhaps it's not the greatest Communicator Espoo has ever bestowed upon us, but it comes close and offers the most balanced set of features of any Symbian device to date. This makes it Nokia's de facto flagship smartphone and Symbian's ambassador for the foreseeable future. Devoted Symbian fans will likely be unfazed by the official $679 asking price for the E7 (unlocked and unsubsidized) and will seriously consider picking one up (or its N8 sibling), but for the rest of us the E7 misses the mark. While providing excellent battery life, proper multitasking, and some unique functionality that will please power users, Symbian remains an unmitigated disaster, with a sluggish, frustrating, and cosmetically antiquated user experience. We just can't recommend the E7, especially in light of what the Google and Apple ecosystems have to offer. Dear Nokia, please give us an E7 with a higher pixel-density display, an autofocus camera, a current-generation processor, and a tasty serving of Windows Phone. Oh, and do it soon -- the sharks are starting to smell blood.”

“Nevertheless, we were thrilled by the Nokia E7's boutique design, rock solid construction, and its choice of employing the most premium of materials. Despite the ho-hum for today's standards processor speeds, it is more than enough to run Symbian, and it offers many additional functionalities like an HDMI port, and USB-on-the-go. The 8MP camera quality is very far from the one on the Nokia N8, but it is decent to say the least, and the ability to record HD video is of course a good treat.On the software front the Nokia E7 shines with its enterprise orientation - wide support for corporate email and remote IT management capabilities for locking and wiping it from afar. Push open that nice physical keyboard, and you will be dishing out work emails in no time at enviable speeds. Add to this Ovi Maps with its free offline voice-guided navigation in most countries, and the only things of dire need for update are the browser and the interface, which should be coming further down the road. As an additional drawback, we can add the unimpressive number of apps found in the Ovi Store.In short, if you are a Nokia fan, you won't be disappointed with the Nokia E7. If you have left the camp, or never been lured into it, the HTC 7 Pro with Windows Phone 7, and the HTC Desire Z with Android are both excellent choices with physical slide-out QWERTY keyboards.”