Sporting plenty of RAM and an integrated digital camera in a compact design, Sindre Lia thinks Nokia's new 7250 does a decent job of combining phone and camera functionality.
Recently, Nokia has been making an effort to push its mobile phone accessories. Nevertheless, the manufacturer also recently introduced the Nokia 7250 model, sporting tri-band GSM 900/1800/1900 MHz connectivity and an integrated digital camera with capabilities similar to that of which is available as an accessory for - among other phones - the Nokia 7210. And, for those having read our recent review of the Nokia 7210, the major difference between this model and the 7250 is simply the integration of the camera, a bit of added functionality and a whole lot of RAM.
 | Nokia's 7250 offers an integrated digital camera and a sizeable amount of internal memory
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The Nokia 7250 weighs in at 92 g and measures 105 x 44 x 19 mm, which is only slightly more than the 7210 model on which it is based with its 83 g and 106 x 45 x 17.5 mm. In other words, it is hardly noticeable that the 7250 sports an integrated camera, which incidentally is placed far up to the right on the back of the phone. Gracing the front of the 7250 is yet another new keypad design, however despite several successful attempts by Nokia over the course of the past year, this one does not quite measure up. Key spacing is too narrow, and during our review a number of left/right key presses were perceived as up presses.
The integrated digital camera is as aforementioned of similar type as the the Nokia Camera Headset HS-1C accessory. The Nokia 7250's camera however, offers a resolution of 288 x 352, but have its own application for letting users control certain aspects of the camera, such as storing images in high or low resolution. As with the HS-1C, the Nokia 7250 depends on good lighting conditions to achieve a tolerable level of quality, since there is no built-in flash.
Another important difference between the Nokia 7250 and Nokia 7210 - camera aside - is that the 7250's memory capacity totals a whopping 3,5 MB compared with the 7210's measly 725 KB. This memory is dynamically shared by several applications, and can store not only pictures (which take up 30 KB and 12 KB in high and low resolution modes, respectively), but also downloadable J2ME applications and games. Additionally, the 7250 supports polyphonic ringtones and MMS, both for which date are stored in the dynamic memory. And, on the note of MMS, pictures taken with the digital camera can easily be retrieved and inserted into such messages.
A handsfree set also comes bundled with the 7250, enabling use of the internal FM radio as well as being useful for voice calls. Its audio quality is good, as is the signal reception. Other features worthy of mentioning include a WAP 1.2.1 browser, an Infrared port and reliable HSCSD/GPRS support. Also, the 12-bit (4,096 colours) display of the 7250 offers up 8 lines of text - all powered by the Series 40 operating system.
According to Nokia, the standby time of the handset is up to 12,5 days and the talk time up to 5 hours: our experiences rather proved them to be 10 days and 4 hours, respectively.
Availability
The Nokia 7250 is now available throughout Europe, selling in the 550 EUR price range without subscription.
Conclusion
Nokia's 7250 comes recommended for users looking for camera functionality. In addition to its integrated digital camera, the Nokia 7250 offers a relatively speaking whopping memory capacity of 3,5 MB - all without adding particularly to weight and vital measurements compared with the Nokia 7210. In addition, the phone offers up a user friendly interface through the Series 40 operating system, and a comfortable 12-bit display.
- What's positive: Integrated digital camera, sizeable memory, good battery life
- What's negative: No Bluetooth, a tad expensive
| Features | 7/10 |
| Exterior | 8/10 |
| Ergonomics | 5/10 |
| Performance | 6/10 |
| Value: | 5/10 |
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iSW Score:
6.2/10 |
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