Sindre Lia takes a closer look at Nokia's first consumer-oriented 3G handset, featuring a rather quirky design, integrated VGA camera and MP3 player.
Exterior
Rather unusually shaped, Nokia's new 7600 weighs in at a modest 123 g and measures 8.7 x 7.8 x 1.9 cm, with the 16-bit TFT screen as the centerpiece of the front of the phone. Sporting a resolution of 128 x 160 pixels, this is joined by two rows of numerical keys adjacent to the sides of the screen, while its navigational pad and soft buttons are placed just below the display.
 | The Nokia 7600 and its quirky design
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The on/off button is located on top of the phone, where we also find a shortcut button for picture taking and video recording using the integrated VGA camera - incidentally placed just behind this button on the very top of the backside of the handset. On the left side, we find the conventional volume adjustment buttons, a shortcut button for the voice recorder function, as well as an Infrared port. And finally, the combined Pop-port and USB connector is located at the bottom of the phone.
Ergonomics
As previously mentioned, the numerical keypad of the Nokia 7600 discards a more traditional layout in favour of rows placed adjacent to its screen, resulting in very poor one-handed usability. What's more, keys are narrowly spaced, and usability does not seem to have been a requirement at all - however the unusual shape of the 7600 still makes for a comfortable grip during one-handed use of the navigational pad and its soft buttons.
Features
The Nokia 7600 is equipped with GSM 900/1800 MHz and GPRS connectivity, as well as WCDMA 2100 MHz, and is as such capable of connecting to 3G networks. Sadly, Norwegian networks have yet to launch commercial 3G services, and as such we have been unable to review the audio and video streaming capabilities of the handset.
Audio in the shape of AAC and MP3 files can however be transferred to the 7600 via USB, and stored for playback using the handsets's music player. The 7600 offers 30 MB of internal, dynamic memory, and is capable of storing a maximum of 50 minutes of music in AAC format. There is however no means of memory expansion, and as such users must solely rely on PC connectivity or 3G networks for updating their selection of tunes.
Furthermore, the 7600 is equipped with a VGA camera offering a maximum resolution of 0.3 megapixels (640 x 480 pixels), equipped with the usual night mode to be applied under poor lighting conditions. When connected to a 3G network, users will also be able to send MMS messages during phone calls, and the handset is also equipped with an XHTML browser, polyphonic ringtones and J2ME support as well as Infrared, Bluetooth and USB support for PAN connectivity.
Performance
The menu system of the Nokia 7600 is based upon Series 45, and utilizes an icon based menu which is both simplistic and user friendly. What concerns text input and general performance, Series 45 performs on par with Series 40 - although the placement of the numerical keys on the 7600 enforces two-handed use.
Under good lighting conditions and at 0.3 megapixel resolution, the VGA camera of the handset offers up pictures of good quality. Video recordings are somewhat blurry when played back, but this is more due to the camera than the good 16-bit TFT display. Meanwhile, Nokia's Audio Manager software - for Windows desktops only - ensures quick and easy transfer of music from PC to phone via USB, although the lack of memory expansion quickly makes itself known.
Audio quality in the Nokia 7600 is very good. The listed battery capacity of the handset claims up to 12 days of standby time and 4 or 3 hours of GSM and WCDMA talk time, respectively. During testing, we experienced a standby time of approximately 8 days, while talk time averaged 3.5 hours using a GSM network.
Availability
The Nokia 7600 is now available throughout Europe and sells in the 600 EUR range without subscription.
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