Nokia's 9210 Communicator is the very first device available to make use of the Symbian operating system, which certainly confirms the old saying that beauty lies within.
As one of the leading mobile device manufacturing companies, products from Nokia are usually among the most innovative and popular ones on the market. To some degree, this also goes for the monochrome Nokia 9110's Communicator successor - the Nokia 9210 Communicator. With an improved and brilliant 12-bit color display and the Symbian operating system running everything, power is a-plenty and so is PIM and office applications support. Unfortunately, not everything thought out in the Finnish woods is as good as the display.
The hardware
Nokia has been in the game for a long time, and knows what people like to find when they open the boxes their new phones come in: Next to nothing, and everything should be packed neatly. In ours was the 9210 itself, accompanied only by an AC adaptor and its serial synchronization cable, while a separate pull-out cardboard section contained the manuals.
 | | It isn't exactly a beauty, but it still has that clean, neat and sophisticated Nokia look |
Like its predecessor, the Nokia 9210 wouldn't really pass for a fashion accessory - actually, I was thinking of nicknaming it "the brick", but since that one is already taken I'll settle for telling you that the silvery shade makes it look better than the 9110 - but not that much. I'd classify it as a modestly good looking professional work tool, which is also exactly what the Nokia 9210 is supposed to be.
The 9210 is designed for being used either with the display lid being opened or closed, and as a consequence of this it has an external LCD screen placed on the outside of the display lid. There, you'll find the left and right menu navigational buttons, along with the up and down scroll buttons, the green and red confirm/deny or should one say pick up/hang up buttons, a button to let you choose between your stored calling profiles - and of course a numeric keypad and the power on/off button.
On the bottom, the RS232 interface for connecting to a PC for synchronization through the bundled serial cable is located, and the IR port is there as well. The antenna on top of the phone can either be left alone or flipped out - the latter one increases the signal reception quite a bit. On the backside of the phone you'll find the SMS and MMS card slots, as well as the speaker and microphone for using the 9210 as a mobile phone while the display lid is closed.
However, it's on the inside that the Nokia 9210 really comes to its right with its 640 x 200 pixel resolution screen, capable of showing 12-bit color, and a full ordinary keyboard layout (available not only in English, but also several other localized keyboard layouts) which also has a row of shortcut buttons to launch applications in the Symbian operating system which is what makes the 9210 tick.
The keyboard uses its Shift and Chr buttons to let you access special functions, and all applications have a number of keyboard shortcuts, which shortens the amount of time it takes to peddle through the drop-down menus of applications which is accessed through the Menu button on the keyboard. Particularly useful is the shortcuts to adjust the contrast, zoom in and out and activate the infrared port with only a couple of key presses.
On the right side and next to the display, there are four choice buttons that are used by applications to let you select alternatives, and along with the Menu button and the four-way navigational pad placed in the lower right corner of the keyboard, these are the primary tools you have for controlling the 9210's Symbian operating system - which is just as new to me as it is to all of you.
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