Since Nokia E7 specs sheet leaked in the wild, it was clear that for the first time Nokia's flagship smartphone will not be an Nseries device. After teasing the market with the N8, which was mildly received by the fans, the E7 can be considered the company's comeback.
For those who already had the chance to experience the N8, the E7 is pretty much the same but on a larger scale, thanks to the 4-inch display.
Although the smartphone was launched after Nokia announced that is ditching the Symbian OS for the Windows Phone 7, as its first tier mobile platform, the manufacturer didn't hold back when came to quality.
The fact that this is an Eseries device makes it an obvious choice as a business smartphone, but in truth, the E7 is an all-rounder, which is exactly what Nokia wanted.
Either you're interested in taking pictures and share them on your social network account, or perhaps you wish to use the handset as a complex agenda and mobile office, the E7 can do all of these and then some more.
The fact that E7 comes to replace the N8 is a double-edged mission for Nokia, as this is likely to raise the users expectations. If the E7 will have at least the same level of success of the N8, than Nokia's mission will be accomplished.
Design
Nokia E7 features the same look as its N8 predecessor and is cut from a single aluminum block. The metal chassis makes it heavier than most of the smartphones in its size range, but gives it a solid look.
The slider bears the signature of the lead industrial designer Shunjiro Eguchi who used a pomegranate fruit as an inspiration to design the E7. Eguchi tried to make the phone look simple and minimalistic, and by our standards he was successful.
Apparently amazing things happened to the device while it was in testing stage, as the smartphone had no less than 10 (ten!) QWERTY keyboards variants, until the final version was decided upon.
Based on this fact we should assume that the E7 has the best QWERTY keyboard ever embedded into a Nokia device. However, even if this is true, how does the Nokia E7's keyboard fares against other brands? We already know that this is the best Nokia has done lately, but is it enough to beat the competition?
One of the most important things while building a side-slider is the quality of the hinge that makes the phone more durable. Nokia E7 has a huge hinge, which is operated by a spring, thus helping users slide the phone more easily. Basically, you will only need to give the keyboard a small push and the spring will take over and finish the sliding move for you.
However, it took me some time to get used with this rigid mechanism. I'm not sure why, but the E7's slide-out keyboard needs to be pushed down a little bit by pressing your thumbs on both corners of the front face. One piece of advice, be careful when you slide the phone for the first time, as it may jump out of your hands.
Once you get used with the sliding mechanism you won't have any problems. That, or you'll be frustrated that you cannot slide it with only one hand.
Based on this fact we should assume that the E7 has the best QWERTY keyboard ever embedded into a Nokia device. However, even if this is true, how does the Nokia E7's keyboard fares against other brands? We already know that this is the best Nokia has done lately, but is it enough to beat the competition?
One of the most important things while building a side-slider is the quality of the hinge that makes the phone more durable. Nokia E7 has a huge hinge, which is operated by a spring, thus helping users slide the phone more easily. Basically, you will only need to give the keyboard a small push and the spring will take over and finish the sliding move for you.
However, it took me some time to get used with this rigid mechanism. I'm not sure why, but the E7's slide-out keyboard needs to be pushed down a little bit by pressing your thumbs on both corners of the front face. One piece of advice, be careful when you slide the phone for the first time, as it may jump out of your hands.
Once you get used with the sliding mechanism you won't have any problems. That, or you'll be frustrated that you cannot slide it with only one hand.
The phone's keyboard features rubber-like and responsive keys, which are well spaced and arranged on four rows. The big size of the phone allowed the designer of the phone to go wild with the keyboard, so you'll have the time of your life while texting with the E7. Indeed this is the best keyboard Nokia has ever put into one of its handsets.
This is one of the first keyboards that I had some success while trying to type without looking at the keys. If that doesn't mean anything, than try it for yourself.
To confirm the minimalistic approach, Nokia E7 features as little external keys as possible. There's only the lock/unlock sliding key placed on the left side on the phone. The right side includes a the shutter key, another sliding key that controls the phone's volume (clever), as well as a small port that allows users to insert the SIM card.
The stripe that covers the port is not the usual plastic stripe that protects it from getting too much dust; instead, it's the outside part of the metallic tray where the SIM card is inserted, so don't try to pull it out while the SIM is inside, as your phone will restart.
The phone's mic is placed on the bottom side, so make sure you don't cover it with your hand during calls. On top side there's a microUSB port, an HDMI port, a 3.5mm audio jack and the power on-off button.
The only thing that seems to disturb the 'mojo' of the E7 is the fact that the microUSB port is not covered. Save for that, the rest of the external keys are blending perfectly into the phone's body, which gives the E7 the feeling of 'wholeness'.
Above the 4-inch touch screen there's the earpiece, in between the ambient light sensor proximity sensors to the left, and the secondary camera for video calling, which is placed next to the right.
The 8-megapixel main camera on the back side of the phone features dual LED flash. Unfortunately, the camera was left totally unprotected, so as solid and durable the phone looks, the camera will always be its soft spot.
Obviously, the phone's battery cannot be pulled out, and this time it really cannot be replaced. There are no screws to be unscrewed or anything else that can be detached without seriously damaging the phone.
Overall, Nokia's job with the phone's construction is praiseworthy. The angular shape, the unibody form factor and the minimalistic approach is a sure win for Nokia.
Display and Camera
Nokia E7 comes with the company's best mobile display technology on board, ClearBlack. Unlike N8's 3.5-inch AMOLED display, this one features a consistently larger 4.0-inch display of nHD (360 x 640 pixels) resolution.
Although ClearBlack technology isn't really something new it's a considerable improvement from the basic AMOLED displays. Nokia E7's touchscreen features a polarized filter on top that is supposed to block light, reduce reflections on the screen and improve visual image quality, especially outdoors.
Basically, with ClearBlack display the E7 is able to provide a high quality image in any type of situation, indoors, outdoors, low-light and bright-light. In addition, the phone's ClearBlack display adjusts the brightness automatically to optimum level depending on the conditions you are in, which will also save some battery life.
This is the second Nokia device that is delivered with this kind of display, after Nokia C6-01, that we already reviewed.
That being said, you won't have to worry about not being able to see what's displayed on the screen when the phone is exposed to strong sunlight. To make the entire phone extremely durable not just the body, the display is covered by scratch resistant Gorilla glass.
The phone also features built-in accelerometer for display auto-rotation, multi-touch input method, as well as proximity sensor for auto turn-off.
Even though it's the ultimate business smartphone, the E7 boasts a worthy 8-megapixel camera on board. However, the superior camera is crippled by the fact that it lacks autofocus, which was replaced with fixed focus. The latter makes the camera useless when you need to picture something at closer range.
Foxconn employees are being asked to sign agreements according to which they will not commit suicide or, in case they do hurt themselves, they will not tarnish the company’s image over it.
