Every time I hear about a new Symbian update, I cross my fingers and hope that this time, there'll be a dramatic overhaul, something big enough to scoop Nokia out of the smartphone sinkhole. There have been three Symbian updates in the last year – Symbianˆ3, Anna, and now Belle. Symbian Belle promises new widgets, more homescreens, an improved status bar, and above all, NFC (near field communications). To mark its launch, Nokia introduced three new handsets. This week I have the Nokia 701, the most high-end of the lot.
First impressions
The 701 is a really good looking phone. Like the Sony Ericsson Xperia Ray, the 701 is small, with a screen size of just 3.5-inches. The screen features a Clear Back display with a 360x640 resolution and a protective Gorilla glass casing. Below the screen are a trio of physical buttons – Call, Menu and End. It's quite refreshing to be able to press a button to answer or receive a call. The aluminium finish on the sides and back give the phone a sleek and sophisticated look.
The 701 features a mini USB port, power button, volume toggle switch and physical camera button. Unlike the X7, this phone can be charged via the regular Nokia thin pin charger.
User interface
The differences in Symbian Belle aren't blatantly obvious, but I did notice that the homescreens looked more polished, with attractive widgets and shortcuts. There's an improved notification bar on the top which is similar to the Android one. It can be accessed by a simple ‘pull down' gesture and displays all alerts and notifications. It also lets you access Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and data settings without going into the Settings menu. There's also a strip of touch buttons at the bottom of the screen which change depending on what application you're using. Overall, it's pretty sleek and intuitive. What I didn't like was the excessively cluttered Menu screen. The 701 comes with a lot of pre-installed apps which you really won't use. At least Belle lets me create a separate folder in the Menu screen so I was able to get all the unwanted apps out of sight.
The touchscreen on the phone was smooth and responsive, but I'm not a fan of the keyboard. It was fine on the X7 because of the massive screen, but on the 701 it's far too cramped, even in landscape mode. Word prediction is also very poor, and unfortunately the Ovi Store doesn't have any good keyboards to download.
Productivity
The 701 is one of the faster Nokia handsets out there, and that can be attributed to two factors. The first is the 1GHz processor, and the second is Belle itself, which is a faster UI. The browser is considerably faster, and the mail app is efficient. The Ovi Social app hasn't undergone any changes, so social networking is still a weak point for Nokia.
Nokia does seem to be going all out with the camera, and the 701 is no exception. The 8-megger on the back panel was one of the better mobile cameras I've seen so far. There are a bunch of manual functions and the pictures are sharp with good colour reproduction.
Preloaded on the 701 are a few games like Angry Birds and Asphalt 5. The gyro sensor was very efficient and allowed me to take sharp turns on the track while maintaining control
NFC has been widely talked about in terms of transactions, but Nokia has chosen to use it more like a media-friendly technology. When Nokia introduced Symbian Belle in Hong Kong, I experienced a first-hand demo of NFC. It was as easy as tapping the 701 to another NFC enabled phone to transfer a file, or do the same with a pair of NFC-enabled headphones to pair the two. NFC can even be used to unlock new levels for games like Angry Birds and Fruit Ninja.
Performance
Despite the 1GHz processor, I did have some issues with the phone freezing occasionally, usually during gaming. I also noticed minor lags when opening apps and multi-tasking. Call quality was one of the strong points of the phone – I didn't face any issues with dropped calls, and in call volume was loud enough for easy conversations in a noisy environment.
However, battery life is where the 701 really emerges a winner. It's the best I've seen on any smartphone so far. With the usual number of calls, plus Ovi Social, Email and WhatsApp logged on, the phone lasted about two days on a single charge.
Our Verdict
If you're looking for a smartphone primarily for making calls and accessing email, the Nokia 701 is a good and affordable bet. However if you want a phone that's media friendly and gives you access to a bunch of apps, you'd be better off waiting for the result of the Nokia Windows phone.
Love: Excellent battery life, good screen
Hate: Bad keyboard, occasional lags
Rs 18,999
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