Nokia 7650

Pushing the envelope in terms of mobile communications technology is familiar ground for Nokia. With its brick-like 9110 Communicator (see Reviews, issue 55, p171), the company received considerable flak from a community used to ever-decreasing proportions. But no-one could deny the technological achievements at the time, and the 9110 rightfully found a place in the hands of professionals who could email, check their PC-synchronised agenda and type the odd memo using the integrated keyboard - the main cause of the 9110's bulk. With the benefit of this experience, Nokia has now developed the 7650, boasting PDA functionality and dimensions that should appeal to the size-conscious masses.

To raise the appeal of the 7650, Nokia is hedging its bets on the gadget factor by including a 640 x 480 resolution camera. Sliding down the back cover reveals a small lens mounted in the rear, with the large front display acting as a viewfinder. Nokia doesn't claim that this little device is good enough to replace your standard digital camera, but whereas the Sony Ericsson CommuniCam and HP's Pocket Camera leave a lot to be desired, the 7650 simply begs you to be snap happy.

The 7650 also features one of the best screens we've seen, displaying icons with a clarity that makes it easy to see what each symbol means. Navigating through the 7650's menu is also incredibly simple, thanks to the rugged five-way mini-joystick. In fact, it's such a doddle you hardly notice the lack of a touchscreen and stylus, common to many other PDA/phone hybrids.

In the past, introducing colour to mobile phones and PDAs has adversely affected battery life and slowed down the OS, particularly if it's a Microsoft OS. It's no surprise, then, to see Nokia shy away from using Microsoft's Smartphone edition of Pocket PC in favour of a version of Symbian OS 6.1 customised into the Nokia Series 60 platform. The reduced feature set and design are optimised for a Nokia interface (specifically for joystick input), which results in an efficient platform that's not only quick but also promises up to 150 hours' standby time. We were certainly impressed with the speed of the OS, and the battery life claims were also borne out during testing.

To extend battery life as much as possible, Nokia has built in a light sensor, which automatically adjusts the display's brightness depending on the lighting conditions. A proximity sensor is also integrated for disabling the loudspeaker function should you lift the phone to your ear for a more private conversation. That said, the loudspeaker feature is an extremely worthy inclusion, making good use of the Beatnik Audio Engine.

As for the reduced feature set, most users will welcome this approach, as many features provided with full PDAs are to some extent wasted. What you do get is an agenda and a contacts database, to which you can also attach pictures - useful for identifying incoming callers. Both can be synchronised with popular desktop PIMs, including the ubiquitous Microsoft Outlook. A to-do app is included too, although this is very much a token inclusion as it's unable to synchronise with any PC equivalent.

Connection to your PC can be via infrared or Bluetooth (connection via direct cable isn't currently available). Measures have been taken to improve the wireless connectivity experience, but it's still a long way from equalling the ease and simplicity of the direct cable solution. Whichever method you choose, once you've established a COM connection you can install the modem driver and use the 7650 as a wireless modem for browsing the Web or collecting email at GPRS speeds. Out of the box, this is your only method for full Web browsing, as the 7650 just ships with a WAP browser as standard. That said, Symbian OS 6.1 is fully capable of supporting a HTML browser, and using Nokia's PC Suite you'll be able to upload further apps (including those written using the Java 2 Platform, Micro Edition) to the 7650 as and when they arrive.