Fantastic and fully featured!. Review on Nokia 7250 i

Just decided to swap my old Panasonic GD 68 for a new phone. Had earlier planned on getting the Nokia 6100, then I saw that this one cost just 700 rupees more. As usual-here's the official product link on Nokia's site:https://nokia.com/nokia/0,,27399,00.html most prominent features are the inbuilt camera (352x288 resolution, with a 'night mode' for low light conditions) and the FM radio.This phone is very similar to the 7250, the 'i' comes from the fact that it has a full XHTML browser, which in layman's terms means it has limited support for non mobile websites as well. It also differs from the 7250 by supporting picture caller ID-you can set an image for each of your contacts, that will be displayed when they call.Apart from this-here's my comments on various aspects:-

Looks and ergonomics The default cover for the phone is plum colored, and sports a brushed metal finish, that is quite sleek. The color is a little unconventional, but then these can always be changed according to your need. As with most Nokia phones, it is a pleasure to hold, and the keys are large enough to comfortably type without straining one's fingertips-

Display The 4096 color display is quite bright and sharp, easy to read.-

Tones The phone ships with 11 monophonic tones, and 20 polyphonic tones, and these are quite loud and adequate.

GPRS browsing The builtin GPRS browser, with XHTML functionality, is a breeze to use. You can create bookmarks, and categorize them for ringtone,wallpaper and application downloads.Full Java support means that you can get hold of games and small applications from sites that provide them.Browsing on a Hutch GPRS connection is moderately fast, although not as fast as the newer EDGE enabled handsets that are appearing now.

User interface Full marks to Nokia as usual, for an easy UI that is consistent across all their phones. Current Nokia users will find be able to learn to use this in no time at all.-When you enter a number, you can do several things with it-dial, save as a new entry, as an extra number for a contact, or send a message.-

One major drawback I felt was the inability to assign tones to individual contacts; something that almost every other Nokia phone can do. However, you can organize contacts into groups (maximum 5) and then assign a tone to that group.-Since there are so many features, a 'go to' option is there that lets you create a list of shortcuts to frequently used features so that you don't have to search menus each time.-The phone has 3.3 MB of shared memory, which included space for 500 contacts and 150 SMSes, so this seems quite adequate.-Pictures taken by the camera (352x288 resolution) average about 10k in size, so lots can be taken.

ConnectivityThe phone supports both infrared for laptop users and a USB data cable (not included). I bought an infra red adapter for my PC, since I don't have a laptop. The infra adapter is cheap-only about 400 bucks, and I would recommend it if you want to easily transfer data.I installed Nokia PC Suite, an easy to use set of tools to transfer ringtones, wallpapers, contact info and SMSes. The software supports MS Outlook/Outlook Express for contacts, calendar, to-do lists etc. Here are some websites for free stuff: http://www.free-nokia-wallpapers.com (offer ready to use phone size images, that you can upload with cable/infra) http://www.polyphonicringtonez.com (offer free WAP download of ringtones) http://www.esato.com-(Select free wallpapers, and get them from wap.esato.com on your phone) http://www.mobilegear.biz-Free wallpapers and java games

Notes and reminders You can get one touch access to the calendar using the navigation key (right side).When you create a note, you can classify it as a meeting, call, birthday, reminder or memo.While creating, you can also select a contact from the contact list(for example, when specifying whose birthday)

Radio The radio only works when the supplied headset is attached; since it functions as an FM antenna. However, once connected, you can play it through the inbuilt loudspeaker as well. (The loudspeaker by the way, is quite clear and well suited for handsfree conversations) Upto 20 FM stations can be preset, automatic/manual tuning is supported. The FM radio however, is highly directional, and you may end up having to hold out the wire of the handsfree, to improve reception.

Camera The camera won't win any awards for picture quality-but then, it's a phone with a camera, not the other way round. For true megapixel resolution,the 7610 is a better (and costlier) deal.For impromptu images, taken for mobile blogging or similar purposes, this camera is quite adequate. The images are a bit grainy, but not too bad either. A 'night mode' is there for low light conditions; there is no flash provided.

MMS This phone has separate folders for MMS messages. I haven't been able to test receiving MMS-since all the people I know with MMS capable handsets are using Airtel-which charges 5 bucks per MMS I'm told. (Hutch charges a flat rate of 100 per month for unlimited GPRS /MMS access) Sending MMS between Airtel and Hutch (Delhi in both cases) doesn't reliably work. It took a few hours before a friend could acknowledge receipt.

Summary Here's a high end phone whose price has plummeted of late, has several advanced features, very refined calendaring and contact management (almost PDA class), and excellent WAP browsing-all with the legendary Nokia ease of use, clear reception and good battery life.If you're a gadget freak, and would find these extra features useful-go ahead and buy it.