Nokia C7 deals & review

Symbian is the most used phone operating system in the world, due largely in part to it being advocated by Nokia. But with the rise of the Apple iPhone and the increasing sophistication of operating systems like Android, Symbian has decided it needs to bring itself in line with the competition. Symbian^3 now introduces new features to the beloved OS to make it compatible with all the latest trends in the phone industry. Social network integration is a huge part of this update and this feature is put to great use on the C7.

With Friend Stream you can be updated with your friends´ status updates and tweets from popular social networks directly to your home page. You no longer need to go into the browser, or even open a special app. You can integrate all of the information pooled from these services into your contacts list on the phone, providing you with much easier means of keeping in touch. With 3G and Wi-Fi support the C7 is excellent for keeping in touch online, and this also brings many other internet benefits.

A defining feature of the C7 is its video support, and the online presence allows you to stream video from websites like YouTube. You also gain access to Web TV which allows you to tune into CNN, BBC or National Geographic among many other stations, all from the comfort of your phone. The C7 is the perfect phone for viewing videos as well, with a 3.5" capacitive screen with a very sharp HD resolution. The proportions of the phone also mean that if you turn it on its side it is the ideal ratio for widescreen videos. MicroSD affords you over 32GB of storage space to keep hold of all these videos that can keep you entertained while on the move.

But you don´t need to just watch the same old movies that you copy over to the C7 from your computer (using USB), you can also record your own HD videos with the 8 megapixel camera. This records superb quality videos and is an excellent device for capturing still photographs as well, with its dual LED flash and many other features. There is also a secondary camera on the front of the C7 that can be used for video calling. While this only provides VGA quality video, this is still a step up from the main camera on many contemporary phones.

Nokia Music Player allows you to listen to your favourite music on the go, and more music can be downloaded from the Ovi Store with minimal hassle. On top of the music and video entertainment, the C7 also provides you with hours of fun with its touchscreen games. With OpenGL graphics acceleration the games available on the C7 are far more visually tantalising than you would expect on a mobile phone.

The changes to Symbian are greatly appreciated and can certainly be felt to make a difference on the C7. The phone performs exceptionally well in all areas of entertainment and is a fantastic phone for keeping in touch, either through standard phone calls and SMS messages, or through all the new channels that have opened up as the world becomes more online.