Review: Nokia 7280

by Matt Davey on 31 August 2005, 00:00

Tags: Nokia (NYSE:NOK)

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Conclusion

Whilst the 7280 was designed with a specific brief in mind it’s hard to believe that usability and practicality were not also on the checklist. The look of the 7280 is no doubt an acquired taste, and the screen, whilst crisp is really too small to be functional.

The 7280 is designed for those that like to go out and have fun and is more for the feminine rather than the male market.

The NaviPad™ really is a great navigational feature and it’s hard to understand why Nokia has not implemented this feature on other handsets since the launch of the 7280.

The 7280 is to be seen as a design study, not a realistically usable phone. It's amazing that Nokia approved it beyond the design board, let alone put it in to production, but for that such bravery they must be commended.

Overall there are some very clever features that would be great to see on future designs, but there is no realistic market for this handset any more. Its features and its looks are already well past it, but if they take the better elements from the 7280 and implement them in future models then Nokia might just have something.

Pros

  • NaviPad™ is clever, and very easy to use
  • Light Weight

Cons

  • Not really practical
  • Non-user replacement battery
  • Screen is too small

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HEXUS Forums :: 4 Comments

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Posted by chrestomanci - Wed 31 Aug 2005 16:55
That was quite a negative review. It strikes me that the reviewer did not like it because it is not the kind of phone they would buy, and not necessarily because there was anything wrong with it.

This phone is clearly indented for fashionable 20 something young women, who want something small and cute to make calls with. It is not intended as a smartphone for geeks or technology enthusiasts who would need more features.

From the description, once the user has filled the address book on the thing via Bluetooth or IR, it would make a perfectly good phone, so the criticism of the wheel for entering names is irrelevant. Instead I think the wheel is a good feature for the target market as it makes the phone smaller, and gives it an unusual appearance.

Likewise, I don’t think the non replaceable battery is a problem either. Only power users replace batteries in their phones, most people just treat them as fixed, and only remove them to get at the SIM card. By the time the battery wears out in two years time, the owner will have upgraded to something else in any case, and the phone will be worth less than the cost of a new (ordinary) battery.
Posted by MD - Wed 31 Aug 2005 17:15
Whilst I do agree with you that the phone is intended for the 20-something female market it has to be said there are much better phones out there that serve the purpose of that market sector.

In the grand scheme of things the phone design is old and whilst it was a novelty when it came out it has to be said that it has been left behind by offerings from both Samsung and Motorola who have taken the clam shell design and tweaked it until they have a handset for almost all markets.

This phone is a novelty, of that it can't be argued and whilst you say you feel the review was negative on the basis I would not buy it that is far from the truth. i had to look at the handset from a usage point of view, and thats where it fails. It looks good, well it did when it was launched, but as with most tech market things change and they do so rapidly in the mobile segment.

The usage of IR and BlueTooth in terms of transferring phone books is all well and good and whilst I agree with you on that point from a practical usage point of view its not in anyway practical, for example out of the four people I just asked they advised me they probably dial between 5 and 10 ‘out of phone book’ numbers a day, therfore whilst I supported the dial interface on the front of the handset it doesn't really cut the mustard when it comes to real usage in its current form.

It strikes me from your comments that you either own one of these yourself or know someone who does as you seemingly have a good knowledge of it.

Thanks for your feedback on the review though, it is good to hear other peoples sides to this.

Matt.
Posted by Swafe - Thu 01 Sep 2005 16:45
Of course the sub mega pixel camera isnt up to standard, thats because the phones been out for the best part of a year before megapixels became mainstream.

I dont get the affair with having no keypad, how do you text on the beast? Or put in a phone number?

On a lighter note, I'm sure its a good phone, it just makes me want to puke
Posted by JimmyBoy - Thu 01 Sep 2005 19:15
what a stupid looking, impracticle phone