Nokia 7610

A funky little cam-phone - shame about the screen

Considering it's just a mobile, there are a hell of a lot of people excited about this new Nokia. That includes us, and for a good reason - it's the Finnish giant's first one-megapixel camera phone, and it also happens to have a striking design and a lorryload of smart phone features.

As you'll have noticed, it follows in the company's recent tradition of zany styles. This is actually one of its better efforts. Although the keypad buttons are all different sizes (the "3" is particularly small), they're all easy enough to press, as each one is raised at the bottom. It's comfy to hold, not to mention extremely small and light for a smart phone. And if you're worrying that this silver version's a bit effete - trust us, it's girly as hell - there's a more macho black-and-red jobbie on offer.

All this innovative design, however, is let down by one simple error: a second-rate screen. It's certainly colourful and sharp enough, but the problem is that it only looks at its best when viewed at a slight angle. If you look at it face-on, photos lose detail and the gradation between colours virtually disappears. As a result, it's usable, but it takes some of the pleasure out of using this handset.

The big headline feature - the one megapixel camera - makes this the best cam-phone on sale. It takes great photos that are actually better-looking and better exposed than those of its current one-meg rival, the Sharp GX-30 (T3 98, 4/5). It also writes images to memory much faster than the Sharp, although it lacks that model's useful LED light for improving shots in dark conditions. Videos are okay, if unspectacular, apart from the fact that you can record ten-minute clips.

Virtually everything else about this phone is great. The battery lasts for around three days of fairly intensive use, call quality's good, the interface is easy to get to grips with and Nokia has pre-loaded it with a stack of extra software (most notably Opera's superb Web browser and Kodak's Web photo app). Both Bluetooth and USB are thrown in for connecting to headsets and PCs, and as the phone's based on the Series 60 operating system, you also get access to a massive catalogue of third-party software.

Aside from the screen, the only other downer with this product is Nokia's decision to include a reduced- size MMC card slot - for a new, marginally smaller card that's expensive and currently rarer than hen's teeth. An exciting handset, then, but not the perfect one we were hoping for.

FEATURES:
65,535-colour, 176 x 208-pixel screen. 1-megapixel camera. Tri-band. Bluetooth. 3 hours' talk time, up to 10 days' standby. Weighs 118g.