Nokia X7 Part 3: Hardware, Software and Applications

We have published about Nokia X7 with its unboxing and design review. Later the camera review. You should also check them as well if you haven’t already. Apart from the design, the hardware and software are the major key elements today in a smartphone that a consumer looks for, before going to buy it. Today there is all about X7’s ins and outs. But we’ll keep it short as many of the similar features of the same line-up of Symbian^3 or Symbian Anna devices have been reviewed in details

Hardware and a bit of Design Revision

Well Nokia isn’t the one offering a single handset or a device with software updates. It never was. Rather a main focus of Nokia I always noticed is to provide different devices with different hardware elements whether to be with a same software inside or some thing different. This could apparently be a strategic way of Nokia to offer a set of options to the consumers which the features and components in a device he/she wants.

The same applied to these Symbian^3 and Symbian Anna devices. I actually call Symbian^3 and Anna the same software core with an earlier and a later software update respectively. Nokia N8 and Nokia E7 as well the Nokia C7 with C6-01, all did have the same software Symbian^3 with different set of hardware elements. e.g. N8 was a camera focused phone with almost all of the multimedia elements, E7 purposely was to serve executive or business class with a full physical QWERTY slide-out keyboard with some productivity applications.

Stainless Steel, Gorilla Glass and Speakers

Now this X7 having the same Software (Symbian Anna later to Symbian^3) has its own unique design elements with stainless steel body on all back, the same gorgeous Gorilla Glass on the front from head to foot and dual speakers on board.

Nokia X7 Back Stainless Steel Nokia X7 Front Gorilla Glass Nokia X7 Dual Speakers

It all depends how the things touch the consumers that they like it and make a decision to buy.

Nokia X7 no-doubt is a “love in a first sight design” and when you have acquired it then you may start thinking if you have made a mistake when using this design according your needs. As mentioned in our unboxing and design review about the issues with volume rocker, the camera button and the SIM/MMC slots which may cause trouble at first. But that’s the fact you can get used to it onwards. But for the complement this is what I can call engineering a component in a way that you are experimenting. But it’s an attractive design apart from any thing.

Battery

Battery is just of same capacity of 1200mAh as it came in other Symbian^3 devices including N8, E7, C7. But it’s the same model of battery as it was in C7 “BL-5K 3.7V”. Nokia N8 and E7 were living with another same model “BL-4D 3.7V”. The battery is fixed into the closed body of Nokia X7.

Yes! the battery in Nokia X7 isn’t removable just like Nokia N8 and E7. It’s fixed and in the situation of non-responsive device the same long press of power button, for 8 seconds until the device vibrates three times, is suggested.

Memory

Unlike Nokia N8 and E7 with 16GB, C7 and E6 with 8GB of internal/built-in mass storage, there is no such a storage available in Nokia X7. Only the phone memory resides internally that is 350 MB. In exchange of the built-in mass storage you get an external memory card of 8GB with X7.

nokia-x7-memory

 

CPU and GPU

OK! there is no difference in Nokia X7 and other Symbian^3 line-up regarding the central processor and the dedicated graphics process. X7 also bundles with Single CPU of type ARM 11 with the clock rate of 680MHz and same 2D/3D Graphics HW Accelerator with OpenVG1.1 and OpenGL ES 2.0 support

Let’s just revise the key specifications.

  • 4 inch capacitive touchscreen with AMOLED display and Gorilla Glass.
  • 640 x 360 pixel resolution with  16M colours.
  • 8MP fixed-focus/EDoF camera with dual-LED flash, 720p video @ 25fps recording, (no front facing camera.) Check out the camera review.
  • 350 MB internal phone memory. Included external memory of 8 GB via Micro SD card. up-to 32 GB supported.
  • 680 MHz, ARM 11, Single CPU Processor.
  • 256 MB of RAM.
  • Dedicated Graphics Process to support 3D gaming and HD video play back encoded formats.
  • GPS with A-GPS support. Digital Compass
  • Nokia AV 3.5mm (for audio and video out)
  • USB 2.0 High-Speed
  • USB Mass Storage
  • USB OTG 1.3
  • Bluetooth 3.0 with Stereo Audio.
  • FM radio.

 

Software – Symbian Anna

The features came into Symbian Anna after Symbian^3 were greatly discussed in Nokia E6 Software Review. There is not that much difference in Nokia X7 with the features and their functioning. But sure we can’t compare both due to the different resolution. All the devices, other than Nokia E6, sharing Symbian^3 or Symbian Anna are portrait viewed as well as orientation changes are supported into these devices with or without slide-out QWERTY keyboard e.g. in E7. Unlike these, Nokia E6 has some differences in user interface mostly due to its fixed landscaped orientation and due to its high resolution. So the Nokia E6 post can not fully justify the Symbian Anna in Nokia X7 or any other device.

Nokia X7

Home Screens

There are still three home screens in Symbian Anna as they were in Symbian^3 but the major change in home screens was the quick swipe gesture. Unlike Symbian^3, in Symbian Anna the home screen moves along with your finger while swiping. In Symbian^3 you have had to perform the swipe gesture fully and the screen used to move after the finger gets away from the screen’s surface.

Well this was one the issues or functions lacking in Symbian^3 which were objected a lot. Symbian Anna introduced the feature in major key elements.

Revamped Icons

Second major addition to Symbian Anna was the iconography that leads the traditional Symbian OS to the completely revamped rounded icons all over the interface. In fact this change was added pushed into the S40 devices as well.

 

  

Messaging

Messaging interface is pretty same as it was in Symbian^3. I said it before in E6 review. The only difference is the orientation. Multimedia messaging and smilies section is just same as it was there already.

  

 

Email (Nokia Messaging)

Email on the part is one of the features which really has been improved in Symbian Anna. When I first the checked the performance of the new Email client in Symbian Anna in E6 I wondered that if it will be the same improvement all over the Symbian Anna updates on other devices. Because I didn’t liked the performance and functioning of Email client in my N8 with its first releases of Symbian^3. It never let me believe that it was real Push Email and I always preferred the E-Series devices earlier than Symbian^3 e.g E72, E52 etc. Nokia Messaging (Push Email Service) were just awesome on previous devices that didn’t remain same on Symbian^3. I rather wrote an article about setting up Mail for Exchange on Symbian^3 devices if you were also not satisfied with the Push Email on N8 or other Symbian^3 devices including E7.

  

Well Symbian Anna much improved the performance of the built-in Email client and also improved the push email a little bit. May be I felt so. B But it’s still not that how it was on earlier E-Series devices. Of course both do not share the same system of Nokia Messaging. Nokia, as they said, tried to improved the service on Symbian^3 devices. Well I am not satisfied with that because I have seen how great this service was on earlier devices. Anyway the Nokia Messaging does support Gmail, Windows Live Mail, Yahoo Mail and Ovi Mail services, all on the go. In addition the Mail for Exchange is supported to set up an account. Gmail and Windows Live Mail support Active Sync free of cost. Read the article for more detail.

Web Browser

A detailed Symbian Anna browser review is there in E6 post. You must read that to know the capability upgrade from Symbian^3 browser as well as a few issues which make you hate it.

  

Apart from the orientation, the browser is completely same as it is in E6. Of course both are the Symbian Anna’s children. However it was a big jump from Symbian^3 making the user interface more useful and handy with only two buttons at bottom and an address bar on the top. Multi tab or multi windows feature added to help user browser more than one webpage at a time.

But yes the issue I mentioned above is still there in X7. That is; the buttons on bottom for “Back” and “Options”. These buttons actually overlays the actual webpage that cause trouble if any text or visuals gets hidden behind the buttons. Or it gets worse when there is link you want to click but it’s just behind those buttons.

Store and Apps/Games

Upgrading from Symbian^3 to Symbian Anna is not any harm to the existing applications. Most of the apps, in fact I didn’t see any app that won’t have worked in Symbian Anna which I already was having on Symbian^3 when upgraded my N8 to Symbian Anna. That said; any application available previously for Symbian^3 should work on Nokia X7 as well.

Store client is however has got older now. And a new Qt/QML Store Client is now available for Symbian Anna devices.

Original Version

  

Latest QML Store Client is good move of Nokia to give a real impression of the first and most of the important app in a device that is a Store. I actually liked the new user interface but there are still some important uses or features which are lacking in the store. e.g. split-screen input and search suggestions.

  

Let me tell you that there is no full version of productivity apps in Nokia X7 like Quick Office. Quick Office is however is built-in suite in Nokia X7 like other Nokia devices have but it’s only a viewer version and you have to purchase for editing feature.

Many apps are still not listed for Nokia X7 on Nokia Store (formerly Ovi Store) but if they are for any similar device e.g. Nokia N8 or Nokia E7, it should work on Nokia X7 as well. You just need to trick to download the installer from the store. Well you can read our tutorial about it.

Check out Nokia Trailers running on Nokia X7

  

Of course Nokia X7 does have the same dedicated 3D accelerator. That’s for graphics for sure e.g. gaming and HD video playback. Well for now here is the the Fruit Ninja running on Nokia X7.

  

Conclusion

There is however wide variety of apps and games on Nokia Store for Nokia X7 or Symbian Anna. Nokia X7 is mostly different in its style, design and hardware features.

There is no HDMI. No front facing camera. Nokia X7 is rather different from any of its brothers and sisters hence many features it provides e.g. USB On-the-Go, TV Out via 3.5m AV Jack.

Leaving the design issues aside, the most we liked about it was its unique and impressive curved design with 4 inch screen with Gorilla Glass. It’s just perfect for typing on a virtual QWERTY keyboard.

Camera review as already have done and we ranked the X7 on top amongst any other Symbian^3 or Symbian Anna device (not including Nokia N8 of course)

So we hope that it’s enough for you to make a decision. Or still if you don’t, just throw the words in comments below and ask any thing you wonder about. We don’t promise but we’ll try our best to get you an answer. Also join us on facebook and twitter.