Nokia 7230 Review

Nokia 7230 is a stylish and a funky looking cell phone that comes in a slider design and made to function as a phone should function. It is made to perform the basic functions like make/receive a call, text a message or browse the web occasionally. There are a number of people who don’t want a mobile phone that has thousands of apps, a high megapixel camera and the best music player. They want their phone to be just a phone and not a super computer in their hands. The Nokia 7230 was made with keeping those people in mind.
Even after all is said too, the Nokia 7230 still packs in decent features which you will need from time to time. The phone has 3G connectivity, a 3.2 megapixel camera, media player, FM radio and email sending options among others.

Body Design
This humble slider phone from Nokia has an approximate physical dimension of 3.9 x 1.9 x 0.6 inches and weighs 3.5 ounces, which makes it a small and light enough to fit in a pocket or bag. The phone is curved on all the edges making it an ergonomic shape for your hand. This slider phone has a 2.4 inch TFT screen that can display 262K colors at QVGA resolution i.e. 240 x 320 pixels. The 5-way D-pad surrounded by two soft keys, the send button and an end button is just below the display screen and makes the top part of the slider phone. The dedicated camera key is on the right side of the bottom half of the slider phone. The left side of the phone does not have any ports or buttons. the 2.5 mm charger p[ort, the microUSB port as well as the 3.5 mm audio jack can all be found together on the top edge of the phone. The bottom edge of the 7230 is also empty and bare just like the left side. The back of the phone is a matte-textured battery cover made of plastic and gives space to the 3.2 megapixel camera.
The Nokia 7230 is available in two colors- Graphite and Hot Pink.

Multimedia
Multimedia prowess is not actually the forte of this phone. The phone’s beauty is in its simplicity in terms of functions and combination of that with a stunning design. The phone has a 3.2 megapixel camera with a 4x digital zoom and can capture images with a maximum resolution of 2048 x 1536 pixels. Instead of an auto focus lens, it has a digital focus and captures images in JPEG format. You can dabble with the whit balance and color modes when you are taking pictures.
You can also capture videos with the 3.2 megapixel camera at up to 320 x 240 pixels at 15 fps. You can also record the videos in MP4 format or 3GP format, which is ideal for MMS.
The music player of the 7230 supports a various number of audio formats like MP3, WAV, WMA, NB AMR, MIDI, AAC, eAAC and many more. You can sort your music tracks according to artist, albums and genres. There is also the option where you can make your own playlists. The phone also automatically makes playlists of songs that are most played and another list of recently played. Unfortunately, this handset does not have the physical volume control on the phone that most cell phones have and on top of that the audio quality is not that good. An FM radio provides you with music or entertainment anytime, anywhere.
You can also play videos although the media player only supports a limited number of formats. The media player can play MP4, 3GP and H.263 and H.264 codecs.
The phone comes in-built with the very popular games of Nokia like snake III, bounce and sudoku.
You can use the OSS, standard S40 web browser or the Opera Mini to log on the internet. The device also has Windows Live support and you can send and receive emails through OZ or Windows Live.
The phone also supports a number of applications like the OVI store and varied OVI related applications. It also has widgets for social networking sites like Facebook and Flickr and comes pre-installed with Nokia Maps 2.0.

Memory
The phone has an internal memory of 70MB and 25MB from it gets utilized by the preinstalled contents. So, in real you get the phone with an internal memory of just 45 MB, which still is not that bad as you can increase your memory up to 16 GB through the external microSD slot.

Connectivity
Even though the Nokia 7230 is low on features, it actually is a 3G enabled phone. The quad band GSM EDGE is used in 2G network while WCDMA 850/1900/2100 or WCDMA 900/1900/2100 is used in regions with 3G connectivity.
This slider phone from Nokia also has bluetooth version 2.1 with enhanced data rate that makes wireless connections with other bluetooth enabled phones possible. The enhanced data rate feature ensures speedy transfer among the bluetooth devices. Whereas for wired connections, the full speed USB 2.0 helps in connecting with other compatible devices.
The phone also has the standard 3.5 mm AV connector which gives you the option to use any standard headphones for listening to music.

Performance
It would be wrong to compare the Nokia 7230 with the latest phones of nowadays that are loaded with different features. This phone is just a budget phone and does not try to compete with any other phones.
The phone scores on its look and design and also offers quite a number of features for its price. It even has 3G connectivity, a decent camera and social networking apps which is wonderful for a budget phone.
However, analyzing critically, the call quality is not satisfactory. Audio is sometimes muffled and lacked volume. It has poor sunlight visibility and the navigation pad lacks definition.

Verdict
The Nokia 7230 is a mixed bag. Internet browsing experience on this handset is very enjoyable and it even has the 3.5 mm jack and comes with a free 2GB memory card. So, I would recommend this handset to anyone who is looking for a handset with decent features on a tight budget.
The Nokia 7230 is available for just $149.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3.5/5