Nokia 7510 (T-Mobile)

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Nokia 7510

The same day T-Mobile announced its new RIM BlackBerry Curve 8900 and T-Mobile Shadow, the carrier also rolled out the Nokia 7510. First unveiled just three weeks ago at the 2009 CES (we always love when CES products actually go on sale) the 7510 is a chunky flip phone with a midrange feature set. It doesn't offer anything you haven't seen before, but it's a decent device in its own right. Call quality was mostly satisfactory and it has a couple of unique design touches. Though the 7510 is part of Nokia's "Supernova" line, T-Mobile isn't using that label as part of the phone's name. You can get it for $49 with service or $199 if you pay full price.

Design
You wouldn't think so at first, but the 7510 has replaceable front and back covers in three colors: emerald green, fatal red, and espresso brown. You get all three sets of covers in the box so you can change hues depending on your mood (not that we know what mood "espresso brown" would represent). At 3.6 inches tall by 1.8 inches wide by 0.7 inch thick and weighing 4.4 ounces, the 7510 is a bit on the hefty side, but it's covered in a smooth, soft-touch material that gives it a comfortable feel in the hand.

We're a bit divided on the hinge, however. Though it's large and the phone opens and shuts with authority so far, we fear that it could get a bit loose over time. Like the Nokia 6131, the 7510 has hinge-mounted button that will open the phone when pressed. Though the 7510's button is flush, which hopefully should prevent any incidents like this, but we're still wary of the whole arrangement. Also, note that the handset doesn't rest evenly on a surface when open.

The 7510's external display is its most eye-catching feature. It is invisible when the backlighting is off, but the clock has large, bright numbers. The backlight timer isn't adjustable, which is too bad, but the display flashes nifty animation intermittently.

Above the display are the camera lens and flash. Though the lens is well positioned for taking most photos, vanity shots will be tricky without a self-portrait mirror. The only exterior control is a thin volume rocker on the right spine. A 2.5mm headset jack sits just below (we'd prefer a 3.5mm headset jack) while the Mini-USB port and charger jack sit on the left spine.

The 7510's silver and shiny interior resembles the Nokia 6263. The 16.7 million color display is bright and vibrant though it could be a tad bigger (2.2 inches; 320x240 pixels). On the upside, however, colors and graphics show up well and the font size is adjustable. The mirrored frame catches some fingerprints, but that's a minor point.

The navigation array is spacious, though the individual keys feel rather slippery. There's a four-way toggle with a central OK button, two soft keys, and the Talk and End/power buttons. The toggle doubles as a shortcut to four user-defined functions and you can also apply shortcuts directly to the home screen.

The keypad is spacious and with a distinct separation between each key. Yet, the buttons are a little too flush and slippery for our tastes. The backlighting on the numbers is a bit dim as well. We didn't have any real problems when dialing or texting, but it's not a design that we prefer.

Features
Each contact in the 7510's phone book holds five phone numbers, an e-mail address, a URL, street address, a birthday, a formal name and nickname, a company, a job title, and notes. You can save callers to groups and pair them with one of 21 polyphonic ringtones and a photo or video.

Essentials include a vibrate mode, text and multimedia messaging, a calendar, an alarm clock, a to-do list, a notepad, a calculator, a stopwatch a world clock, a converter, and a speakerphone. On the higher end, you'll find Bluetooth, PC syncing, USB mass storage, voice commands, Web-based POP3 e-mail, Adobe Flash Lite 2.0, a voice memo recorder, and instant messaging. On the upside, it also has integrated Wi-Fi for use with T-Mobile's HotSpot @Home service.