It wasn’t until day 2 at Nokia World last week that I realized how capable the Nokia C7 is and how much of a player this phone will be in the smartphone market when it lands in stores. It’s a poor-man’s version of the Nokia N8, with watered down specs and a different design. That’s not a knock – it’s a compliment when you factor in the price and everything it CAN do. The Nokia C7 can put up a fight against any Android device and even the iPhone. I hate comparing any Symbian device to the iPhone but that’s what everyone LOVES to do, and for that reason I will NOT be mentioning the iPhone again in this article.

Instead I’ll give you my thoughts after handling the device for a bit and show you a 20 minute Q&A session we had with the project manager. I got a decent amount of hands on time with the C7 so if you have questions I’ll do my best to answer them.

First off, lets take a quick look at the basic specifications of the Nokia C7.

• 3.5 inch capacitive AMOLED display. It looks damn good.
• 8 megapixel fixed focus camera, dual-led flash, face detection.
• Video recording at 720p and 25fps, stabilization.
• ARM 11 680 MHz processor, 3D Graphics HW accelerator.
• 8gb mass storage, 256mb RAM, 1gb ROM, microSD slot up to 32gb.
• 1200mah battery  BL-5K.
• Symbian^3
• WebTV, tv-out, digital compass, GPS, noise cancellation.

There are plenty more specs to list. If you need the full scoop check out Nokia’s official C7 page.

Hands-on the Nokia C7

Like I said earlier I wasn’t too impressed with the C7 when it was announced during the keynote, but after some hands on time with the device it started to grow on me. It feels great in hand and isn’t too light or heavy. The glass on the screen is gorilla glass, just like the N8, so it’s very strong. You can really feel it when tapping your nail on it, especially for me coming from the soft screen of the N97. The screen is actually BETTER than the Nokia N8, featuring the new ClearBlack AMOLED display. ClearBlack technology makes black colors ”blacker than black” according to Nokia – and it sure looks that way. You can really notice the difference in sharpness when you sit the N8 next to the C7 or E7. Update: The Nokia C7 does not have ClearBlack display technology. I apologize to all who took my word for it. The project manager of the Nokia C7 told us that in our very own interview. See 8:45 in Part 1 (below) where he explains it to Simon and the rest of us. Only the C6 and E7 have that technology as of right now. Sorry folks!

We’ll be covering ClearBlack technology in an upcoming article.

There are red & green keys on the front for calling and the menu/multitasking button in the middle. I would have liked to see Nokia leave off the red/green call keys, but at least they aren’t intrusive. The phone has a very slick design that’s well rounded which I like a lot better than something with sharp edges.

The speed and stability is, to my surprise, the same exact experience that you’ll see on the Nokia N8 and E7. I love the fact that Nokia is now setting a standard for their higher end devices, something they didn’t seem to care about when designing the N97. To quote the C7′s project manager from our Q&A session (video below)…

C7 shares the same engine as N8, and C6, and E7, their all exactly the same. Same hardware, same chip set, same everything, same clock speed, same processor, absolutely everything. In terms of performance there is no compromise.

I love that quote and it’s something that everyone should take note of and be happy that Nokia made this decision. It was one of the many steps forward that they have taken at Nokia World.

Again, the specs are:

Hopefully that is the minimum for all devices Symbian^3 from this point forward. And for all those Android fans saying that this isn’t enough – you have to remember it takes a lot of power to run Android and much less to run Symbian. You’ll see the speed in some of the videos we’ll be posting here and on others all over Youtube.

Another thing to mention is the camera. I was bummed to hear that the C6, C7, and E7 will not have autofocus. Instead it is a fixed focus 8 megapixel camera with no Carl Zeiss lens. Keep in mind this is a Cseries device. I would have loved to see the CZ lens on here and the E7, but as always that is saved for the Nseries. In the video you’ll see the project manager defend the use of fixed focus instead of autofocus. He makes some good points to back up his statements and even showed us some photo samples that I was very impressed with.

Nokia C7 Q&A video with project manager

This was one of the highlights of Nokia World 2010. We got a chance to sit down with the project managers from the C7, E7, and N8. Out of those three, the C7 guy was the most open, honest, and informative. We managed to get about 20 minutes out of him and you can tell he had plenty more juice if time allowed. Topics covered were the lack of a HDMI port, speed, camera, autofocus vs fixed focus, video playback, screen, slim size, objectives, fm transmitter, video editing, preinstalled apps, and a load more. Again – this wasn’t just an overview of features. Instead it was a very good discussion. Have a look, and be sure to watch in HD if you have a fast connection…

Part 1

Part 2

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Nokia C7 Press Photos

There you have it. The Nokia C7 will be a big hit in many markets and I can’t wait to get more hands on time with this device. Checking in at around 330 Euros it will probably end up free or under 50 Euros for the consumer if purchased with a new contract. To be honest I think this is the perfect device for a United States carrier like T-Mobile or AT&T, but who knows. Are you as impressed as I am?

Click here to see more of our Nokia World 2010 coverage.

Mike Macias has written 296 articles for The Mobile Fanatics.

Mike is the editor-in-chief of The Mobile Fanatics. Contact him via email or at his twitter page.

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