Part of Nokia's bohemian bronze-hued, female focused "L'Amour" range, the lipstick case form factor of the 7380 follows on from the 7280, which polarised reader opinions when we reviewed it in March of this year.
The fact that this model was presented at Nokia's Sydney product showcase amid a bedroom setting with jewelled cushions, a vanity and an ornate chandelier gives an idea of the kind of aesthetic the phone hopes to embody. In short, it's a phone for glam girls to slip into their handbag as they head out for a night on the town.
The phone-as-fashion-item notion has been taken to the ultimate extreme, with all three models in the L'Amour series sporting tiny elegant fabric tags on one side. The 7380 also features a mirrored face to allow discreet lipstick-checking and a co-ordinated carry pouch. The back of the phone is multi-textured, with a tactile fabric panel taking up most of the real estate.
Upside
With the potential user type clearly defined, the appeal of the phone depends on where your priorities lie on the functionality to fashion spectrum. The 7380 certainly excels in the looks department, with its
mirrored surfaces and the pattern of concentric circles that take the place of a standard keypad.
Downside
A frequent complaint levelled at the 7280 was that the lack of a traditional keypad made calling and texting a more time-consuming and even frustrating experience. Those who like to have number buttons on their phones (and let's face it, that's a pretty reasonable request), may find the learning
curve for this model too steep, as using the 7380 involves shortcut keys and scrolling to select letters and numbers.
While the dimensions of the 7380 are pocket and teeny handbag-friendly, the display has perhaps been downsized a little too much. At 104 by 108 pixels, the 65K-colour screen is certainly petite, and means you'll be doing a lot of menu scrolling.
Outlook
Due for release in Australia early 2006, the cost of the 7380 is yet to be announced, but we expect it to debut at a lower price than its predecessor -- meaning fashionistas won't have to save up for too long to buy a designer-look item.
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Guru-360
02/08/2008, 10:59 PM
rating
10/10
I have been using this phone as my primary for 1 and a 1/2 years now. It hasn't failed once.
I've even replaced the battery (The rear cover snaps off) to improve battery life. I am a high school student and it constantly gets attention. 'What is that?!?!'' Seems to be the most prevalent. It does have an iPod-esque feel. It's inclusion of bluetooth was a brilliant idea, meaning it has a million more features with a PC suite. With PC suite, it's a modem, SMS and multi-slide MMS composing, Customizable device. Plus a whole lot more. And it's very easily customizable. It's a definite improvment on the 7280. And the 52 MB can hold a surprising amount of data. I've used it to hold 29 songs 9 videos and 28 pictures. And I still had 4 MB left. PC suite makes it easy to transfer yoir music and compress it. It even support album art and the Grid menu view that you would find on a normal S40 phone. The phone also functions as a removable sotrage device.
The volume is very good, it's even louder then my RAZR.
Scroll wheel is easy enough to use And surprisingly the messages can be churned out very quickly with practise.
Finally the design of this phone is great. It looks fantastic.
Funnily enough I have become accustomed to holding a phone the width of a lipstick container it's very strange holding a normal handset.
It's also very comfortable to hold against your ear while calling.
Web and internet is very good and the phone resizes the pages to fit your screen. Google helps too.
Some sites that work with it well are:
Google (it also converts other pages to work on a mobile using the google proxy)
Facebook
Ebay
Gmail
Hotmail
etc.
I give it 10/10 very good phone.
I'm a guy btw.
Pros: Camera with video
Volume of loud speaker.
Bluetooth
S40 Interface
Bluetooth modem capabilty
Battery life
Size and design
Flash
Web and internet
Neat mirror screen, light fade effects
Cons: Memory could be bigger
Screen is bit small for taking big photos but otherise its adequate
No 3G
Mirror can be hard to view screen during very bright sunlight.
Can freeze if your doing too many things at once but it ususally fixes it's self
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Hannah
23/01/2008, 11:59 PM
rating
2/10
Worst phone!!
I've had it fixed 2 times already if it breaks again instead of getting a new free one I am replacing it.
Pros:
Cons:
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andie-Jamaica
11/12/2007, 05:58 AM
rating
9/10
Pretty darned good phone. I am quite impress
Pros: Easy to carry. Storage is not a problem and once you get the hang of it dialling is ok.
Cons: What connections do I use to get my pictures onto my computer??? I really need to know.
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sophie_pinklady
16/11/2006, 05:39 AM
rating
6/10
its very hard to txt with as you have no buttons u jus have this wheel thing its quite hard until u get the hang on it
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Alex
21/03/2006, 06:52 PM
Not quite worth MY time
Yes i find it quite the good looking phone, but... My friend has one and it just is not a product to look upon as "up to date". i mean Shouldnt we be impressed over the phones that have Qualities, not style that stands out like a one night stand. There you go i said how i feel about Nokia's laid back attepmt!
(but other than that NOKIA ROCKS YERRRRRRR!)
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Dilemma
05/03/2006, 03:32 PM
Bloody good lookin' phone.
Just one tiny thing... If Nokia is so unbeatable, how come they havn't released a phone that will make me my mornin' coffee yet?
Just one to work towards huh guy's.
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02/02/2006, 03:18 AM
dead cool
I'll buy it, and I'm not a girl. It ought to match my new copper coloured Sony Viao TX2.
Shame about the 52Mb RAM.
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Thomas
13/01/2006, 09:32 AM
Not just for ladies
I can reveal I bought the phone and I certainly am not a woman. Don't be so prejudiced!
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babulee
30/11/2005, 06:51 PM
Not bad
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17/11/2005, 10:13 PM
I wouldn't even bother if its anything like the 7280 forget it!!
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