Photo gallery: Nokia 7210 SupernovaDesign
Don't you hate how phones are getting bigger again? For a while it seemed the technology was shrinking, but now, to accommodate large touchscreens, mobile phones are starting to fill our pants' pockets again. Well, the Supernova series from Nokia will be welcomed by anyone who agrees with this sentiment. At only 45mm across and 10.5mm thick, the 7210 is positively bite-sized and weighs a petite 70 grams with the battery.
Looking at the front of the phone we're met with a colourful 2-inch QVGA display and a flat keypad divided by whisper-thin, coloured plastic strips. The screen is sharp and bright, though it is only viewable from directly in front; the screen loses clarity on very subtle angles. The keypad is far from our favourite, with no clear definition between the keys on each horizontal row.
The edges of the 7210 Supernova are surprisingly devoid of buttons to press. The volume rocker and dedicated camera button that we'd normally expect to find on other phones are both absent, with the five-way nav key pulling double duty for these functions — up and down menu buttons change the volume during a call and the centre selection button takes photos.
On the top of the 7210 we find a 2.5mm headphone socket plus a micro-USB port. Obviously a 3.5mm headphone socket is optimal, allowing you to use your favourite headphones. Without it you'll be forced to use the headphones bundled with the phone or fork out extra for an adapter.
Features
Believe it or not, the big selling point here is customisable back and face covers (as it is across the Supernova range). Our review unit is a metallic grey with blue trimming, but there are others, including "bubblegum pink". Considering the reliance on fashionability as its selling point, we're surprised that the 7210 Supernova isn't all that attractive. The combination of blue and grey is pleasing, but it has none of the sex appeal we see in Nokia's more expensive phones.
Under the hood the 7210 is a basic 2G handset. It is functional on 900/1800/1900 band GSM networks and is WAP and Java compatible, meaning you can surf the mobile web and install Java-based applications like games, but it's not compatible with 3G networks, like 3 Mobile in Australia.
On the back of the phone is a 2-megapixel camera and the 7210 supports a range of music files including MP3, AAC and WMA. There's 30MB of internal memory for storing pics and songs, plus a microSD card slot for expanding this memory to a possible 2GB.
Performance
Across the board the 7210 Supernova gets by fine, without impressing us in any way. Call quality is a bit scratching, but is audible and messaging is fine so long as your fingers can traverse the tiny, flat keypad without making too many errors.
The 7210 runs on Nokia's Series 40 operating platform, which gives a certain flexibility and without any significant cost to performance. We've found navigating through the menus to be lag-free.
The 2-megapixel camera is a dud, however. Without a flash or auto-focus our photos have turned out blurry and much brighter than natural. Not only this, but similar to the 7310 Supernova, the camera takes an excruciatingly long time to process each image. The only good thing to be said about this shooter is that at least the viewfinder shows just how terrible each photo will look before you take them.
Overall
We love a cheap and cheerful mobile phone; however, the 7210 Supernova only manages to be cheerful. AU$229 may not sound like a lot to pay for a phone, but for the money we expect a little more. Other phones in this price range tend to have one outstanding feature, like HSDPA web speeds or a 3.5mm headphone socket and storage for music. The 7210 Supernova is a decent mobile phone, but lacks any of the extras that would make this excellent value for money.
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