Our Review of the Nokia 7500 Prism
Phones this unusual don't come around very often, so Nokia deserve some artistic credit for the new 7500 Prism. This highly stylised music phone looks like a prop from a big budget sci-fi TV serial. Despite essentially being a vanilla candybar design, the feel of the 7500 Prism is overwhelmingly futuristic; the keypad on the 7500 is made up of neatly tessellating triangular shaped keys that wrap around the front and back side of the phone like geometric snake's scales.
The chameleonic 7500 lives up to its Prism namesake with its interchangeable colour backgrounds.
The chameleonic 7500 lives up to its Prism namesake with its interchangeable colour backgrounds – whilst it does not shift through the entire optical spectrum, it does shift through blue, pink and green which can be easily changed to suit the mood. The casing is shiny, lack and sleek, with some of the diamond-shaped tiles on the back done over in a matt finish.
The buttons which are spaced very close together take some getting used to; it's an unfortunate fact that the unconventional design and angular shape will provoke reactions of love and hate in equal measure. This is truly the Marmite of the mobile phone world, but in an age where most handsets look the same Nokia are to be at least given credit for taking a risk.
The 7500 Prism comes loaded with a decent music player that supports all the major file formats (MP3, AAC, AAC+ and WMA) and the high build quality on the 7500 Prism extends to the speaker; the audio output is as crystal clear and crisp as the phone itself. An FM radio is also included should you get bored of your track selection and want to tune in to something else.
Thankfully, the Nokia 7500 has a microSD card slot to hold your pictures and music as well as 30MB of internal memory. These days you can get this up to a solid 2GB worth of storage, making the 7500 Prism a worthwhile consideration for a stylish-looking music phone. Having done the rounds since July 2007, the Nokia 7500 should now be available for a fairly reasonable price and is sure to turn some heads with its daring design and high-end audio playback.
The high build quality on the 7500 Prism extends to the speaker; the audio output is as crystal clear and crisp as the handset itself.
Unfortunately, the camera is a benchmark standard 2 megapixels, and whilst pictures look pretty good on the sizeable 2.0" 16 million colour display, it doesn't quite match up to the cut-glass perfection of the phone's exterior design to the point where the comparatively lo-fi images look incongruous.
Similarly, the lack of any 3G support makes browsing on the 7500 a somewhat tedious affair which renders the futuristic presentation of the device kind of anachronistic. Still, this shouldn't sway you from checking it out if mobile internet isn't your thing.
Pros
Unique design and feel.
Colour changing backgrounds.
Upgradable memory.
Cons
Keypad takes some getting used to.
Our Rating
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The 7500 Prism is an ultra-sharp music phone, with a unique diamond scale design. You should be able to pick up for peanuts and cheaply upgrade with a 2GB card, increasing its music playing capabilities.
