The first nokia 700 I bought had the touchscreen pulling away from the body of the phone so I had to return it (Amazon has great customer service). Now that I've had my phone for a while (on T-mobile USA), here are some random thoughts:I bought this because it was important for me to have physical call and end buttons. If answering/ending without buttons doesn't bother you, then I'd go with iphone/android. (I am aware that you can sort of answer/end calls with hardware buttons, but the solutions are more half-baked in my opinion).
The size is fantastic for me, but I prefer compact devices in general. The keyboard in portrait orientation is OK if you have small fingers. But installing swype makes texting in portrait mode easy and convenient.
The vibration mode is really weak and hard to feel.
Battery life is good. I can get almost 48 hrs of normal use (mostly calls/few texts/limited web surfing), and maybe 24-36 hrs if I'm using the GPS. I don't watch video or listen to music on my phone. I lose about 0.5% every hour on standby. I do active power saving, though. I keep my phone on GSM mode with wifi off unless I need the 3G/wifi for web access (I find EDGE to be workable, though). Your mileage will vary, of course. The options for turning on and off the network mode, wifi, bluetooth etc are so easy and fast that I prefer just keeping everything off unless I need something specific, to reduce power consumption.
You can charge by micro USB in theory. But in practice, several of my previous microUSB chargers simply will not charge my phone, especially car chargers. I had to buy specific a nokia 700 charger (non-USB) for my car. I have found that most plug in USB sockets will work, though (the ones where you have to supply your own USB cord to insert in one end of the charger).
The offline GPS is fantastic. Fast GPS lock, turn-by-turn navigation, all without using up data. Nokia maps is OK, but you need data access for the maps program to find some local things (e.g. fast food places) that aren't already in the offline database.
One bothersome thing is that my remote locking feature simply does not work (i.e. you send a text with a pre-defined message to lock your phone if you misplace it, for example), so I have to keep my screen locked. This wouldn't be a problem normally, except when driving you're unable to use the phone then except by looking at it and using the touchscreen to unlock the screen (which I won't do). This wouldn't also be an issue, but you can't use voice commands unless the screen is unlocked as well. At least you can answer calls though. If you're on bluetooth, then this won't matter.
That brings me to voice commands (initiate by long press of the call button). ugh. My old old samsung flip phone had far better voice recognition than this device. I can sort of make it work by using a fake robot voice with a pseudo-british accent. annoying but livable.
The proximity sensor is good; no more face hanging up like I had with the iphone.
The app situation is pathetic at best compared to android/apple. If you're an apps person, I would not recommend this phone (the OS is Nokia -formerly SymbianBelle). You can see the available apps at the Nokia Store, and choose the correct phone. You'll see what I mean. If you can find the apps that you need for the 700, then this of course isn't an issue.
The camera is adequate at best. I like having a physical shutter button. With fixed focus, anything closer than about 2 feet gets really blurred.
Summary, if you want a very compact phone to use as a phone, that also has nice web access and great GPS, this will work well and is a great deal at about $200, carrier unlocked.
Hope this helps
Extremely slick and cool looking. Quality is top class
The screen is fluid and just beautiful
No front facing camera :( :( :(
Battery lasts one day with heavy usage without any issues at all
Camera is very average
Because of its small (read cool) form factor difficult to keep the phone still when taking a photo
NFC, NFC, NFC this is going to be a big one in the coming days. It has one in it
Software:
Nokia Belle is pretty nimble and not battery thirsty as Android and iOS
Support for widgets and they dont crash as in android
The app for youtube points to a website which is really pathetic
Major apps missing Dropbox, Groupon, Mint, all banking apps
There are some nifty apps like DLNA play, Battery Monitor, Nokia Drop, NFC Apps and the best of all Nokia Maps suite, simply awesome and blows google maps out of the park since you dont need an internet connection for Maps since they are on your phone
Software updates can be done over the air, no need to connect to PC
One major issue i have faced is that the ambient light sensor isnt what Nokia expected it to be. It kept the screen changing its brightness evry other time which was extremely annoying. There is a third party app for it Nokia Screen Brightness, which can disable it and fix the problem.
Nice cool alternative to android, apple madness. beautiful, small and powerfull package with very limited apps. An almost smart phoneAfter waiting a year past my contract renewal for my wireless provider to offer a new phone which combines form with function, I've gotten completely disgusted with the oversized monster-phone phenomena. Who are they making these things for, Andre the Giant? I wanted a phone I could fit in my pocket, drop without breaking, use one-handed, etc. So I finally caved and simply ordered an older, outdated, no-contract phone, because apparently the only way to get compact is to hop in your TARDIS and go back to 2010.
So far, despite the capacitive touchscreen (like many people with decent nails, I find having to use the surface of my thumbs to type be a nuisance, and far less efficient and precise), I'm liking this phone. It's intuitive, it sounds good, it's not dropping calls, and it fits in my pocket, purse, etc. It feels solid. I don't feel like it's a huge step up from my 5530, but if it gives me faster connectivity, it's worth it, especially on a goldbox deal.
So why the missing star? The screen lifts off the phone. And this is the second phone (Thank you, Amazon, for being your own awesome selves when it comes to replacement!) But here's the thing; despite this...despite the fact that, from the box, the screen is clearly not attached securely....I'm still debating keeping this phone, because even if the screen FALLS OFF, it's still better than the bulky, fragile, cumbersome, unwieldy HTC One that I tried for two weeks.
Pretty much because I can actually hold it securely one-handed, and fit it in my pocket.
Jiminy f***balls, cell manufacturers. MAKE ME SOME SMALLER PHONES!Never!!!!! again will i buy the nokia 700... the phone looks very nice, but nokia cut to many corners when they made this model..amazon sent me twice this phone and they both came with the touch screen peeling off with really bad data connection.i had to return both phones.i wasted two weeks waiting for the phone back and fourth.now i have no phone..the pros the phone is sleek and cool looking the screen colors is nice..to bad it was poorly made, i would had liked this phone...Thanks for your reviews,
I was not surprised when mine showed up today with top half of screen out of frame. Still a gorgeous phone,replacement on its way. Nice surprise is the 4GB card inside (not mentioned anywhere). This phone will replace my Nokia 5800 NAV (junked up and blown speaker),can't wait, 3x faster at 1.3 (after FP1),better OS,more Ram, more storage and thinner.
Great deal for one fifty and no data plan (on t-mobile). I also like the N9 but it is soooo beautiful that it is girly (got pink one for the wife a year ago). Too bad I won't get to use NFC since I am not allowed to touch her phone :(
