Nokia C7 Astound Specs Prices Pros & Cons Unveiled

Overview of Nokia C7 Astound

The Nokia C7 Astound was a smartphone released by Nokia in April 2011, originally announced in March of the same year. The phone became part of Nokia's Symbian series, signifying the company’s efforts to retain its position in the competitive smartphone market. While its production has since been discontinued, the Nokia C7 Astound is still remembered for its unique features and solid build.

Design and Build

The Nokia C7 Astound is noted for its sleek and appealing design. Its dimensions measure 117.3 x 56.8 x 10.5 mm, and it weighs around 130 grams, making it a compact and easy-to-carry device. The phone was designed with a plastic back and a metallic finish, giving it a sophisticated look and feel.

One standout feature of the Nokia C7 Astound is its display. With a 3.5-inch AMOLED screen protected by Corning Gorilla Glass, it provided users with a visually pleasing and durable experience. The display boasted a resolution of 360 x 640 pixels and a 16:9 aspect ratio, leading to a pixel density of around 210 ppi. This made the screen sharp enough for everyday tasks, even though it doesn’t compare to modern high-resolution displays.

Operating System and Performance

The Nokia C7 Astound originally came with the Symbian^3 OS, which was later upgradable to Nokia Belle OS. Symbian was heavily used by Nokia before smartphones predominantly switched to Android and iOS. While some users appreciated its functionality, Symbian didn't offer the same app ecosystem or user-friendliness provided by its competitors.

In terms of performance, the device was equipped with a 680 MHz ARM 11 processor backed by a Broadcom BCM2727 GPU. Though the processor was considered adequate for basic smartphone tasks at the time, it fell short in handling more intensive applications and games. With 256MB of RAM, multitasking was limited, often requiring users to close applications to free up memory.

Storage and Memory

The Nokia C7 Astound featured 8GB of internal storage, which was quite generous during its time of release. For users needing more space, the device supported microSDHC cards, allowing expansion of storage. This flexibility was a significant advantage, enabling users to store more music, photos, and apps without worrying about running out of memory.

Camera Capabilities

Photography was another highlight for the Nokia C7 Astound. The phone sported an 8MP rear camera featuring a dual-LED flash, allowing for enhanced low-light photography. Users appreciated the camera for its good color reproduction and decent detail.

The rear camera was capable of recording video in 720p at 25fps, which was increased to 30fps with a software update, marking a notable feature for users who liked capturing videos on their phones. On the front, however, the VGA camera was quite basic, serving mainly for video calls rather than high-quality selfies.

Battery Life

The device was powered by a removable Li-Ion 1200 mAh battery (BL-5K), which was standard at the time. It offered a standby time of up to 555 hours on 2G networks or up to 656 hours on 3G networks. Talk time was rated at up to 9 hours and 30 minutes on 2G networks, decreasing to about 5 hours on 3G networks.

For music lovers, the phone provided up to 54 hours of continuous music play, underscoring Nokia's focus on providing excellent audio features. The removable battery also meant that users could easily replace it themselves, a feature increasingly rare in today's smartphones.

Connectivity and Communication Features

The Nokia C7 Astound offered various connectivity options. It came with support for GSM and HSPA networks, ensuring compatibility with most telecom carriers worldwide. Internet speeds were capable through HSPA, offering up to 10.2 Mbps download and 2 Mbps upload speeds.

Additional connectivity features included Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0 with A2DP, GPS with A-GPS support, and the inclusion of NFC, a novel feature at the time. The phone also featured a stereo FM radio with RDS and an FM transmitter, presenting users with plenty of ways to connect and share data.

Sound and Multimedia

The Nokia C7 Astound included standard multimedia features like a 3.5mm headphone jack and a loudspeaker. This allowed users to enjoy music directly from the device or connect to external speakers with ease.

Its audio capabilities were complemented by the device’s media player that supported a variety of formats, alongside an FM transmitter feature, which allowed users to broadcast their phone’s audio to nearby FM radios.

Additional Features

Sensors within the device included an accelerometer, proximity sensor, and a digital compass, all contributing to a versatile and improved user experience. The browser supported WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML, and Adobe Flash Lite, though browsing on the Symbian platform was not as seamless as on contemporary smartphones.

In terms of safety, the SAR value of the Nokia C7 Astound was measured at 1.03 W/kg for the head and 0.83 W/kg for the body. These values were within acceptable limits, ensuring user safety concerning emissions.

Conclusion

Overall, the Nokia C7 Astound holds its place in Nokia's lineup of mobile devices as a well-rounded smartphone that catered to a wide range of needs back in its day. Though not without its limitations, notably due to the lagging Symbian OS, the C7 managed to offer a decent balance of features that appealed to many users. The beautifully designed hardware, coupled with robust multimedia features, made it a desirable choice for customers seeking a reliable and functional mobile device at the time.

As technology advanced rapidly, the Nokia C7 Astound, unfortunately, couldn’t keep pace with the emerging giants in the smartphone market. Yet, it remains a testament to Nokia's enduring legacy and their influence in shaping the mobile communication landscape.