If my memory serves me right, this is the first “swivel” phone offering from Nokia--something worth trying if you’re loyal to the brand and are quite tired of the change from slide-up to generic stand-alone phones all these years.

Nokia 7370

Heaven is opening the Nokia 7370 sales package to find this little beauty of a phone enclosed in its elegantly-designed box, then running my hands through its smooth flawless surface.  Chocolate brown is not really my favorite color but it adds to the phone’s sophistication on closer inspection.  Besides, it’s a welcome change from boring black.  I was thrilled even more that the package also came with a leather-like pouch and a fashionable crocheted strap, giving me an idea that this was really one phone I can play around with.

Unlike a swivel phone I tried from another phone maker, I was contented with the fact that the Nokia 7370 was lighter and less bulky.  According to its official specifications, the 7370 weighs only 104.4 grams with dimensions of 88.5 mm x 43.4 mm x 22.6 mm. Closed, it was small and dainty enough to fit in the palm of my hand.  With its ultra-handy size, there’s no doubt that the 7370 will be the phone of choice for our fashionable females although I don’t see any reason why full-blooded males who like their gadgets small will not prefer this too.

Opening the Nokia 7370 means swiveling it open to about 180 degrees.  Doing so fully reveals the phone with its ample 262K color screen, keypad and four-way navigation key. On the left side panel is the volume button which also doubles as the camera zoom button.  On the other side, to the right, are the on/off switch and the camera button. Examining the back of the phone revealed a metallic plate etched with L’Amour’s patented design, and a leather finish on the surface covering the battery.  A little garment label pinned to the side of the phone adds to its “designer” status.

I found texting on the 7370 difficult at first as I found the keypad too recessed for comfort.  However, I got used to it as I went along, especially as I had a choice between small, normal and large fonts (naturally I chose the latter!).  Voice reception was not as clear as I expected and I found myself pinning my ear very close to the earpiece in order to hear the person on the other end of the line (The unit that was reviewed is not an official, Nokia-released phone but a unit from our source in Hongkong.  Luanne Erni of Nokia assured Technews that this problem is not present in all official, Nokia-released phones -- Editor).  

A welcome change for this model in the future would be answer/end call buttons on the front panel so we wouldn’t experience the discomfort of having to swivel the phone before talking to a caller.

In other aspects, this tri-band phone boasts of fun, cool features such as the Phantom Spider game, a dictionary with pronunciation guides; a scientific calculator; a world clock with the airport code and dialing code of the world’s major cities; and a size converter for converting all types of clothing (coats, suits, dresses, skirts) from European to American to Asian sizes.

The camera delivered standard results as you would expect of a thing that has 1.3 mega pixels but you can always choose to add special effects to photos such as black and white or sepia.  There are also other desirable functions like an “incoming call video” which you can download from the gallery and “stereo widening” care of the twin speakers flanking both sides of the phone.  Also, don’t forget Bluetooth connectivity, Pop-Port interface, radio and voice recorder which are essential for my phone of choice and are found in the 7370.

The phone’s 10 MB internal memory is definitely wanting but is acceptable once you scale down your expectations.  The Nokia 7370 is, after all, not a “heavyweight” phone but a “trophy” phone, the type you’d like to hold while lazily sipping your favorite brew in a coffee shop on a lazy summer day.  So go ahead, flash it and have fun!