Nokia 7500 Prism Review - Marmite Defined

The Nokia 7500 Prism with its diamond-shaped keypad design will instantly command attention and is sure to win many admirers, but before we jump the gun, let's see what else is on offer to see if it's worth forking out for.

The first point of note is the build & and construction of the phone, which is adequate and relatively solid but due to the kind of black-plastics used in the construction, it is very prone to fingerprints. Due to this, after a short time of using the handset, constant cleaning is required to keep it in acceptable condition. Also some of the materials used do feel slightly cheap and of poor quality, possibly being the reason for the above-mentioned fingerprint issue which has been seen so much in mobile phones of late.

The main attraction is clearly the diamond-style keypad. Though it does appear very unusual and complex, in practise it's a lot more intuitive than I expected. The keypad is very comfortable and is a credit to Nokia's pedigree in keypad design.

The same cannot be said of the joystick, which is a similar to older Sony Ericsson bar-phones; it is a bizarre decision, as the joystick itself is very difficult to use seamlessly and is nowhere near as user-friendly as the keypad. It's even more peculiar when you look at the design and can easily see how a normal D-pad could have been implemented without compromising on space or style. If anything, the joystick actually ruins the look and feel of the phone as opposed to enhancing it.

Aside from the innovative/weird (delete where applicable) keypad, the 7500 Prism is at heart a very basic mobile phone in terms of features, which we will now look at in further detail.

The memory capacity is a standard 30MB, but this can be upgradeable via a micro SD card. There is nothing special about that really, though for the majority a 512MB memory card comes in the retail package, although this can vary by region.

Continuing this vein of average-ness are the connectivity options, which are pretty much the bare-minimum of what is expected from a mid to low-level handset. Included are USB 2.0, Bluetooth, GPRS and EDGE, which is a little poor. Considering that the Prism is on sale for a higher-price than its immediate rivals, potential customers would not be unreasonable in expecting something extra, like 3G perhaps.

Back on a positive stance, the quality of the display is again close to Nokia's continuously high-standards in this field. While not necessarily as clear as some of the latest additions to the Xpress music series, the 5310 or 5610, it's still good enough to mark it down as one of the phones more positive qualities.

As you would expect, a camera is included, though at 2 Mega Pixels it isn't really much to write home about. Picture quality is adequate but with the absence of autofocus its usage possibilities are somewhat restricted.

Though the 7500 Prism is unlikely to oust any of the more dedicated music-handsets for that feature alone, it's nice to see that it has been implemented, along with an FM radio to add to the slightly-bare spec sheet a little.

The Nokia 7500 Prism is an unusual looking handset and its unique design features are sure to win it many admirers, but poor materials and very-basic features coupled together with a comparatively high price make it a purchase strictly for those who want to be different. In my humble opinion, you'll be much better off either waiting for the 7900 Prism or going for the older-yet still respectable Nokia 6300 as it looks nice, has a solid build and a marginally better camera.