Connectivity:
The Nokia 7610 comes with two connection options, Bluetooth and a pop-port.
Bluetooth is compatible with a wide range of headsets, and other devices, while the pop-port provides compability with recent Nokia wired headsets and the Nokia DKU-2 cable. This cable allows USB connection to a PC. Importantly, the Nokia 7610 actually comes packaged with the DKU-2 cable. This is necessary in a sense; without an easy means to connect to a PC, the Nokia 7610 would sacrifice much of it's functionality.
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My pop-port headset. |
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Slightly less cool pop-port headset, ships with Nokia 7610. |
There is no longer any infrared port. The reason for this was probably space, but the lack of this option does create difficulties in some respects. For example, it used to be perfectly simple to transfer contacts via infrared. This is now impossible, and although bluetooth does replace this, there are far fewer phones with bluetooth capability, which makes it far more likely you will have to type it in manually, or send a text message.
The fact that the Nokia 7610 accepts RS-MMC also means that you can use a card reader to install files to your phone, although the ease of this is reduced by the fact that the RS-MMC slot lies below the battery.
Telephony:
The next question is how well the Nokia 7610 functions as a phone. I'm glad to report it does not dissapoint. Signal strength always remains high, and all the standard Nokia functionality is present. This means that it works very well, generally. For the uninitiated, this means that there is a call log (incoming, outgoing, missed, received), speed dial, voice dial, user groups with special ringtones, phone book which contains other information, including multiple numbers, addresses, e-mails, thumbnail images (with CallerID support), and custom fields. Ringtones are totally customizable (mp3/amr/mid support, .ogg support can be added), and ring out loud and clear.
The Nokia 7610 phone book synchronizes with Outlook, and is also SyncML compliant.
There have been drastic improvements in the phone-book's search capabilities. The way it works now, both the "first name" and "last name" fields are checked when you type in a name. This means that searching for "ch" will give you both "Martin Chan" and "Chris Donalds". Another advantage is that "default" numbers can be selected. This expedites the process of text messaging or calling in cases where you have stored multiple numbers for a contact.
Responsiveness is also good; about on part with the 6100, although startup time is atrocious: expect to wait at least 35 seconds for the phone to become usable. However, the phone is not liable to crash, so there should be no issues leaving it on continously.
Finally, the menus have been rejigged such that it is (for the first time in a Nokia Series 60) possible to scroll both up and down in the menus.
Note that an early review of the 7610b by engadget reports that signal strength is less than optimal; although they also claim that 6600 reception is not very good, and this is contradicted by all user reviews on www.amazon.com
