Review: Nokia 7900 Prism

Nokia 7900 Prism Review

Phone rating:

In a nutshell: A very special phone, with dazzling lighting effects and living wallpaper. The 7900 Prism has looks and exclusivity, but also comes with 3G (although there's no video calling), a 2 megapixel camera, MP3 player, FM radio and Bluetooth. It's not a phone for tech-nerds, but is design-led. It isn't cheap, and you won't see many of these on the streets.

The 7900 Prism is one of Nokia's "fashion" phones. It's a phone that you buy mainly for the looks. Like the 7500 Prism, it features geometric patterns and bevelled surfaces, making for a striking look. But the 7900 Prism is better looking than the 7500. It's a superslim phone, measuring just 11mm thick, but the best thing about it is the cool lighting effects. The numbers on the keypad are invisible when the phone is off or in standby, but light up in 49 different colours in a dazzling display when the phone is in use. The phone also has specially designed "living wallpaper" that provides a fabulous animated display, unique to each phone. It's definitely a phone to show off with!

7 series phones normally don't offer a lot of features to back up the looks, and the 7900 is no exception. Although at first glance it seems to offer everything you might want: 3G, camera, music player, radio, when you compare it with other 3G phones in the same price range, you realise that you're paying for the looks and missing out on features. For example, the 7900 has one of the worst cameras in its class - just 2 megapixels with no autofocus - and there isn't a second camera for video calling. The music player and FM radio work just fine, however the memory is limited to 1 Gbyte (enough for 250 songs), so the potential for this phone to replace a dedicated MP3 player is limited.

Nevertheless, if you like the style and are willing to spend the money, the 7900 does most things that most users will want. Nokia has always known that, and that's why the 7 series phones have continued for so long. What you get from the 7900 Prism is a great looking phone that dazzles with its lighting effects, that can take snaps and video clips, play music (MP3 tracks and radio), has Bluetooth & USB connectivity, and enough memory to store your stuff. We like it better than the 7500 Prism, and it's definitely a step up from earlier phones like the 7373 which are now pretty common.

The 7900 Crystal Prism is a new variation designed by fashion designer Frédérique Daubal and featuring laser-etchings by Daubal on tha back cover.

Features of the Nokia 7900 Prism include:

• 2 megapixel camera with 8x digital zoom and flash
• Video recorder
• Display: OLED display, 16 million colours, 240 x 320 pixels
• Music player (MP3/AAC/eAAC+ formats)
• FM radio with Visual Radio support
• MP3 ringtones / 64-voice polyphonic ringtones
• Animated living wallpapers
• Messaging: SMS, MMS, Email, Audio messaging (record your own voice message and send to compatible devices)
• Java Games
• Internet: WAP, GPRS Class 10, HSCSD, EDGE, WCDMA
• Web browser: Opera Mini
• Alarm clock, Notes, Countdown timer, To-do list, Calendar
• Memory: 1 Gbyte
• Connectivity: Bluetooth 2.0, USB 2.0
• Offline mode
• GSM quadband (850/900/1800/1900 MHz), 3G (WCDMA 850/2100 MHz)
• Size: 112 x 45 x 11 mm
• Weight: 101g
• Talktime: 3 hours
• Battery standby: 300 hours

Nokia 7900 Prism Consumer Reviews

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Average rating from 10 reviews:

Reviewed by Gerry P. Johnson from United States on 21st May 2009
My Nokia 7900 freezes. I have to remove the battery and reinstall the battery to get it working again. Can't configure phone to work with AT&T internet browser.
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Reviewed by james from kenya on 30th Mar 2009
charging problem and hangs....too many times
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Reviewed by alexandra from england on 24th Aug 2008
i have found this phone to be one of the worst phones nokia have ever made! i have had 3 of these phones over a period of 6 months due to the same fault! after 2 month the phone would not charge and you would have to hold the charger in a specific position for it to work but it will finally end up not charging at all, i was unable to call out or recieve any calls as i could oly hear the person if the phone was on loud speaker but they were unable to hear me and the phone constantly stalls from the moment i recieved it. I also found it playing my ringtone and message tone when the phone was on silent and the profile was set not to play and it also changed my tones aswell. I i have found this to be the most disappointing phone i have ever owned and i have always thought of nokia as a good company! just be warned, u are guarunteed problems with this phone!
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Reviewed by Jade from UK on 8th Aug 2008
i think this a very reliable phone, many people say it freezes but it dosent !!!!its a ****** good phone..... BUY IT!!!!!
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Reviewed by Cornelius from uk on 7th Aug 2008
it looks so ugly, however i fell into the trap and bought the phone. i do nt recommend it at any costs, ity is unbelievely crashable and i hope you dont make the same mistake as i did, definitely not worth ur money.
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Reviewed by susie Q from England on 15th Jun 2008
the camera has an orange glow in the middle which distortes the picture colours in the centre of the frame. i have had two of these phones with exactly the same problem. have expericenced freezing, although it looks good it is not good value for money!
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Reviewed by Machine from Canada on 22nd Apr 2008
Its a very good looking phone. Except it keeps freezing when trying to handle multiple processes at once. Such as sending a text message and it going into auto-lock. I think this is the problem with it. And the battery life is ok, around 3 hours talk time max. Overall its aesthetically pleasing however so if you're a girl, go for it.
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Reviewed by Dilian from Bulgaira on 21st Apr 2008
It is perfect but there is one - it cant read Word documents.Is there a way to open such files?
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Reviewed by tiger from india on 27th Feb 2008
dam good
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Reviewed by saj from england on 25th Jan 2008
first impressions, excellent build quality, very solid feel. glass front so scratch resistant. although buttons do get minute scratches. sound is amazing, a lot of bass. cameras not too tough same as the sirocco. light effects are good. overall i think it is a great phone, had no problems so far, except the hansfree that comes in the package. it has poor sound quality.
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