Nokia announces X7-00 and E6-00

It was no secret that the E6 and X7 would be announced anytime soon, and the rumored specs seems to be accurate. Both the Nokia E6-00 and Nokia X7-00 are running on Nokias newest version of the Symbian operating system named Symbian Anna. Most other new smartphones releases these days are highlighting one or two of the installed operating system advantages and of course the number of apps available for the platform. Not so with Nokia and Symbian OS. The Symbian advantages are not mentioned by one word in the official press release.

The Nokia X7-00 highlights ordered by importance according to Nokia are:

• HD games
• 4 inch AMOLED touch screen
• Email and social networks
• Fully customisable home screens
• Free GPS navigation
• Fast effortless browsing
• Web TV on demand

The E6-00 has a smaller screen and a QWERTY keyboard. The features highlighted by Nokia are:

• Touch screen and QWERTY
• Microsoft business apps
• Email and social networks
• Fully customisable home screens
• Free GPS navigation
• Apps, games and more

The updated Symbian Anna operating system has new icons and usability enhancements such as improved text input and a faster browser and refreshed Ovi Maps. Check out the video below to see if this can convince you to choose Symbian Anna on your next smartphone.

We haven't tried the updated OS and the Nokia demo videos does not reveal much about the user interface improvement, but adding new features such as the portrait virtual QWERTY keyboard option and a split screen text entry seems like a smart idea. Nokia will soon transform into a manufacture of Windows Phone smartphones, but at the same time, they are telling the world that the plan is to ship 150 million Symbian devices. Over 200 million phones are running on older version of the Symbian operating system today. The Nokia N8, C7, C6 and E7 will also be able to run on Symbian Anna.

Nokia has a naming conventions for their new mobile phone models. The phones are given a letter of C, X, E or N and a number between 1-9. The C-series are core range models, E-series are focussed on productivity, the N-series are the most advanced models and the X-series are models with focus on social entertainment. The following number represent the range of functionality and the approximate price of the device. The X7 is more advanced than the E6 and it also cost

Nokia X7-00 specifications

• Size: 119.7 x 62.8 x 11.9mm
• 146 gram
• 4 inch touch display, 640 x 360 pixel resolution, 16.7 million colours, AMOLED capacitive touch screen. Gorilla glass. Pinch-to-zoom support.
• 680 MHz processor and a additional graphics accelerator
• Networks: GSM/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900, WCDMA 850/900/1700/1900/2100, HSPA 10.2 / 2.0 Mbps
• WLAN b/g/n
• Bluetooth 3.0
• Micro USB
• Sensors: Accelerometer, proximity, ambient light
• Battery: 1300 mAh, talktime: 390 minutes, standby time: 450 hours
• 350 MB RAM, 8 GB microSD card included. Supports up to 32 GB microSD card
• A-GPS and Ovi Maps with free car and pedestrian navigation
• 8 megapixel camera, dual LED flash
• 720p HD video recording
• Java
• FM Radio

Nokia E6-00 specifications

• Size: 115.5 x 59 x 10.5 mm
• 133 gram
• 2.46 inch touch display, 640 x 480 pixel resolution, 16.7 million colours, capacitive touch screen
• 680 MHz ARM 1176 processor and a Broadcom graphics accelerator.
• Networks: GSM/EDGE: 850/900/1800/1900, WCDMA 850/900/1700/1900/2100, HDPA 10.2 / 2.0 Mbps
• WLAN b/g/n
• Bluetooth 3.0
• Micro USB
• Sensors: accelerometer, proximity, ambient light, compass (magnetometer)
• Battery: 1500 mAh, talktime: 888 minutes, standby time 681 hours
• 350 MB RAM, 8 GB microSD card included, expandable up to 32 GB.
• A-GPS and Ovi Maps with free car and pedestrian navigation
• 8 megapixel camera, geotagging
• 720p HD video recording
• VGA (640x480 pixel) front camera for video calls
• Java
• FM Radio
• 3.5 mm AV connector with TV-out
• Mail for Exchange, Communicator Mobile and SharePoint access

Looking at the specifications, we see that the X7-00 640 x 360 display resolution is below average for a 4 inch smartphone for sale in 2011. Even the Nokia E6 with its 2.46 inch display has a better resolution. Also notice the promissed 14 hour and 48 minutes talk time for the E6-00. That is an impressive 888 minutes talk time! The stanby time of 681 hours is almost month before the phone turns itself off. The E6-00 comes with free Ovi Maps, GPS and a compass for easier navigation.

Nokia X7-00 will be available in Q2 2011 in Europe, Eurasia, China, India and SEAP. No word about the US. The expected retail price will be EUR 380. Nokia E6-00 will also be available in quarter 2 2011. It is a little cheaper with an expected retail price of 345 Euro.