Nokia 7210 Supernova

A baby brother to the 7310 Supernova, the 7210 Supernova boasts many of the same features as its slightly higher priced sibling. It remains a largely unremarkable handset that hardly seems good value when weighed up against its competitors.

Using the same candy bar design as the 7310, the 7210 Supernova differs only in the design of its controls and the fact that it doesn't have a mirror-style finish adorning its keypad and display. Our review model had a white and pink colour scheme.

The lightweight, plastic design remains and build quality isn’t great. The rear casing doesn't squeak like the 7310, but the five-way navigational pad does. The smaller size of both the navigational pad and the keypad and buttons also doesn't do the 7210 any favours — the keys require a rather firm press to activate, tactility isn't great and the smaller size of the buttons make for a less than pleasing experience when messaging. The handset also lacks external volume controls.

Despite the below average controls, the 7210 Supernova remains pretty simple to use, thanks largely to the Symbian Series 40 interface. It's a little sluggish when quickly scrolling or browsing, but using this handset is straightforward enough, even for first-time users. Another positive is the display — viewing angles aren't the best but it performs well in direct sunlight and is crisp and clear.

Once again, features are largely unremarkable. The highlight is the expandable memory, with a microSD card slot capable of storing cards up to 4GB in size. Multimedia is fair, with a 2-megapixel camera that doubles as a video recorder, a music player and an FM radio all present. Bluetooth with the A2DP profile allows you to stream your music to a wireless pair of headphones; Nokia also bundles a pair of micro-USB headphones in the sales package.

The phone has a range of PIM functions, including a converter, world clock and calculator, and preinstalled Yahoo! Go and Flickr services are available. Unfortunately, the lack of 3G connectivity restricts these applications from being as useful as they could be.

Despite the slightly cheaper price point than its bigger brother, the 7210 still doesn't really represent good value in our books. There is simply nothing remarkable in terms of design or features that warrants this price tag.