Nokia 7900 Prism

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