Nokia 701

Available now
24th August 2011

The Nokia 701 is an upgraded version of the Nokia C7, shipping with an updated operating system, an improved display and a faster processor.

It's a powerful device with a 1GHz processor inside, roughly twice as fast as before. The display is a 3.5" 360 x 640 pixel panel which is a little on the small side compared to rivals, but Nokia claim that it is the brightest smartphone display in the world, combining ClearBlack technology with an IPS TFT display and a Gorilla Glass coating.

On the back is an 8 megapixel camera with HD video capture and an LED flash, there is a secondary camera on the front for video calling, and as you would expect with a device of this class there is GPS, Bluetooth, 3.5G support and WiFi connectivity, and there is also built in support for NFC contactless connections.

It's a capable media device as well, the Nokia 701 packs a media player, FM radio, stereo Bluetooth, a 3.5mm audio socket and a generous 8GB of internal flash memory plus a microSD slot.

This is a Symbian Belle smartphone, which comes with a much improved user interface and new applications. If you have the older Nokia C7 then there should be an upgrade path available a little later in the year.

Inside is a relatively large 1300 mAh battery which can provide over 6 hours talktime and nearly 23 days standby time on 3G, and the whole package measures 117 x 57 x 11mm and weighs 131 grams.

Nokia say that the 701 should start shipping during Q3 2011 in steel dark, silver light, amethyst violet, and white colour schemes for around €290 before tax and carrier subsidy, which is cheaper than the C7 when it came out and it looks pretty competitive in the midrange smartphone market.