Gadgetress reviews the Nokia 7380

A song choice
The address book
When the 7380's view screen is asleep, the phone's reflective cover (and perhaps yourself) is all you see.

By Tamara Chuang | Orange County Register

April 17, 2006 at 10:38 p.m.

Purpose: A fashionable phone geeks will drool over.

The lowdown: You’re probably saying, “What? That’s a cell phone?”

I had to get my hands on the new Nokia 7380 just to figure out how it works. This eye-catching gadget is from Nokia’s L’Amour Collection, a taupe- and gold-hued line with leather and floral accents. It looks like a mirrored remote control with one orange button. A circle around the button spins like the iPod’s scroll wheel. Noticeably missing: the screen and no number buttons!

I fumble around. How do I make phone calls? Is there really a screen? The mirror is great for, I suppose, lipstick touchups. But this girl’s gotta have more than flash. I finally break down and read the instructions to turn it on.

Suddenly, the mirror reveals a tiny LCD screen, about 1-inch by a half-inch. This is sooo cool. I want it already. In standby mode, the screen goes dark and the mirror returns.

There is an impressive number of tech touches: speakers, speaker phone, Bluetooth, FM radio, voice recorder, music and video player, text messages (though this is a challenge) and a bright flash for its 2-megapixel camera. It also comes with matching silky taupe case and a slinky silver wrist chain.

But in sunlight, it’s hard to see the screen. And there’s no slot for expandable memory. The phone comes with a measly 52 megabytes reserved for music, photos and other media. I quickly filled up available space.

The wheel is very handy. It’s easy to wade through the menu items: multimedia, organizer and Internet. And then I spot “Number entry.” Dialing a number requires concentration. But if you use your thumbs anyway, this is the same thing only numbers aren’t in a 12-button grid. Numbers line up straight so you spin the wheel to get to the right number.

Or you can transfer numbers from your computer’s Microsoft Outlook, Express or Lotus address books. Using the free Nokia PC Suite software, you can sync contacts to the phone using Bluetooth.

Nokia’s PC Suite is excellent. I used an older version with an old Nokia and miss the ease of keeping my computer and phone contacts in sync. The latest version, 6.70, includes tools to transfer MP3 songs and videos, back up the phone and install other software, such as Java games.

Once I uploaded my contacts, the real test started: Using the phone as a phone. It mostly worked. Calling people meant spinning through the contact list until I found someone. But voice dialing? Not hands-free easy. The phone’s voice recognition was terrible. A half dozen attempts of saying, “home” pulled up my home number once.

Verdict: The 7380 is proof that fashion and tech do mix. But like the latest styles strutting the catwalks, this is fun to look at but not really practical.

This phone even has that high-fashion price tag of $650. No cell-phone companies offer discounts with service, but this means it’s unlocked, so it will work with T-Mobile, Cingularand in parts of Europe and Asia that use GSM phone networks.

There is room for improvement – please, please fix the voice recognition!

But it’s such a cool phone, I’m almost willing to overlook the negatives. I applaud Nokia for constantly innovating cell-phone design and not skimping on technology when building a phone for women (although one male gadget junkie thought it was so cool, he didn’t mind the floral accents). I’m giving this a high rating because of its uniqueness and the technology inside.

Nokia will soon sell the 7370 phone, which has the same taupe, gold and mirrored style, but in a traditional case with screen and dial pad. I want the funky one.