Review: Nokia C7 Astound
Screen
The Astound has a 3.5-inch display with 640 by 360 pixels. It is a good display, but it doesn't come close to matching some of the competition's larger, higher-resolution displays. If you hold the Astound close, you will see pixels and some rough edges, but at arm's length, images and icons look clean, with smooth edges. Colors are decent, though the overall tone has a muted pall to it. As for brightness, it performs very well indoors; no problems at all. Outdoors on cloudy days it was easy to see, though in direct sunlight it was almost impossible to use.
Signal
The Astound is a penta-band 3G phone, but since it is locked to T-Mobile's network, it can't roam onto AT&T's 850/1900MHz 3G network. With respect to T-Mobile's network, the Astound was a champion of Herculean strength. I drove with it all over northern New Jersey, and it nearly always showed a full-strength connection. Not only did it show maximum strength almost all the time, it performed amazingly. The Astound remained connected to T-Mobile's network consistently, and never dropped a call or missed a call. Data speeds over T-Mobile's 3G network were mostly zippy, and the Astound never timed out while I used it.
Sound
The Astound is an excellent voice phone. Call quality was crystal clear during my tests, and noise never interrupted any of my calls. Volume levels in the ear piece were very good, but not painfully loud when set to the highest levels. Ringers, alerts and ringtones were also loud enough so that you'll hear the Astound in most cases. The vibrate alert was a bit weak. The speakerphone offers excellent quality, and is both clear and loud; its' great for conference calls.
Battery
The Astound's battery life is good, but takes some tweaking in order to get the best performance. Battery life easily surpasses a day and stretches well into the next with Wi-Fi, GPS, and Bluetooth off. If you put all three of the radios on, it'll get you through an entire day but not much more. My guess is most users will need to charge it every night, but those of you who are conservative might be able to charge every other day.
Nokia World 2010
Nokia Brings C7 To T-Mobile As Astound
Nokia Astound / C7-00
