Nokia 2705 Shade Review
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Software and Features:
We were looking forward to once again seeing the Habitat Mode home screen that we saw on the Nokia 7205 Intrigue and Twist, but unfortunately it is not included with the Shade. The main menu also doesn’t come with any surprises, as it has the all-too-familiar Verizon layout with media center, messaging, contacts, recent calls, and settings & tools. There are 4 themes included: White, Connect, Cruising, and Snorkeling, but all they do is change the background color of the main menu. You can also change the menu layout between tab, list, and grid view, as well as change the position of the icons on the grid. We’re not that impressed by the (lack of) customizations on the Nokia Shade, but since it’s a budget phone we can’t complain too much.
The Phonebook on the Nokia 2705 Shade can store up to 1000 contacts, where the Mirage and Intrigue are limited to only 500. With each one you can enter the person’s name, 5 phone numbers, 2 email addresses, picture and ringtone. After a contact is saved, you can assign them to one of 999 speed-dial locations.
The Nokia 2705 Shade supports standard Text and Picture messaging. You may also opt to download the Mobile Email program from Verizon for a fee, which will allow you to send and receive standard email messages (not HTML) using your personal email account. One thing we thought was odd is that the MobileIM program is missing on the Shade. This is standard on most Verizon phones, as it connects to AIM, Windows Live, and Yahoo messaging. Hopefully this will be made available to download.
The 1.3MP camera on the Nokia 6205 didn’t impress us much last year, so it’s unfortunate that the camera on the Nokia Shade is worse off. Images taken outside are underexposed with poor color representation and generally look lifeless. It only gets worse when you use the camera inside, as images look blurry when taken in lower light conditions. Also, since the Shade does not come with a microSD memory card slot, you can only export the images from the phone by using Picture Messaging.
Another disappointment is that the Nokia Shade doesn’t come with a music player, so you won’t be using this phone to listen to your MP3 collection. Also, since EVDO is not supported for data, it doesn’t come with VCast Video or VCast Music applications. However, the Shade does include Mobile Web 2.0 for limited internet and VZNavigator for GPS guided directions. Just expect for it to take longer, as it has to use the slower 1x network. You can also download games, ringtones, and a limited number of programs.
Additional tools included are voice commands, calculator, appointment calendar, 3 alarm clock, stopwatch, world clock, and notepad.
The Shade comes with 64MB of internal memory, of which 5MB is used out of the box, leaving 59MB to the consumer. This should be plenty of room, as you will only use to it store programs, pictures, and messages.
We were looking forward to once again seeing the Habitat Mode home screen that we saw on the Nokia 7205 Intrigue and Twist, but unfortunately it is not included with the Shade. The main menu also doesn’t come with any surprises, as it has the all-too-familiar Verizon layout with media center, messaging, contacts, recent calls, and settings & tools. There are 4 themes included: White, Connect, Cruising, and Snorkeling, but all they do is change the background color of the main menu. You can also change the menu layout between tab, list, and grid view, as well as change the position of the icons on the grid. We’re not that impressed by the (lack of) customizations on the Nokia Shade, but since it’s a budget phone we can’t complain too much.
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The home screen | Tab view | List view | Grid view |
The Phonebook on the Nokia 2705 Shade can store up to 1000 contacts, where the Mirage and Intrigue are limited to only 500. With each one you can enter the person’s name, 5 phone numbers, 2 email addresses, picture and ringtone. After a contact is saved, you can assign them to one of 999 speed-dial locations.
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The phonebook options of the Nokia 2705 Shade | ||
The Nokia 2705 Shade supports standard Text and Picture messaging. You may also opt to download the Mobile Email program from Verizon for a fee, which will allow you to send and receive standard email messages (not HTML) using your personal email account. One thing we thought was odd is that the MobileIM program is missing on the Shade. This is standard on most Verizon phones, as it connects to AIM, Windows Live, and Yahoo messaging. Hopefully this will be made available to download.
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Messaging with the Shade | |
The 1.3MP camera on the Nokia 6205 didn’t impress us much last year, so it’s unfortunate that the camera on the Nokia Shade is worse off. Images taken outside are underexposed with poor color representation and generally look lifeless. It only gets worse when you use the camera inside, as images look blurry when taken in lower light conditions. Also, since the Shade does not come with a microSD memory card slot, you can only export the images from the phone by using Picture Messaging.
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The camera interface | |
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Outdoor photos taken with the Nokia 2705 Shade | ||||
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Strong light | Medium light | Low light | Darkness |
Indoor photos | |||
Another disappointment is that the Nokia Shade doesn’t come with a music player, so you won’t be using this phone to listen to your MP3 collection. Also, since EVDO is not supported for data, it doesn’t come with VCast Video or VCast Music applications. However, the Shade does include Mobile Web 2.0 for limited internet and VZNavigator for GPS guided directions. Just expect for it to take longer, as it has to use the slower 1x network. You can also download games, ringtones, and a limited number of programs.
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Mobile Web 2.0 | VZNavigator |
Additional tools included are voice commands, calculator, appointment calendar, 3 alarm clock, stopwatch, world clock, and notepad.
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The additional tools of the Nokia 2705 Shade | ||||
The Shade comes with 64MB of internal memory, of which 5MB is used out of the box, leaving 59MB to the consumer. This should be plenty of room, as you will only use to it store programs, pictures, and messages.
