Review of the stylish Nokia 7205 Intrigue for Verizon

Nokia's 7205 Intrigue for Verizon Wireless is a sleek clamshell, clad in a sexy gloss black exterior. As one of the few CDMA^(INFO) offerings from the Finnish cell phone manufacturer, the 7205 Intrigue represents Nokia's carrier-based push into the U.S. Market. Does this flip phone have what it takes to impress? Find out in our review.

Physical Aspects

The Nokia 7205 from Verizon Wireless is a hip clamshell cell phone, available in a sexy gloss black and chrome color scheme. Most of the phone is piano black, though the numeric keypad on the inside fades to a dark grey as you move from the hinge to the bottom edge. There are chrome accents around the outer edge and on the hinge, as well. The phone is made of plastic, and manages to store every single fingerprint that gets near it, annoyingly.

Despite the plastic materials used, the 7205 is built amazingly well, often feeling like a solid chunk of electronics. We did not notice any wobble in the hinge, nor were there any squeaks or creaks coming from the phone while we used it. The 91mm x 48mm x 15mm (3.6in x 1.9in x 0.6in) Intrigue is thin, and easily slides into a shirt pocket, or the front pocket of a pair of jeans. Weighing in at 90g (3.19oz), you'll hardly even notice it's there.

The outside of the Intrigue is deceptively simple. At standby, there are no markings, save for the slit that reveals the single loudspeaker. However, there is a hidden external display that runs the length of the phone's front, and is capable of showing various information, such as the name of a caller or the first few lines of an incoming SMS. There are three touch-sensitive music playback keys beneath this hidden display, which are also used to navigate through the simplistic front panel user interface.

When you open the Nokia 7205, the top and bottom pieces fit together, hiding the chrome hinge on the outside and creating an optical illusion that the phone is a curved, elongated candybar. The internal 2.2-inch QVGA (240x320 pixels) resolution display is exceptionally bright, even in direct sunlight. Below the hinge, the bottom part of the phone is a solid sheet of plastic, with the various characters printed on, and raised bars to separate each row of keys on the numeric keypad. Above the keypad, there is a cross-shaped d-pad, along with the expected left and right softkeys and dedicated end/send buttons. The end key also functions as the power key. The d-pad is slightly odd to use, though after a bit, I was able to confidently press a given direction.

Between the navigational cluster and the numeric keypad is a row of three keys for speakerphone, clear/backspace, and camera. The camera button can be pressed once to activate photo mode or held to activate the video recorder. Below this is the numeric keypad, printed in white on the black-to-grey fading background. Despite being printed on a solid sheet, each key is easy to locate and press by feel, thanks to the raised bars separating them. The keypad backlighting is bright and evenly lights up the entire keypad.

The volume rocker is located along the left edge of the bottom half of the phone, just below a 2.5mm audio port. Below the volume rocker, the microUSB^(INFO) port, for charging and data transfer, is covered by an attached door, to keep debris out. On the right edge of the phone is the lonely microSD^(INFO) card slot, also protected by an attached door. The Nokia 7205 Intrigue's 2 megapixel camera is located at the top of the back of the phone, inside Nokia's trademark squared circle with its single LED flash. Below this is the battery cover, bearing the names of both Verizon and Nokia in white lettering. Beneath this is the tiny, yet powerful, 860mAh battery.