Long showcased as a concept phone by Nokia, the 7280 finally made it to North-America around spring 2005, sold in Canada at Holt Renfrew and online or in some small retail stores in the U.S. The 7280 doesn't have a keypad. Instead, a jog dial lets you browse and select characters and numbers, a lengthy process. But with Bluetooth and infrared, the concept is to manage your contacts from your PC. Beautiful, the 7280 focuses on style to the expense of functionality. Why not? But it needed a better software. For example, why not include a "dictate-a-number" feature, seen in other phones, that lets you speak every number -- would have been so well suited for the 7280. Also, there is no way to assign a soft keys to "Dial" so I needed to press menu and select dial for every new number. And go figure how to dial 1-800-go-fedex with no keys with letters on them? Pressing keys in an automated response service is also a hassle. There is a significant loss in efficiency.
However, for browsing, the jog dial is amazing. The see-through mirror/display combo is neat and the camera, which opens by pulling on each end of the handset is a beauty. The 7280 has to be sent back to Nokia for a battery change, which is not very convenient, for such an expensive phone. That said, the Nokia 7280 is still "useable": it lets you make and receive calls and if dialing takes time, keep in mind that if you are hip enough to need the 7280, you probably receive more calls than you dial.
However, for browsing, the jog dial is amazing. The see-through mirror/display combo is neat and the camera, which opens by pulling on each end of the handset is a beauty. The 7280 has to be sent back to Nokia for a battery change, which is not very convenient, for such an expensive phone. That said, the Nokia 7280 is still "useable": it lets you make and receive calls and if dialing takes time, keep in mind that if you are hip enough to need the 7280, you probably receive more calls than you dial.
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