Nokia Twist resurrects the swivel phone
Nokia 7705 puts a new twist on design.
(Credit: Nokia)With six new cell phones in the last two days alone (and more expected Thursday), it's been a busy week in the mobile world. But even with the new Palm Pixi and the Samsung Rogue, Nokia has managed to grab the spotlight with one of the strangest-looking handsets we've seen in a while.
The Nokia 7705 Twist for Verizon Wireless is not only square, it also features a blast-from-the-past swivel design. Front and center is the 2.4-inch, 262-color display above a few navigation controls. There's also a ring around the swivel point that lights when you get a call or have missed messages. To find the full QWERTY keyboard, just rotate the swivel out from behind. The front of the Twist is black, but it comes with black and purple battery covers.
Features are centered around messaging, but the handset supports a number of multimedia options as well. Inside are a 3-megapixel camera with video recording, threaded text messaging, e-mail, a flash and self-portrait mirror for the camera, a "post to blogs" feature for photos and videos, a music player, full Bluetooth with a stereo profile, visual voice mail, instant messaging, a full HTML browser (that may be tricky on such a small display), support for VZ Navigator, a 2.5mm headset jack (hiss), 256MB of internal memory, a MicroSD card slot, voice commands, a personal organizer, and a speakerphone. And as a 3G (EV-DO) handset, the Twist supports Verizon's music and video services.
The Twist will be available online beginning September 13 and in-store on September 21. The price is $99.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate with a new two-year customer agreement.
On Sale Now: $49.99
View the latest prices for Nokia 7705 Twist (Verizon Wireless)
Kent German is a senior editor for cell phone reviews at CNET. When he's not testing the newest handsets on the market, he's blogging about cell phone news for Crave. In his On Call column, he answers reader questions and gives his take on the rapidly changing mobile industry. E-mail Kent. 
They disable features that the phone is capable of handling. WHY??????????.
- by abcyesn October 23, 2009 6:21 PM PDT
- Nokia Twist is certainly unique, but it's awkward. The Twist offers a fair number of features, decent performance, and a nice keyboard for messaging and e-mail; however, it can't measure up as a multimedia phone. I got it from Verizon Wireless for only $99 with a 2 years contract, i think i just like it's unique design, but i could probably spend a little more and get the motorola droid, which I probably won't use most of the cool features. I still love my nokia twist, hangout with other Nokia Twist owners at http://www.Nokia-Twist.com if you own a nokia twist.
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