By Tony Lim

TOGETHER with two candy-bar models and one fliptop version, the Nokia 7610 Supernova rounds up the Supernova family.

With its mirrored surfaces, curves and colour options, the Supernova series seems aimed at the female set.

First, there is the Xpress-On back cover in a different colour, so that you can change the look of the phone.

In another nod to women, the front of the phone - with its display screen dimmed - has a smoky mirrored finish that can easily double up as a makeshift mirror for a quick lipstick touch-up.

One of the most interesting features of the 7610 is the theme colouriser. This application detects the colours of objects viewed through the phone's camera and goes on to create 16 different shades of the colours detected.

For instance, when you point the camera at your brown desk that has a red book and black mousepad on it, the application will pick up those hues and randomly churn out 16 shades in all of those hues.

You can save the 16 shades as a wallpaper or screensaver in just a couple of clicks. What is really neat is that even the backlight for the centre navigational pad changes to a matching colour as well.

The phone's colour combination of white and lilac or gunmetal grey and red is likely to grab women's attention. The back cover's rubberised coating makes the phone comfortable to hold.

From a multimedia perspective, the 7610 is well-equipped. You get a 3.2-megapixel auto-focus camera with dual LED flash and 8x zoom, and a music player with a dedicated hardware button.

There's even a TV-out function to zip the video clips you have shot directly to the goggle-box. The down side is that the TV-out cable is not supplied.

Even though the camera specs look good on paper, the actual pictures taken are rather disappointing. Images are grainy and not sharp.

Unlike most slider phones, the 7610's camera is located at the rear of the phone and not underneath the sliding half of the gizmo. As the camera is positioned where my index finger naturally sits when I hold the phone, it is annoying to have to consciously move my finger away before I take a snap.

Music playback, on the other hand, is good. With a dedicated button on the side of the phone, you have instant access to your music collection. The mono speaker at the rear of the phone is loud and produces good sound. To carry cartloads of tunes, slot a microSD memory card with your music library into the expansion slot.

• Nokia 7610 Supernova
  $498 (without operator plan), available from authorised phone shops

Final say

The Nokia 7610 Supernova is a chic, eye-catching phone that will be just dandy for a woman's night out with her girlfriends.

This article was first published in Digital Life, The Straits Times on Oct 29, 2008.