The In Crowd

A while back I shouted out the radically, stylish Nokia 7280 cell phone. Now comes the follow up 7380 phone from the Nokia L'Amour handset collection:

"Last week Nokia unveiled its lavish L'Amour collection to many a raised eyebrow. See, these are some seriously showy handsets, more eager than most to hog the limelight purely for their outrageous looks. But here's the thing; they're actually far less garish in the flesh. In fact, when you get hands-on with the new 7360, 7380 and especially the 7370 it soon becomes clear that this is a high-class outfit.

Elaborately patterned mirror surfaces, faux leather trim and mock wood finishes are the obvious standout features. But as horrid as these might sound, somehow Nokia has pulled it off, blending these materials with bizarrely elegant expertise. And the phones are much smaller than you'd imagine too - the 7370 is a veritable midget of a mobile, similar in size to the Samsung D600. The swivel action on the 7270 is equally as surprising and satisfying, automatically snapping open with the slightest nudge.

It's not all rosy though. The stick-like 7380's mirror display is teensy and not at all clear, making it tough to judge whether you've taken a decent shot using its generous 2-megapixel camera. And the keyless dial is still complete nonsense. Then there's the 7360. Frankly it feels like the odd one out thanks to its distinctly ordinary body shape. Nonetheless, these are minor gripes and don't seriously detract from our overall attraction to the L'Amour collection." (spotted via the mighty Dork mag yet again. Click here to read more)