The Nokia Astound is the U.S variant on the Nokia C7 and its available exclusively through T-Mobile. The Astound features a 3.5 inch touchscreen display and an 8MP camera which is capable of capturing HD video at 720p. The device has 8GB of internal storage which can be expanded through microSD and has NFC capability.My first impressions of the Astound are pretty good. It has a beautiful display and the device is very sleek and easy to hold. On the front you can see the camera, ambient light sensor, proximity sensor and ear piece for call receiving on the top and three buttons at the bottom with the home button is in the middle and touch sensitive call receive and end buttons on either side.
On the right side you have the volume up and down buttons with a dedicated button between them for voice commands. In the right center is the device lock switch and below that is the dedicated camera button.
The left has just charger port seated by itself. I don't really understand why Nokia chose to give two options for charging, but I am not one to complain.
On the top of the device is the power button, 3.5 mm audio jack and microUSB port which is protected by a plastic cover.
At the back is the 8 MP camera with dual-LED flash and speaker grills. Removing the metal back cover reveals the battery and SIM card slot. The memory card slot is located under the battery. Getting to the memory card may be a little hard, but I don't see people needing this option with the 8GB storage on board.
Starting the device reveals that it runs the same version of Symbian as the C7 and N8 but I do see that T-Mobile has it's own flavor mixed in. The T-Mobile start-up tone follows Nokia's connecting people boot up before we are presented with our home-screen. A different theme from the default Symbian theme has been set and running through the phone reveals more of T-Mobile's customization through the device. The biggest surprise was that the Symbian Anna browser is also available in the Astound.
Conclusively The Nokia Astound is a great device for a smartphone. It is just the right size and feels great in the pocket. The build has the right mix of plastic and metal giving it a rich feel for the average user. Added featured like HD video and the 8MP camera will surely bring some fans over to what Nokia has to offer. Symbian is the biggest issue if any on the device and I personally have no issues with the platform other than for the lack of apps. For my full un-boxing and detailed hands-on with the device look out for my review which I will have up shortly.
For more information on the Nokia Astound head back to our main review page.