The Twist has a unique and modern look. At 3.44 ounces or 98 grams, it is perfectly square (2.71 inches by 2.71 inches by 0.59 inch or 6.9 cm x 6.9 cm x 1.5 cm). The Twist is a digital CDMA device with EV-DO Rev. 0 for data that is available from Verizon. As such, it won’t work in Europe. However, if this form-factor took off, it could appear in as a 3G phone in other parts of the world.

When closed, it is one of the smallest cell phone around. When it is open, however, it is a little wider than most cell phones. This, however, didn’t bother us in everyday use. In fact, we expected the Twist to be a little uncomfortable for talking, but found we got used to it quite quickly.  Although the screen and the keyboard had some flex in them, the entire phone felt sturdy when talking. The Verizon network performed admirably, as it has in the past. Sound quality was good. The speakerphone is also good, however, there were a few times when we wished it were a little louder.

True to its name, the Twist easily twists open to reveal a full QWERTY keyboard, as shown in Figure 6.

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Figure 6: The keyboard.

The top row contains shortcut keys, which include (from left to right), Send, TXT Composer, Music, Web, Speakerphone, Camera/Video and End.

While the keys are a bit smaller than some other phones, they are slightly raised and quite useable. The added width of the phone offers good stability for texting. You can easily hold the phone with both hands and type with both thumbs.

The number keys are clearly marked in white numbers above the alpha keys. They have, however, an unusual placement. While most phone keypads have 4 rows with 1-2-3, 4-5-6,7-8-9, and 0, the Twist’s numeric keypad  has 3 rows of 4 keys each. That puts the asterisk next to the 3 key, the pound sign next to the 6 key. Especially problematic is the fact that the 0 key on the right side of the 9 key instead of under the 8 key. As hard as we tried, we really had trouble getting used to this unusual arrangement. Although, I am sure that given the time and constant use, we would be able to get accustomed to it.

A large space bar is located in the center of the bottom row. There is also a shift key, a back button, a function key for typing numbers in a text message, and a return control.

One side of the Nokia Twist 7705 holds the microSD card slot, and a 2.5mm stereo headset jack, as shown in Figure 7. We would strongly prefer the more standard 3.5mm jack as we hate having to use an adapter for the headset and it is not easy to find a headset with a 2.5mm jack.

The other side of the phone, shown in Figure 8, has the volume rocker and USB charging port. We were happy to see Nokia using the mini-USB port that is on its way to becoming the standard for cell phones.

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Figure 7: One side of the Twist.

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Figure 8: The opposite side of the Twist.

The third side of the Twist has a holder for a wrist strap or charms and the speakerphone grille, as shown in Figure 9.

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Figure 9: The speakerphone.