Apparently, there can never be too many ways to describe a phone. Not until you've read the press releases for the new Prisms that are punctuated with just about every adjective known to flatter a handset. Nokia's latest contribution to the mobile phone cause is a pair of design-centric candy bars which are really interesting to look at, but which we're not sure if we'd pass them over for something more traditional. We got hold of a prototype 7900 Prism to give you our first impressions.

The 7900 Prism looks really nice from afar with its clean and well-defined lines. On closer inspection, diagonal criss-cross lines and horizontal strokes dissect the phone into a motif made up of multiple triangles etched onto the back fascia. The design extends to the sides of the handset and then morphs into the alphanumeric keys on the front.

That's where the beauty (or not) of the phone lies, depending on what kind of user you are. We've come across many phones with cringe-worthy keypads. The one on the 7900 Prism is a mixed bag. It's still the typical three-by-four arrangement, though the buttons are now triangles, meaning to say you lose half a button compared with rectangular keys. That's actually not a problem and we've dealt and lived with tinier ones. But because of the oddity of the keys, it took us a while to get up to speed using the keypad.

When the phone is idle, the lettering on the keypad disappears. It comes back on from standby with a pink backlight. Nice touch there, although in terms of practicality, this doesn't bring anything to the table. The usual left/right softkeys are below the OLED QVGA screen along with the call/end buttons and central directional control. Unlike most of the Nokia handsets which have a separate power button, the End key on the 7900 doubles as one.

One thing that may come across as odd to most users is the use of only one micro-USB port at the top edge of the phone, though we think in the case of this Nokia, it works to keep the look of the handset clean. The same port charges the handset and synchronizes with the computer.

On the technology front, the 7900 isn't too shabby for a design-centric set. The quadband handset also comes with 3G (850/2100MHz) connectivity and Bluetooth. It has 1GB of onboard memory, but dropped the expansion slot for additional memory. Other features that have become defacto for mobile phones these days are a music player, Web browser, organizer functions and onboard camera (2 megapixels with LED flash).

According to Nokia, the 7900 Prism is expected out in September for Asia. No pricing details were available. Also with a similar design is the 7500 Prism, which was announced at the same time but with slightly different specifications.