Nokia N78 Review-A Sizzling Phone

Nokia N78 Review

Introduction

The N78 is the new entry level product for the N-series range, but this should be set in the context that all N-series phone should really be considered high-end - it is just a matter of degrees. The device can be seen as a direct replacement for the Nokia N73, far more so than was the case with the N82, which was really all about the camera. I think there's every chance that the N78 will match the pattern of the N73 - becoming one of the best selling N-series, carried by numerous operators and breaking out of the traditional Smartphone user base. It is also the product that, to date goes furthest in carrying the message of Nokia as a service and Internet player, as envisioned in the Ovi strategy, to the wider market. Nokia's N-series lineup is well known for its high-end devices, but also for its expensive prices. Regardless, the company still has its fans, who took it right on top in the handset sales charts. However, not all that's expensive is also good, and phones such as N78 are one of the reasons this saying is true. Since Nokia N81 has been launched on the market, with its unusual look, other Nokia N-series borrowed its design. 

N78 are such phones that want to impress but slack big time in terms of functionality and ease of use. While the former has some serious advantages over the latter and could be somewhat 'excused' thanks to its powerful camera and Xenon flash, the N78 has none of these good traits. Moreover, it features the same awkward design that makes users almost unable to text and all for even more money than its N82 predecessor.  Announced in February 2008, Nokia fans didn't have to wait too long, as the Smartphone was released in May 2008. The multimedia handset is selling for around 300 USD, but can go lower if you opt for a plan. Customers can opt for any of the three colors available on the market: Brown, Blue or White.

The N78 has an impressive feature set: the hardware - 3.2 megapixel auto-focus camera, Wi-Fi and 3.5G connectivity, integrated GPS - tells one part of the story, but it is the versatility of the software suite that pushes location, imaging and multimedia services to the fore that makes it really stand out. At the same time it has a modest price point compared to its N-series sisters. Notably, the N78 is the first product on the market to use S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2 (S60 3.2), the latest version of S60. There are also some significant updates to the N-series-only software pieces. This means that there are quite a few software changes and some of the most annoying software usability problems (from previous S60 versions) have been fixed. The new version doesn't introduce whole scale changes, but rather is an evolution towards a more mature platform. The same software will be used in the upcoming N96 and doubtless in a few more, as yet unannounced, devices.

Hardware and design

With dimensions of 113 x 49 x 15.1 mm (76.5 cc), the N78 is at the small end of the S60 scale. It manages to be noticeably smaller than its N70 and N73 (89 cc) predecessors while packing in extra features - such is the pace of changes in the mobile world. The E51, due to its thinness, is smaller, as is the 6120, but these both have smaller screens and fewer hardware features. The upcoming 6220 (70 cc) is just smaller, but it too has a smaller screen size (2.2 versus 2.4 inches). Clearly it is still not a small handset, but given the form factor and screen size it's difficult to see how the front profile of the device could be shrunk further. Subjectively it does feel reasonably sized in the hand; where the N73 gave an impression of bulkiness because of its thickness (19 mm), the N78 feels relatively slim line; it's a similar story with the N82, although the difference is smaller.

At 102g, the N78 does well in the weight department; it still has a sense of heft, but is notably lighter than similarly specified models. As you would expect from a Nokia candy bar form factor the build quality is very good. There's a little bit of movement on the battery cover, but the rest of the device feels rock solid.

The overall design of the N78 is striking and definitely scores points in the style department. The front of the device has the 2.4 inch screen sitting flush with a hard-shiny plastic slab, with minimal interruptions (D-pad, multimedia key and four key ridges), giving a sense of flat slab. This is reinforced by the fact that, when inactive, the keys are no longer backlit and consequently look like they have disappeared. The sides are a hard, durable matt plastic and the removable back cover is a lined-patterned shiny plastic. The choice of materials does leave the N78 very susceptible to finger prints and it can be a bit fiddly to clean between the raised ridges making up the keys.

At first glance most people may be concerned that usability has been sacrificed for style, as it was (fatally) with the N76. There is an element of this, but in truth it is no worse than other handsets in this respect. There is always an element of compromise in design; the N78 impresses by managing to pull off a distinctive style without seriously effecting usability. Most of the questions that have been raised in this department focus on the keypad, especially the number keys. However, this is one of those cases where looks are deceptive because the N78's relative text entry performance is quite good. In purely physical terms, good tactile feedback for each key and enough spacing (despite keys being on the same ridge) means entry is accurate; moreover in my tests I was able to achieve text entry speeds similar to that of the N95 (with its more traditional key design) and better than that of the N82 (with its thin keys). The label for each key is not printed; instead it is a clear plastic 'window' that is illuminated from below. This does mean that, outside, in bright sunshine, the illumination tends to get washed out a little, but at the same time the label 'windows' can be seen more clearly (even without illumination from below).

The control key layout is generally good. Appearances may suggest touch sensitive keys, but in fact each key has its own key dome beneath the flat plastic and has good tactile feedback. Like any phone, it takes a while to settle into a new layout, especially if you have muscle memory from an earlier phone. A good example of this is the S60 key, positioned on the lower left of the keypad, which I found somewhat awkwardly located at first. I'm more use to finding this key to the left of the D-pad, but it did not take long to get use to this new arrangement and it has the benefit of making the left soft key much less cramped. More problematic for me was the closeness of the end key and right soft key, especially when using the phone in my left hand, which resulted in numerous accidental presses of the end key (which exits many applications and returns you to the idle screen). It is something I adjusted for over the first week, but I would still have preferred both the end and send keys to be positioned a little lower down the keypad. It is worth adding that I do prefer the side positioning of these keys, as found on both the N78 and N82, compared to being located beneath the soft key in a control panel cluster, as on other phones.

The D-pad does double duty as both a traditional five-way control key and as a navi-wheel. As a traditional D-pad it performs as you would expect. Nokia have been good at achieving consistently usable D-pads and the style has been set fairly firmly into that of a thin outer ring with a larger central area. In use it does benefit from being nicely raised from the main surface (unlike the original N82), but the fact that it is a single piece (rather than two as on the N95 – or E61i, etc.) means that the central key press has less definition.

The navi-wheel is the touch sensitive rim which can be used as a scroll wheel, as first seen in the N81. The use of the navi-wheel has been extended in the software (e.g. in option menus), but its main use remains for getting through long lists (e.g. music) quickly. The N78's navi-wheel is quite sensitive, which means it does occasionally ‘activate’ unintentionally and will cause the equivalent D-pad press 'left' or 'right'. For example, in the application launcher this means the wrong application sometimes starts (navi-wheel causes a jump as you press the D-pad in) - a bit of a surprise the first time it happens. I suspect the navi-wheel will be like Marmite - people will either love it or hate it. Fortunately, you can choose to turn the navi-wheel off in the settings and some software changes are expected in the first firmware update that should help the sensitivity problems. Personally I really like the functionality, use it frequently, and over time have found the frequency of unintentional activations reduced dramatically as I got used to the keypad.

Running around the inside of the D-pad ring there is an indicator light. When the phone is in sleep mode this light periodically 'breathes', slowly illuminating - then fading. This gives a visible indication that the phone is on when it is sitting on your desk (something you wouldn't otherwise be able to tell). If you have a new message or missed call then the breathing rate increases. It is a clever and well executed idea.

Overall, the controls of the N78 are good rather than excellent, but they are much better than they look and ultimately with the space available there's only so much you can do. More conservative users will point towards the E51 style keypad, but this would take up 20% more room and lead to a bigger overall device or smaller screen. As ever, design is a compromise.

The left hand side of the phone has, from bottom to top, a speaker, power port, memory card slot and micro USB port. The speaker is part of a stereo pair; the other is diagonally opposite - giving maximum separation. In use the speakers are, as with most mobiles, a little tinny, but are good for decent sound in phone calls, ring tones and games. The N78 uses micro SD memory cards and most retail packages will ship with a 2GB card in the box. There's the now standard support for HC cards, meaning that you can add up to 16GB of memory to the phone. The micro USB port supports higher speed transfers (up to 5x faster in the real word) than earlier N-series devices, this is because it uses USB 2.0 Hi-Speed (480 MBit/s max.) - Previous devices used USB Full-Speed (12 MBit/s max.). This makes an enormous difference when transferring media to the phone.

The top of the device houses the 3.5mm audio jack and power button. The right hand side has, from top to bottom a speaker, volume controls and the camera capture key. The volume controls double as the zoom keys in the Camera and Photos applications. One absence compared to earlier devices, such as the N73, is the Gallery key - this is because it has effectively been replaced by the multimedia key, although because of its versatility, an extra few key presses are required to access recently captured photos

The back of the device houses the 3.2 megapixel, auto-focus camera, with its Carl Zeiss optics. It’s accompanied by a single LED flash. This limits the camera’s abilities in low light conditions, but makes sense given the pricing and positioning of the N78.

The entire back (plastic) part of the device can be removed and replaced relatively easily. The back plastic is ‘adzed-patterned’ - it looks like lines have been scored into the plastic. Initially there are three colour variants: pearl white, coca brown and lagoon blue. The N78's aerials for GPS and Wi-Fi are part of this back piece; this does give excellent Wi-Fi and GPS reception, but may be worth bearing in mind when buying third party covers that may be of questionable quality.

Inside there's a generous 1200 mAh BL-6F battery which should provide plenty of power. The N78 should easily get through a day of typical usage and will last two days for a lot of users. S60 3.2 and Symbian OS 9.3 have a number of under the hood changes that reduce power consumption in a number of areas.

Connectivity

In connectivity terms, the N78 is bang up to date. With quad-band GSM and dual band WCDMA with HSDPA cellular radios; there are two variants of the N78 - the N78-1 with 900/2100 MHz WCDMA bands (suitable for Europe and Asia) and the N78-3 with 850/1900 MHz bands (suitable for use in the US).  There's also Wi-Fi (802.11b/g), Bluetooth and the aforementioned USB for local connectivity. Wi-Fi performance is excellent, helped by stability and performance improvements in the underlying Symbian OS. Subjectively, I found Wi-Fi performance much better when downloading large files (e.g. podcasts) from the web. Bluetooth profile support is comprehensive and includes A2DP (stereo music), AVRCP (music control), SAP (SIM access for in-car systems) and BPP (printing). Software-wise, there is the usual S60 SIP profile and DNLA software providing support for IP communications and UPnP functions respectively.

However Nokia have removed the Internet Telephone application which means you can no longer easily set up a SIP based VoIP service. Service providers can, theoretically, build a VoIP client on top of the SIP service, but they cannot build on top of the Nokia VoIP client (which most existing ones do and which allows you to use most generic VoIP services). The removal of the Internet Telephone application and associated settings is a serious retrograde step. The reasons behind this are not clear; there are some indications that the feature will be put back in a later firmware upgrade, but it is also possible that Nokia has removed the feature at the behest of operators. We'll try and find out more information about this and report back.

S60 3.2 brings one very important software connectivity change - Destinations (or, by another name, Access Point Groups). These allow you to group access points together into prioritized lists (e.g. both the standard operator access point and any number of WLAN access points). When using a Destination, the phone will use the first available access point on the priority list. By default there are three existing destinations: one for Internet, one for MMS and one for WAP services. You're also free to create your own destinations, although you cannot share access points between destinations (though duplicates are fine). Which access point is used is still controlled on an application by application basis. Previously it was best to choose 'Always ask' as this made it easier to switch between 3G and Wi-Fi access points. Now that's no longer necessary and connection prompts should be a thing of the past.

This works really well in Web, but unfortunately the feature is rather spoiled elsewhere by the fact that some applications either do not take advantage of destinations at all (including Download! Share Online and Internet radio) or do not allow you to choose one as a default in their settings (including Music store). You might expect this to happen for third party applications (and indeed it does in some cases), but it's really not good to have such inconsistency in default applications. I can only hope this will be fixed in a future firmware update. Incidentally, If you stay with the 'Always ask' setting in Web then you get a list of Internet destinations pop up, which on its own is much more understandable than a list of access point names.

There are a number of other connectivity-related changes in S60 3.2. Most of these relate to operators being able to provision devices automatically, improved FOTA (firmware over the air) support or remote device management, but remote drives (via support for Web DAV) may also be of more general interest. Remote drives can be accessed from the File manager application and used to easily copy data off the device.

Display

Nokia N78 features a 2.4-inch TFT display (240x320 pixel resolution) that supports 16 million colors. Again, Nokia did a great job and managed to include one of the best mobile screens on the market. Colors, contrast, as well as quality of the image displayed are flawless. Add to that perfect sunlight eligibility and you get an excellent display that can meet any user’s expectations. It would've been really the best if it was a little bit larger. The display doesn't have accelerometer, but some features auto-rotate the screen in landscape mode (gallery, camera).
Unfortunately, there's no protection against scratches for this screen, so you should be careful where you keep it. Overall, the performance during various tests has been more than satisfactory, as you can see for yourselves from the screenshots below.

3.2 Mega Pixel at the Back

The 3.2 Megapixel camera embedded in this N-series features Carl Zeiss lenses, auto-focus and LED flash. I wasn't expecting the camera to perform so well. Thus, I was surprised to find that Nokia N78 takes pretty good pictures that can compete with any Cyber-shot-series device.
However, you cannot get good pictures with N78 unless you are in good light condition areas. If you meet these demands then your pictures won't be noisy and will have a high detail level. I also noticed that colors, contrast and sharpness are very well balanced. The camera also features the geotagging function, but lacks any kind of protection for the lens.
The user interface boasts extensive settings, but nothing new. The maximum resolution supported is of 2048x1536 pixels, while users can choose to shoot in 6 modes, as seen in the pictures. Autofocus works like a charm and the camera button can be pressed very easily.
There are no specially created functions for this camera, but, as you can see from the screenshots, all of them remain very easy to use. The same goes for the video camera, which can capture VGA (15fps) clips in MP4 format or 3GPP, depending on the quality you choose.

Menu and Software


Nokia N78 runs the Symbian 9.2 operating system, with a S60 3rd Edition and Feature Pack 2 interface. In fact, it's one of the first phones to include Feature Pack 2, which brings both visual and performance improvements that otherwise wouldn't be available for devices that only run Feature Pack 1. Besides the amazing Gallery with the geotagging feature, you'll get a new kind of Active standby layout. The latter enables you to bring up on the Home screen a lot more shortcuts than usual, such as game, application and link shortcuts. The new Task manager is also a specific FP2 improvement, and gives you quick access to any application running in the background. The Task manager now appears on top of every menu option that you open. Moreover, some cosmetic changes have been included, such as better menu transition effects (fading) and stylish icons.
The main menu can be accessed by pressing the special Symbian key, placed on the bottom left of the main keypad. In addition to the usual options and applications that we find in almost all Symbian-powered handsets, Nokia N78 features Search and Maps utilities. A map is used together with the GPS receiver and enables you to use Nokia maps, localization and directions when you're on the go. Lots of maps can be downloaded from Nokia's website and then used to pick the shortest route from one point to another. Under the Office category, we find Quick Office applications, used for reading Word, Excel and PowerPoint files. Again, you cannot edit any files without upgrading the application, which, of course, costs money. There's also a PDF reader, a notepad, a Zip activator, and a currency converter.

You can now find the Calculator under the Applications submenu, while the voice recorder has been moved to the Media one. The Video center includes options such as: Add new services, my videos, Internet videos and Nokia N-series videos. The phone doesn't include any games, not even N-Gage trials, but you can easily find third-party titles. While there's no accelerometer for auto-rotate, the phone's screen turns in landscape mode automatically when you open up Gallery. Unfortunately, this feature doesn't work in the menus, and is limited to Gallery.

The phone includes everything a user may need on the road or at the office, pre-installed on the handset: email, web, calendar, organizer, IM, office tools, messaging, application manager, connectivity wizard, synchronization tools, GPS navigator, themes, profiles, and more.

Communications

Nokia N78 is a quad-band GSM (850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900) handset, HSDPA compatible, which features GPRS class 32 (107 kbps), EDGE 32 class (296 kbps), High-Speed Circuit-Switched Data (57.6 kbps) and Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g UPnP. Tested on the EDGE and 3G networks, the phone has performed pretty well, as you can see from the screenshots.

The WLAN wizard helps you search and define your WLAN network connection settings. Should you want to connect to the Internet, you must first define an Access point (EDGE, WLAN or 3G). You can do that by going to the Main menu / Tools / Settings / Connection / Access points, and define which access point to be used whenever a network connection is required (Main menu / Home network / Settings). The GPS receiver is one of the fastest, as no more than 20 seconds is needed for first-time localization. Moreover, if you activate the A-GPS function, the pin-point will be much faster.

Bluetooth

Other connectivity tools include Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP support, and micro USB for PC synchronization (no charging). The Bluetooth connection has reached an almost 94 KB/s sending speed and a 119 KB/s receiving one. When connecting the USB cable, you'll be able to choose from 4 modes: PC Suite, Mass storage, Image transfer and Media transfer. All of them are intuitive and easy to use, so there's nothing more to add here.
In terms of messaging, the phone accepts all available message types, but, given the not-so-friendly keypad, it will be hard to enjoy texting. Anyway, the handset includes no less than four message editors, one for each type: SMS, MMS, audio message and e-mail. The message client works with POP3, SMTP, and IMAP4 protocols, and supports more than one email account. Also, it can download headers and allows for attachments.

The quad-band (GSM 850 / GSM 900 / GSM 1800 / GSM 1900) network compatible bar handset has a very good GSM signal reception. I was surprised to find that the UMTS signal reception was excellent also. The sound is outstanding at both ends, but not loud enough. The vibration alert is somewhat below average in intensity.


Processor and Memory

Nokia N78 is powered by a single ARM11 family processor running at speeds of up to 369 MHz, which was a rather unpleasant surprise. While the CPU is one of the best that have been included in an N-series device, I noticed big lags when browsing the menus. Even after upgrading to the latest firmware I didn't noticed any improvements The handset embeds a 76 MB user free internal memory and 96 MB SDRAM memory. The storage space can be expanded up to another 8GB through the hot-swappable micro SD slot card. The device comes with a 2GB micro SD memory card included in the sales package.

Multimedia

Thanks to the 3.5mm jack port, you'll be able to attach to it any kind of headphones compatible with this kind of port. The integrated music player looks very cool and supports almost any type of music file you can think of: MP3, AAC, eAAC, eAAC+, WMA, M4A, as well as MU3 playlists. Files are automatically jThe music player can be easily controlled with the D-pad. Even though it features 3.5mm port jack, sound is disappointing no matter what kind of headphones you are going to attach. The Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP support enables you to listen to music wirelessly.

The music player features all kinds of options and settings: Equalizer, Balance, Loudness, Stereo Widening, or Shuffle. Some of these are also available for the included FM Radio, which can memorize up to 50 base stations and features RDS and Visual radio capabilities. The reception is excellent, and the quality of the sound likewise. Nokia N78 also features FM Transmitter, which means that you'll be able to broadcast the songs you like on a certain frequency.
Unfortunately, the transmission is not that good, but it's a nice feature after all. Furthermore, videos can be played with the help of the integrated Real Player application. The video player is fully compatible with both orientations, namely landscape and portrait, and can run movies in full screen.

Battery

The 1200 mAh Li-Ion (BL-6F) battery has an officially stated life expectancy of 320 hours in standby and of about 4 hours and 20 minutes in talk-time mode. What we got was 5 days of use: 1 hour of calls and 7MB of overall data transfer. These numbers point out the battery as one of the best included in an N-series device.

Impressions

At first glance Nokia N78 might not be to the liking of people who are looking for more functionality, as the device features a nightmarish keypad. If you can get past this you'll surely enjoy the other features that this handset includes.


The Good
The strong points of the Smartphone are surely the HSDPA connectivity and excellent screen that offers a smooth multimedia experience. I will also mention here the 3.2 Megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, good GSM signal reception, FM transmitter, 3.5mm standard audio jack, as well as the 2GB micro SD memory card in the retail package.

The Bad
The hard-to-use keypad and slow operating system don’t go too well with the N-series logo. The resemblance with the N81 device hasn't done any good to N78; on the contrary. Perhaps a much better solution for those looking for a cheap N-series device remains the N82 candy bar Smartphone.


Sales package


Nokia N78 handset
2GB micro SD Card MU-37
1200 mAh Nokia Battery BL-6F
Nokia Travel Charger AC-5
Nokia Music Headset HS-45/AD-54
Nokia Connectivity Cable CA-101
User guide
Quick Start guide
DVD

Specifications

Brand / Type

Brand Nokia Type N78 Form factor Candybar Color Black

Network

Phone Network EDGE, GPRS, GSM, HSCSD, HSDPA (3G) Service 850, 900, 1800, 1900

Connectivity

Bluetooth v2.0 with A2DP Infrared No Wi-Fi (WLAN) Yes USB 2.0 Fax / Data No

Display

Main display Color TFT Color display 16.000.000 colors Dimensions N/A Resolution 240x320 pixels External display No

Memory

Internal memory 70MB External memory Yes Memory slots 1 Storage types Micro SD

Basic

Battery Lithium Ion Standby time 320 hours Talk time 4.5 hours

Calling

Vibrate alert Yes Photo ID Yes Ringtones MP3, Polyfone

Camera

Camera Yes Megapixels 3.15 megapixels Maximum photo resolution 2048x1536 pixels Digital zoom Yesx Optical zoom No Auto focus Yes Flash Yes Recording video Yes Second (front) camera Yes

Messaging

SMS Yes MMS Yes T9 text function Yes E-mail Yes Internet browsing Yes

Entertainment

FM radio Yes Java Yes Audio player AAC, eAAC, MP3 Video player 3GP, MPEG4

Features

Add ringtones N/A Organiser Calculator, Calendar, Reminders, Currency convertor Video call N/A Other features Symbian S60 3rd edition software, Built in hands free, Voice dial, Voice memo, Photo editor, Video editor

Format

Weight 3.6 oz. Dimensions (H x W x D) 4.5x1.9x0.6 in.

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