Nokia N78 review: Love it or leave it (See all reviews)

Announced at Mobile World Congress 2008, the Nokia N78 is a multimedia focused quad-band GSM smartphone with 3G capabilities, 2.4 inch display, WiFi, assisted GPS navigation with preloaded maps, a 3.2 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics, autofocus & flash, a great MP3 player with a Navi wheel for easy access to your music and an FM radio. All these great features come in a compact classic design that weighs only 102 g and looks great.

Main features:

- S60 3rd Edition UI, Feature Pack 2
- 2.4 inch 16M-color display of QVGA resolution
- 3.2 megapixel camera with auto focus and LED flash
- GPS receiver and 3 months of free voice-guided navigation
- 3G with HSDPA
- Navi wheel
- microSD card slot, 2GB card included
- Wi-Fi
- 3.5mm standard audio jack
- FM radio with RDS
- Bluetooth v2.0 with A2DP
- FM transmitter

Disadvantages:

- Design looks unfinished
- Weird and uncomfortable keypad
- Shaky battery cover

The Nokia N78 is one of the latest Nseries devices released by the Finnish mobilephones manufacturer and comes in to replace the Nokia N73, but actually this is not just a simple and clear-cut substitution and we will prove it during this review.

The handset is already available as an unlocked phone from Nokia shops and associated retailers for about $400. It works just fine on AT&T's 3G HSDPA network, but be careful what you buy as there is also an European version of the N78, which lacks the US 3G support.

The Nokia N78's design is reminiscent to the candy-bar roots of the first N-series phones. But while this design reminds us of the two-year-old N73, the N78 is much thinner than its predecessor and its glossy front and silver, curved border stands in line with Nokia's new design direction.

The N78 is a medium to large candy-bar phone that measures 4.45 x 1.93 x 0.59 inches. Even if it doesn't sound that bulky, in reality the phone is slightly on the hefty side. With the impressive amount of features aboard however, we aren't really put down by its size but if this is your primary consideration when purchasing a phone, then the N78 may not be the phone your are looking for.

The front of the device is divided between the 2.4 inch QVGA screen, the Navi-wheel directional pad, the multimedia button, and four slivers of raised plastic that stand for keypad. The keypad was far too small for our taste and, we have to admit we did most of the menu navigation through the Navi-wheel.

The Cancel, Menu, Send and End keys are flat but click when you push them, making them easy to use. Instead of a standard four-way navigation key, the N78's Navi-wheel can be used like an iPod's scroll wheel. It works well for speeding through long lists, such as contacts or music tracks, but it's not very accurate when you move slowly.

In the top right corner we have the ambient light sensor along with the video-call camera, while the earpiece is dead center. On the right side of the device we have the stereo speaker, the volume rocker and the camera button in its familiar place. The tactile feedback of these buttons is better than that of the front buttons.

The top of the N78 has the power key along with a standard 3.5mm headset jack. The left side of the handset houses the micro-USB connector, a microSD card slot, a charger slot and the left stereo speaker. The microSD slot is neatly tucked under its protective cap and releasing it is quite a hard job. You would normally need to keep the cap out of the way while trying to eject the card from its narrow slot.

The back side of Nokia N78 hosts the 3.2 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics and the LED flash. Unfortunately the lens cover is missing, making the camera vulnerable to scratches and fingerprints.

The phone comes equipped with a BL-6F battery of 1200 mAh capacity. Nokia quoted around 320 hours of stand-by and 4 hours and 20 minutes of talk time. During our tests, the battery kept the phone working for about two days of moderate usage.

Despite its shaky battery cover and being primarily plastic, the Nokia N78 feels solid to hold in hand.