Nokia N78

The successor to the vastly popular N73, the N78 is slimmer, built better and has a slightly better display. The black/silver model we received looks smart and its glossy finish goes a long way in attracting attention. The battery cover is plasticy and there is a problem with the retention on the top — it’s not built well and will likely break with heavy usage and this is a glaring omission from Nokia who are known for solid handsets. The keypad is nothing more than four horizontal lines each with its set of non-segregated keys. Initially we had our reservations about such a layout — surely this would be a usability nightmare. Well not quite — in truth the keypad isn’t good but it’s a whole lot better than it looks. Button feedback is positive, although the keys are a bit hard. It does help if you use nails while typing, but how many of you, aside from the fairer sex, would bother growing those? Once you get the hang of typing, things do get better and we were able to type quite fast. The main menu button and the call buttons are built into the facia but these have to be pressed and they’re not touch activated. The call buttons are well located but are a bit hard. The joypad has a slightly sharp rim that may annoy your finger pads while using but it’s not overly uncomfortable. The middle button is sweet — offers good feedback. The volume button on the side is a joy to use. The camera button is soft and halfway down the click, it engages the autofocus. The screen is brilliant and crisp – 16 million colours, 2.4-inches and a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels keeps things amazingly legible.

The camera is capable of taking some sweet shots although you need to tinker with the settings to get things right. The music playback quality is really good and the handsfree unit will give clear sound at high volume levels. Signal reception is really good with good clarity and detail, no chinks in the armour here and the earpiece is very clear and very loud. Even while playing music the loudspeaker is clear and if you don’t mind the anaemic bass you’ll get along fine. It’s packed to the gills with features and comes with a 2 GB card as well, but it doesn’t come cheap at Rs. 17,479. The Symbian interface has been optimised for multimedia and this makes a good phone for PMP lovers or someone looking at a good camera. It’s the best overall handset within this category.

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