Nokia N78: Initial Thoughts

I really must re-iterate the fact that I like the new Nseries design lines very much. And the N78 is no exception. It does have the controversial keypad design that everyone's talking about, but then, the same controversy arose when the N82 was announced, and those who later got their hands on the N82 were very pleased with (and amazed at) the fact that the keypad was usable with no fuss (some getting used to though). I hope it's the same case here, and I have to admit I enjoy seeing Nokia try to innovate design-wise. And if the general design is intentionally left alike throughout the Nseries line, it's good to see a 'different' keypad design. Another good thing is that there actually are physical keys, and not some touch-enabled pseudo-keys a la Samsung and LG.

This is the successor to the N73, and will probably go way past the 50 million units sold milestone set by the N73.

It still has a very good 3.2 MP Carl Zeiss AutoFocus camera (but only LED flash, probably not to cannibalize sales of the N82 and, curiously, the 6220 Classic), integrated geotagging, video recording up to 640 x 480 resolution (but disappointingly only at 15 fps). It goes one step further from the N73 with WiFi, aGPS, the integrated FM transmitter, and, of course, S60 3rd Edition FP2.

The battery is BL-6F, 1200 mAh cappacity. This is a good move from Nokia, as owners of the N73 (probably the first targeted base of this device) are used to good battery life, but it is still funny to compare it to the N96 and find out that the 'flagship' N96 has only a 950 mAh battery. Anyway, good news for prospective N78 owners.

It is slimmer than the N73, following the trim/slim-down trend in the (mainstream) mobile world these days. And following up on what they said when the N95 was announced, GPS units in Nokia phones are becoming a commodity. The Navi Wheel, first seen in the N81, has improved functionality now and can be used wherever there are long lists (a very welcome addition that will probably make its way into the N81 as well via software updates).

The 2.4 inch QVGA display is probably the same unit used on the N82, and objectively speaking, we couldn't have expected a bigger display in a candybar form factor without having an influence on the whole size of the device.

The FM transmitter is a nice touch and it is another way to 'share' (probably much to Ewan's dislike, I might jokingly add). It also acts as a receiver, so there is no more need to have the headset plugged in for listening to FM radio stations (useful, I guess, where cheap or free broadband, be it via WiFi or HSDPA, is not available yet - because otherwise the Nokia Internet Radio app is a must-use).

The music-playing quality has, in the words of the N78 Product Manager, reached N91 level. That surely sounds good, but I'm still curious to whether it equals or even goes beyond the music-quality in the Samsung i450 (also an S60 device) and its dedicated DSP.

USB transfer speed when the phone has a memory card inside and is connected to the computer via Mass Storage mode should also be improved (as in the N96) to about 5MB/s, which is very good. Still no sign on the ability for Mass Storage mode to show both the memory card and the phone memory (C:) drive - this is possible with Sony Ericsson non smartphones for a while now.

While it probably won't get as much press attention as the N96, this is the device that will be driving sales for the Nseries in the coming year. It's the most affordable, has the best price/features ratio and with its unconventional design will surely appeal to many - the 'conservatives' will like that they're getting a candybar, and the more 'experimenting' types will enjoy the keypad design.

Full specs here.

More pictures here.

Hands-on video here.
And what is probably the best hands-on video yet, courtesy of Rafe from AllAboutSymbian: