Nokia N78 Cell Phone Review
By Marianne Schultz
Reviewed.com Editorial Staff
Published on August 14, 2008
The Nokia N78 is a multimedia-focused quad-band GSM smartphone with 3G capability that should work on GSM networks around the world. The N78 has a candy bar form factor with a 2.4-inch display, a 3.2 megapixel camera, a GPS receiver, and more. It's a slick-looking phone with an interesting keypad that may be difficult to type on since there's no differentiation between the buttons.
Navigating through the N78's rather complex menu system is done via the D-Pad, positioned immediately below the screen. We did like that it supports standard 3.5mm headphone jacks, and we also like the flexibility to expand storage with high-capacity Micro SD cards, available up to 8GB in size. The Symbian S60 operating system the N78 runs is powerful and flexible, but does have a bit of a learning curve.
Making calls on the N78 is quick, despite the narrow and closely-packed keypad. You can easily keep track of your contacts, calendar, and tasks on the N78 and you can sync your data with your PC or your Mac via USB cable or Bluetooth. The web browser works very well, allowing you to view entire web pages at once and then zoom into the area you'd like to read. Music playback is also very good - you can create playlists and view your music collection by a number of criteria. Video playback is not as good. Email and messaging (both text and multimedia) are fast and straightforward to use, albeit not up to BlackBerry standards.
With built-in Wi-Fi, you don't have to rely only on the cellular radio to connect to the internet. The N78 has Bluetooth, an FM radio receiver so you can listen to the radio, and an FM transmitter so you can broadcast your music to an empty FM radio frequency. It also has a GPS receiver and built-in mapping software that can help you find your way in unfamiliar places.
Performance (read in-depth lab performance data at WirelessInfo.com)
Of course, the primary function of a cell phone is to make and receive phone calls. Unfortunately, the N78's audio quality is terrible, with poor test results on incoming audio in particular. The audio you hear on a phone call will fluctuate between being too loud and too low during calls. Outgoing audio is a little better, but sound will be transmitted inconsistently from time to time. We also measure a phone's side tone - this is the small amount of your own voice that a phone pipes back into your ear so you can judge how loudly you are speaking, and the N78 did not perform very well here and you may think you're speaking too softly at times and compensate by speaking louder than needed.
The N78's camera offers decent quality with above average resolution and color accuracy, though with a lot of noise (graininess) at all light levels. Video performance was okay, though also suffered from noise and under-saturated colors. Both the camera and video interfaces are well laid out and easy to use, pleasantly typical of Nokia's N-series smartphones. The LED flash can provide some additional light to still photos but has a limited range.
As with many of the 3G-capable phones we've tested, the N78's battery life leaves much to be desired. Call time, at 3 hours and 40 minutes, and its web-browsing time are well below average, with only music playback posting better-than-average time. Other 3G phones we tested, such as the Apple iPhone 3G and Samsung's Blackjack II, had far better battery performance results. 3G cellular radios use quite a bit of power, so poor battery life with some functions is not unexpected, but the N78's inferior performance here should be a factor for you if you do spend a lot of time on calls or browsing the web.
Comparisons (read in-depth comparisons at WirelessInfo.com)
The Nokia N78 has its strong points, particularly in imaging, but its $520 price tag will put it out of reach for many. If you are willing to pay extra for a phone with a good camera, we recommend you spend $20 less for Nokia's N82 model, which has a better camera and better battery life, although it does not support 3G connectivity in the U.S. Or you can go with the LG Dare, which offers a similarly spec'd camera for less than half the price, although it lacks the smartphone capabilities of the N78. The point is that you can find much better value elsewhere, and we would struggle to find a user to whom we would recommend the N78 at its current price point.For a more in-depth review, visit the Nokia N78 Review at our partner WirelessInfo.com
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