Nokia N79 review

Because the N79 runs on S60 3rd Edition, there's tonnes of cool software you can download for it, including third-party maps, as we've already mentioned, and apps such as Opera Mini. Quickoffice, which comes pre-installed, lets you view Microsoft documents, although you have to buy an additional licence if you want to edit documents.

As we mentioned earlier, the N79 has a 3.5mm headphone jack, and, as a media player, it performs very well. The music player is straightforward, allowing you to create playlists, search artists and albums, and shuffle tracks, among other options.

On the back, there's a 5-megapixel camera with dual LED photo lights and a sliding cover

The N79 supports a variety of music and video formats, which you can check in the specs section of this review. There's also an FM radio, and you can watch YouTube. Nokia has included an FM transmitter in the N79, so you can use your car radio to listen to music from your phone.

If you like playing games on your mobile, you'll be glad to hear that the N79 supports Nokia's N-Gage gaming platform, which gives you access to a variety of fun games. That said, the N79 doesn't come with the same kind of gaming keys you get on the N96, for example, so you have to use the standard navigation keys to play all the games. The N96 has keys on either side of the phone, as you would on a games-console controller, which makes for a much more enjoyable experience.

Performance
Audio quality during calls was loud and clear, as was the loudspeaker, but if you want to make hands-free calls, you're best off using a Bluetooth headset or hands-free kit. Battery life is quoted at 3.5 hours talk time using 3G, and 406 hours on standby. We found that, with moderate use, the battery lasted for over a day, but this will vary depending on your usage of HSDPA, Wi-Fi and other battery-intensive features.

Conclusion
The Nokia N79 isn't a ground-breaking phone, but we do like the intelligent-casing system and, as far as features go, we were satisfied with what was on offer, particularly the 3.5mm headphone jack and access to HSDPA and Wi-Fi.

Overall, the N79 is a solid phone with a casing concept that we hope gets taken much further in future models. We think that being able to customise a handset is a great idea and one that should come back with a bang.

If you prefer something with a little more oomph, we recommend the Nokia N82 -- if you can find it that is -- for some reason, few vendors stock it these days.

Edited by Charles Kloet