Nokia N78 review

What is it: Candy-bar smart phone packed with features

What we think: We'd like to love it, but it's not quite what we expected

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Nokia N78 Review

Reviewed by: Andrew Lim

Reviewed on: 23 June 2008

Navigating around town is made easy using the N78's A-GPS; it picks up satellites very quickly using a combination of cell and satellite data. Navigating using Nokia Maps works well, particularly if you want step-by-step information, although you need to pay for certain services such as voice guidance. You might also want to try using Google Maps -- it's free and offers an aerial view option, which we really like.

The N78 comes with a 3.2-megapixel camera that disappointingly only comes with an LED photo light instead of a xenon flash

You can easily load up your N78 with music by dragging and dropping tracks via the PC software. Plus, there's a microSD card slot for adding extra storage space. A built-in 3.5mm headphone jack lets you plug your normal headphones straight in, which is a small but very important feature as it cuts out all the messing around with adaptors. The N78's stereo speakers pump out ample sound, but they certainly won't replace your hi-fi.

We're disappointed with the 3.2-megapixel camera on the N78. It can't compete with the camera on the N82, as the picture quality isn't very clear. There's no xenon flash either and without a camera cover, you have to wonder why Nokia has bothered.

Performance
Battery life lasted for about two days with medium to heavy usage, which is good going when you keep in mind how many features the N78 has. GPS and HSDPA hogged much of the battery, but if you're not planning on using them a lot, then there shouldn't be a huge problem.

Conclusion
The N78 is a mixed bag. It packs more features than most phones, but the camera is underwhelming and the navigation key is fiddly to use. It's by no means a terrible phone, but it's not a great one either.

Compared to the similarly-specced N82, we don't think it holds up very well. Sure, it's thinner and it'll help you find your way around as you browse the Web and listen to music, but the overall user experience isn't what we expected. With a few crucial tweaks, it could have been a much better phone.

Edited by Shannon Doubleday