Nokia N78  

At first glance, Nokia N82 appears to excel N78 in many aspects, but a closer inspection reveals that the only thing that's actually better than in N78 is the camera. As for the rest of the features, N78 is either on the same level or better than N82 no matter what we looked at: software, performance, battery life, audio quality and a lot of other things.

Nokia N78 is a vivid example of a whole trend concerning the course of cameraphone development in 2008. The year of 2007 was remarkable for the megapixel race, the quality and size of images produced by mobile camera went through a period of rapid growth. As for now, this process seems to be slowing down. Nokia made an impressive record with their N95 and N82 models, leaving numerous competing models far behind. The twp devices became ultimate bestsellers while other brands' flagships enjoyed rather moderate sales (SE K850i, Samsung G800). The situation about the poorly balanced portfolio of Sony Ericsson led to a decrease in revenue in the first quarter of 2008, while the revenues and market share of Nokia are constantly growing. Accordingly, we can speak about the high proficiency of Nokia's marketing experts who almost never fail to forecast the audience's interests for any taken moment.

In 2008, the product priorities have shifted from impressive camera capabilities to GPS navigation, Web services, higher data transition rates and better connectivity. That's why in this year we won't see any Nokia devices sporting cameras above 5 Mp, none with optical zoom are expected as well. A cardinal step towards even better cameras can be expected in 2009, while in a shorter perspective the upcoming models will be equipped with camera units offering a quality on a level with Nokia N82 and hardly anywhere above (same video and photo quality, xenon flash), gradually becoming more and more miniature. A good example of this trend is Nokia 6220 Classic, the best offer on the mass market, judging by the camera power related to the phone's price.

Design and ergonomics
The device's design, in a fashion similar to Nokia N96, follows the style established by N81. In real life Nokia N78 has much better looks than in the official photos and produces a deeply positive impression. The glossy face surface is of a pitch black color, the only contrasting parts being the silver-colored navigation button and the multimedia menu launch button. The surface is very smooth and prone to greasing, the handset asks for a good rub every now and then. The material and assembly quality is on an average level, aside from any pronouncedly positive or negative remarks. The battery bay cover gives out a muffled screech on pressing. The physical dimensions are quite typical of an average smartphone. N78 is perceptibly slimmer than N82 and gives the hand a more comfortable feel.

The battery bay cover is fully removable and doesn't fit tight enough due to a very small number of holders. The plastic is rather thin and vulnerable to bending, N82 seems to have the upper hand over N78 in this aspect. The back surface displays a texture analogous to N82 and N96. As we have mentioned for a number of times, characteristic visual differentiation between Nseries and Eseries is carried out by employing different surface textures; the dotted pattern stands for Eseries, for example E51. Worn spots tend to become less visible against such a background. Three color variants are provided, the main being deep blue and the two other options brown and white. The camera lens is also seated on the back surface, it's a 3.2 Mp unit without a lens guard, the flash is a generic LED one; the photo quality is on a high level.

The side edges of the handset host multiple controls and functional elements. The stereo speakers are placed asymmetrically to provide for maximum distance between, which results in a very pronounced stereo effect. The sound volume and audio quality are nearly perfect. The volume buttons and the camera launch rocker are found on the right side, the left edge is the home to the charger slot, memory card slot (microSD) and the microUSB interface slot. A standard 3.5 mm headset jack is found on the top edge of the handset, which further improves the overall ergonomics.

The screen is 2,4'' large in diagonal, the matrix quality is very high, clearly beating N82 in terms of brightness and resistance to sun glare:

Keyboard
The keyboard looks like a few thin rows of buttons, in spite of the unusual design and brings no trouble. Though the buttons are rather thin, the feedback is good enough. There's a good deal of resemblance between these and the buttons of SonyEricsson W880i, sticking above the surface for a good deal. In comparison with Nokia N82, the keyboard became a bit more convenient as well as the controls. The controls block is covered with a solid piece of plastic, the buttons aren't segmented in any perceptible way, but at the same time aren't of the touch type. Due to the large surface of the buttons they quite easy to operate. The keyboard backlighting is of a white color, rather uneven at places. The key markings are placed next to the buttons, invisible if inactive. The keyboard has a very unusual and even stylish look about it. The silver-colored Navi Wheel and the multimedia menu launching button are the only two parts that stand out against the black glossy surface.

Navi Wheel which has seen a use in N81 as well, now is much more functional than in the preceding models, providing some functionality in all menus. The wheel is very sensitive, so sometimes it responses falsely to even the slightest touches, but you can always turn it off in the options. A thin semi-transparent brim inside the Navi Wheel is the light indicator which pulses in a bright white color at short periods of time. This option is called Breathe in the settings.

In camera and gallery modes, the numerical keypad isn't backlit while the function labels are still displayed on the action buttons.

Battery
Despite of its distinctively slim build, Nokia N78 is equipped with a high-capacity BL-6F, 1200 mAh battery which is also used in Nokia N95 8 GB. An average of three days of autonomous work is quite an impressive result meeting today's requirements and, by the way, is an absolute record among smartphone devices.

The USB version is 2.0, the Mass Storage mode is fully supported, the user is free to choose from Mass Storage, PC Suite, Image Print or Media Player on establishing a phone-to-PC connection. Both the memory card and onboard memory storage are accessible from the PC. During Mass Storage sessions, the phone doesn't go offline, you can still use its potential to the full.

According to the specifications sheet, the Bluetooth version used by the device is 2.0 + EDR, supporting the following profiles:

• A2DP
• Audio/Video Remote Control
• Basic Imaging
• Dial-up Networking
• File Transfer
• Generic Access
• Generic Object Exchange
• Handsfree
• Headset
• HID
• Object Push
• SIM Access
• Serial Port

A2DP support allows for a wireless headset to be used with the device; the settings include the network visibility period and the list of blocked devices.

The Home Media application allows for interaction between the phone and various devices supporting the UnPNP technology. It has seen some serious improvements from earlier versions used in N95 and N93. If the only option available in the initial version was the one allowing to share content stored on the device, now the smartphone can play content opened from remote source. We tested this functionality both on a phone-to-PC bundle and between two different phones as well (N82-to-N95), and found no problems at all. After adjusting all the necessary settings in the Gallery, the 'broadcast over home network' options became available, letting browse and play the content stored on remote devices.

Functional Peculiarities
The functionality is remarkable for the following points: GPS (as well as A-GPS) with the geo-tagging capacity (Location Tagger). This application combines three operational directions: Sharing, GPS and Photo. The camera interface includes a quick option that enables automatic coordinate acquisition and meta tagging of photos right after the shot button is pressed. Sharing the photos in the Web will effectively make these data available to the public. A very interesting solution indeed, another step towards the ultimate convergence in the future days' devices.

The FM transmitter allows broadcasting the radio signal to a compatible audio system or a car receiver. This function is becoming increasingly popular in various phones by different brands. The transmitter status is indicated on the desktop (as part of the new active standby mode). Pay attention – N96 has no transmitter unlike its junior counterpart.

Let's see what the implementation of virtual Java machine is:

The lens is left unprotected, so it's very exposed to physical damage and requires manual cleaning prior to shooting sessions. Not far from the lens resides the LED flash, which is in a sense an outdated solution – the majority of modern cameraphones are equipped with xenon flash units. However, it has enough power to be effective at distances shorter than a meter. It would hardly make a decent flashlight, though. Also the flash helps the auto-focusing mechanism to lock on an object even in the dark.

The camera is launched by pressing the right side rocker button. It's position is optimized for maximum comfort during shooting. The sound volume controls act as the zoom controls in the camera mode, the maximum zoom ratio is 20x. Once the camera is activated, these buttons are backlight while the numerical symbols fade away from the keyboard. It takes about 4 seconds for the camera application to launch. In the viewfinder mode, the screen isn't as inert as in Samsung U900 in terms of refresh delay and rate, though Nokia N95 still does better.

Interface and settings
The interface utilizes landscape orientation, the viewfinder window optionally displays a number of status indicators (camera block, remaining number of shots, storage path) and a settings bar, which can be switched off.

The main settings include:
• 0,3М (640x480),
• 0,8М (800x600),
• 1,3М (1280x960),
• 2М (1600x1200),
• 3М (2048x1536)

The same menu allows for activating the geo-tagging function, that is adding a GPS-acquired location tag to the photo. This may be very helpful to reporters, since sorting the photos by the geo tag data arranges them in a very convenient 'geographical history' fashion.

The miscellaneous options include the default filename for images and videos, the add to album function, the camera shutter sound and the default storage location. Unfortunately, there's no way to specify a particular folder. Oddly enough, such an option is a standard feature of Series 40 phones, leaving us to make guesses why Nokia took it out from a smartphone.

Videos can also taken in three different resolutions (up to 640x480, 15 fps) and geo-tagged, image stabilization and sound muting options are supported.

The device offers an exhaustive list of imaging options, being among the leaders in this aspect:
• switch to video mode
• shooting mode (auto, custom, macro, portrait, nighttime, nighttime portrait, panorama, sports – for moving objects)
• flash settings (Auto, on/off, red eye filter)
• timer (2, 10, 20 seconds)
• multiple shot (intervals of 10, 30, 60, 300, 600, 1800 seconds)
• exposure adjustment ( -2.0 - 2.0)
• white balance presets (Auto, sunny, cloudy, glow lamp, fluorescent lamp)
• effects (Sepia, negative, black and white, extra transparency)
• ISO setting
• Sharpness (Hard will give you some unnaturally sharp edges)
• Contrast (twenty-point scale)
• Brightness (ten-point scale)

First we bring you a few samples of photos taken with Nokia N78 at maximum quality settings, everything set to Auto. As seen from the samples, the device offers a good quality of images, only yielding to a few competitive products.

Multimedia features
The player interface has seen some very thorough revamping, bearing significant differences from previous models. This type of interface is common with all new devices based on the S60v3 FP1 / FP2 platform, possible differences only consisting in the arrangement of the elements in the screen. The controls are quite convenient, both dedicated buttons and the navigation button can be used for rewinding, starting and pausing tracks. The track title and performer's name are indicated on the screen during standby, the volume is adjusted with the side buttons.

The player settings include five equalizer presets with the opportunity of creating an unlimited number of user profiles. Also there are settings allowing to tweak balance, enhanced stereo sound, bass boost, reverberation. Different miscellaneous options are available: sorting by performer, album, genre and so on, as well as auto repeat and play random. The Album Arts feature is present, meaning that you can associate an album cover artwork with the selected tracks. Similar to Nokia N95, the playback can be accompanied with visualization FX though it degrades the battery charge. The Music menu item now has a brand new sub-item titled Nokia Music Store which will be discussed further.

The sound quality of N78 is among the best on the market. It is virtually on the same level with the company's music flagship N81 8GB, a bit better than 5310 and 5610 Xpress music – the sounding is more natural, the basses are more pronounced. Even in comparison with N81, N78 seems to provide a slightly better audio quality, making a perfect audio solution with a maximum continuous audio playback capacity of 20 hours, a usable player interface and vast equalizer settings. Another great plus is the availability of a 3.5 mm headset jack seated on the top edge.

The following media file types are supported by the device: MP3, WMA, Polyphonic, XMF, AMR (Voice Tag), AAC, AAC+, e-AAC+, Midi (SMF), SP-Midi, RealAudio (7,8,10), True tones, and WAV.

The radio functionality is split into two parts: Visual Radio and Internat Radio. Visual Radio supports visual services like Album Arts while Internet Radio is a web service which has grown in popularity since the spread of Wi-Fi and 3G networks.

Similar to the majority of upcoming multimedia solutions by Nokia, a full Nokia Music Store support is included in this one. Simultaneously with the N-Gage announce, Nokia have presented an web service devoted to downloadable mp3 content dubbed Nokia Music Store, its base containing over 1 000 000 tracks by different performers, the price of a track is €1 , the price of an album – starting from €10 , a monthly subscription to downloadable content PC synchronization – €10. The price is quite standard for most European offers of such kind, time will tell how successful the project will be. The menu was expanded with an item titled "Pass to the music store", that automatically redirecting you to the corresponding address www.music.nokia.com. The list of offered features is extensive, including a full-blown song search, access to ratings and statistics, planned downloads list, sample listening, PC synchronization via Windows Media Player.

SMAPE's opinion
Nokia N78 is a successful expansion to the existing portfolio, balanced and quite affordable (for an Nseries product) targeted at a maximally wide audience. The model is going to coexist with Nokia N82, the principal differentiation consisting only in design and camera features, and to a much lesser extent – different hardware platforms. The product's existence is only justified as long as its price stays below that of N82 by 70-100 euros, otherwise the senior model will clearly oust N78 due to the availability of a much better camera. On the other hands, the cheaper N78 offers better ergonomics, updated software (including Nokia Maps 2.0), FP2 and a marginally better audio quality, so it would be a better option to people who don't feel too strong about a powerful camera in their mobile.

The device will start selling in May, priced €350, which looks rather expensive against the background of N82, though it should be noted that competitive products like SonyEricsson G700 or C702 with poorer overall functionality come at comparable or higher prices. So N78 remains a very interesting offer with good chances to achieve mass sales once the price gets corrected.

+ Stylish design and compact size
+ High audio quality, standard headset jack
+ The Feature Pack 2 software platform update
+ Quality screen
+ High performance
- A casing very exposed to grease and fingerprints
- Average ergonomics

Originally posted at Smape

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