Nokia N78 (Unlocked)

The N78-3, which is the North American version of the Nokia N78, has many features. It lacks VoIP, TV out, an accelerometer, and it won't wash your car. Just about any other mobile device feature currently available is on this device. What is on there is well executed. GPS is very accurate and fast. Internet Radio is far ranging in content and quality of signal. Here's the low down.

» Symbian OS. This is what makes smart phones smart.
» 2.4 inch LCD. Big, bright, clear
» High capacity 1200 mAh battery lasts a good while
» micro USB connector moves the high wear connector parts to the cable from the port in the phone
» Supports 8 GB capacity Class 4 microSDHC hot-swappable storage
» Music player supports album art and most audio formats
» GPS built in, supports external GPS receivers via Bluetooth
» auto focus camera, 3.2 megapixel resolution, Zeiss lens.
» owner's guides are thorough and easy to understand
» 802.11b/g works well with my home wireless network
» Podcasts, Internet Radio and Televison ROCK on the N78
» Transistor radio audio quality through external speakers
» Will play audio over your home or car's FM radio
» N-Gage gaming
» N-Series PC Suite Software
» OVI Suite support

All of this is in a package that fits well in the hand and certainly in a shirt pocket. It is not a small phone but it is not huge either. It's much thinner than a Sony-Ericsson S710a. Think "fat Samsung SGH-t509" and you'll have the size just about right.

The not so good

» no dust cover over the microUSB connector or charge ports
» navigation key is difficult to control, even when "NaviWheel" mode is off
» included third-party software is buggy
» softkeys are particular about finger placement when you press them
» keypad unlock needs to be done quickly or you'll be doing it several times
» No Nokia VoIP client present on device, plans to add on are obscure.
» Chrome on Navikey wears quickly

The camera takes good photos, the video is good, the sound excellent. Zooming is smooth.

The music player is easy to operate. Play list based it is no steep learning curve to get it to do what you need to do.

GPS is also pretty straight forward. Turn on the location devices you want to use, internal, external, and/or network and wait a few minutes. The first fix took several minutes. After that it performed much better. It is tightly integrated with Nokia Maps. Overall I'm happy with it.

Lack of a port cover on the microUSB port is to my thinking a serious flaw. The electronics are small and the intrusion of small shirt pocket lint, dust and such can not be good for the connector. One of the things Nokia has gotten right on past phones, less expensive phones, was port covers.

I use a Nokia CA-75U cable to port sound from my headphone jack to my home stereo. This allows me to listen to Internet Radio on my CV D-3s. It doesn't send video down that cable like it would if this were an N96. I have to use a cable for reasons I'll explain in a moment.

Firmware changes are part of Nokia culture. The VoIP issue may be addressed in the future. Also the reinstating Internet Radio over FM may be addressed as well. Out of the box the N78-3 transmitted Internet Radio via FM. With the 12.046 firmware update that went away. Here's to hoping these two features are added. The CA-75U cable allows me to output to N78 sound to my home system making for wicked Resident Evil gaming.

I've been using the phone for thirteen months, it is nearly quirkless.