Nokia N76 Preview **PICS**

[chickenbackside]

Hi folks.

 

I get Nokia protoype phones for beta testing, so I thought I'd share this privilege with as many people as possible. No I DO NOT work for Nokia and I when something is bad, I will say it's bad.

 

On to the preview then. This time, it's the Nokia N76. This should be targeted at people who value a very slim form factor but without sacrificing too much function.

 

To describe it, I'll use an N95 as a comparison since everyone should be familiar with it:

 

The N76 basically is an N95 packed inside a Moto RAZR chasis, but without GPS, 5 MP cam (2MP) and wifi.

 

Considering that it's so much smaller than the N95, I feel it's acceptable. Then, there are a few things that are better than the N95, like the screen (very sharp and vibrant!), the speakers (best quality I've heard on a phone so far). The interface is even prettier than the N95's with fonts that look gorgeous.

 

Here are the detailed specs:

 

•

Operating frequency

• WCDMA 2100

• EGSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz

Size

• Volume: 70 cc

• Weight: 115 g

• Dimensions: 106.5 x 52 x 13.7 mm

Display

• Main display: 2.4" QVGA (240 x 320 pixels) TFT with up to 16 million colors

• Cover display: 1.36" color display (160 x 128 pixels) TFT with up to 262,144 colors

• Ambient light detector to optimize operating times

User interface

• S60 3rd edition

• Symbian OS version 9.2

• Quick cover keys allow you to play music and snap pictures without opening your phone

Imaging

• Camera: 2-megapixel camera with up to 20x digital zoom and image resolution up to 1600 x 1200 pixels

• LED flash

• Video capture in QVGA resolution with the CIF+ (common intermediate format) camera and playback up to 15 fps with up to 4x digital zoom

Messaging

• MMS

• Send email with attachments (supports SMTP, IMAP4, POP3 protocols)

• Chat

• Picture messaging

• Video calling

• Push to talk

Multimedia

• Video streaming, downloading, editing, sharing, and storage

• Music player with equalizer and playlist feature (supports MP3, WAV, MIDI, AAC, eAAC, eAAC+, M4A, and WMA formats)

• RealPlayer media player

• FM Radio

Memory functions

• Up to 26 MB internal memory

• Expandable memory: microSD card up to 2 GB

Applications

• Mobile search

Connectivity

• Mini-USB with USB 2.0 full speed (up to 12Mbits/second)

• Bluetooth 2.0 wireless technology up to 3 Mbits/second

• Local and remote data synchronization of calendar, contacts, to-do lists, notes, Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express, and Lotus using SyncML

Browsing

• Nokia browser with Mini Map

Data transfer

• WAP

• GPRS

• EDGE (EGPRS) class B, multi slot class 32

• WCDMA (3G)

Voice features

• Integrated handsfree speaker

• Voice recorder

Personal information management (PIM)

• Contacts, calendar, to-do list, notes, calculator, clock, and converter

Digital services

• Access your favorite internet services from your phone

• Find the information you need on-the-go with mobile search

• Use the Download! feature to personalize your phone

Other features

• Themes including wallpapers, screensavers, and ringing tones

• Download ringing tones and games

Sales package contents

• Nokia N76

• User guide

• Quick start guide

• Nokia AC-4 charger

• Nokia DKE-2 USB cable

• Memory card (Europe only, 256MB)

• Nokia HS-43 headset

Power management

Battery

Talk time

Standby time

Capacity

Battery BL-4B

Up to 120 minutes with WCDMA

Up to 165 minutes with GSM

GSM: Up to 8.5 days with WCDMA

Up to 8.5 days with GSM

700 mAh

Operation times vary depending on the network and usa

[chickenbackside]

Ok. Let's move on to the pics.

 

 

 

 

4 shiny protoypes. 2 red 2 black.

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w181/guaykarchng/NewBatch.jpg

 

 

 

 

I choose a black one for myself. Front view.

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w181/guaykarchng/Front.jpg

 

 

 

 

Right view.

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w181/guaykarchng/Right-1.jpg

 

 

 

 

Left view

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w181/guaykarchng/Left-1.jpg

 

 

 

 

Top view. Notice the 3.5mm earphone jack!

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w181/guaykarchng/Top.jpg

 

 

 

 

Back view

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w181/guaykarchng/Back.jpg

 

 

 

 

A thickness comparison. From left to right: N95, N76, N91 8GB, E61.

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w181/guaykarchng/Thickness.jpg

[chickenbackside]

Peel off all the protective stickers. From this moment on, the phone is worth close to nothing.

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w181/guaykarchng/StickersOff.jpg

 

 

 

 

Slide off the back cover. Oops, not enough Euro batteries, so they just put one meant for China inside this proto.

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w181/guaykarchng/RemoveBack.jpg

 

 

 

 

Insert the SIM card. A bit awkward. Never seen such a system before.

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w181/guaykarchng/InsertSIM.jpg

 

 

 

 

Insert the Micro SD card

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w181/guaykarchng/InsertSD.jpg

 

 

 

 

Turn it on and see the front cover display comes to life. Beautiful!

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w181/guaykarchng/FrontCover.jpg

 

 

 

 

Flip it open and reveal the inside. Wow!

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w181/guaykarchng/FlipOpen.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

 

So far, I'm really enjoying using it. The keypad feels better than even the N93i. The screen is simply breathtaking. The interface is very quick, faster than the N95 (as expected due to less stuff in this phone). Despite the 2 MP cam, the pic quality is pretty decent. I'll go take some pics outdoors with it later.

 

The speakers are just awesome. You can actually hear a little bit of bass on them and they're plenty loud. Music seems to be a big thing on this phone. There are dedicated buttons on the front of the phone to access the music library and all the music players functions. One doesn't expected to see a proper 3.5mm earphone jack on such a slim device, but the N76 gives you one!

 

Another thing I love about this phone is the cover display. You can choose to read SMS's through it without flipping the phone open. This saves a lot of time indeed. Not only that, you can even take pictures using the cover display as a screen! All the phone menus are even accessible through the buttons in front. That means you don't even have to flip open the phone to take pics, making it much quicker and easier to use as a camera.

 

Battery life should be pretty decent considering there's no wifi and GPS in this thing.

 

Anyway, will report back after using it more...

[chickenbackside]

I took some pictures using the N76 camera during lunch yesterday. The sky was very overcast, so no real bright sunlight was involved.

 

All pictures are taken on auto mode. Point and shoot. The camera is a 2.0 megapixel one. Non Carl Zeiss, aka, el cheapo camera module. Let's see how it performs.

 

 

 

Outdoor shots:

 

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w181/guaykarchng/Gdns1.jpg

 

 

 

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w181/guaykarchng/Gdns2.jpg

 

 

 

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w181/guaykarchng/Gdns3.jpg

 

 

 

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w181/guaykarchng/Gdns4.jpg

 

 

 

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w181/guaykarchng/car1.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

Inside the car with roof blocking the sun

 

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w181/guaykarchng/Int1-1.jpg

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w181/guaykarchng/Int2-1.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

Placing the phone nearer to the subject (there is no close up mode on this cam)

 

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w181/guaykarchng/BBK.jpg

 

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w181/guaykarchng/Bonnet.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

Indoor shots

 

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w181/guaykarchng/Indoor1.jpg

 

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w181/guaykarchng/indoor2.jpg

 

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w181/guaykarchng/Indoor3.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

The one and only shot taken at night

 

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w181/guaykarchng/HKCafe.jpg

 

 

 

 

Overall, I find that the camera has a greenish tint to it and is grainy, especially under low light conditions. For a quick point and shoot, I suppose it's ok. Can't expect too much from something that's so slim...

 

Again, this is only a prototype. The phone software is constantly being improved daily as we speak...

[chickenbackside]

Took a few more shots during and after dinner yesterday. Shot with "Night" mode with flash on auto:

 

 

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w181/guaykarchng/Nite1.jpg

 

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w181/guaykarchng/Nite2.jpg

 

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w181/guaykarchng/Nite3.jpg

[chickenbackside]

For those interested in the video capability, here's one I took with the N76:

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hF8uFPerrA...pics%2D4%2Ehtml

 

 

 

 

Quality is not good as expected. Again, there's plenty of green everywhere. Will do in a pinch I suppose. Overall I feel it's acceptable for something this slim.

[redbeacon]

Oooh..

 

I smell another Motorola RAZR contender here...