Chaz_UK
27-05-2006, 11:56 PM
3g Forum Review - Nokia N70
Introduction
Yesterday I bought the Nokia N70, my 5th Series 60 handset. My first experience with the S60 Symbian OS was with the original N-Gage, I then went on to own an N-Gage QD, Nokia 6600, Nokia 7610 and now the N70.
Packaging and Contents
The N-70 comes well packaged but i couldn't help but think that this all could have fit into a smaller box after seeing some of SonyEricsson's packaging.
The box's contents were:
N70 Phone
Manual
Quick Start Guide
Nokia CD-Rom Software
Stereo Headphones/Hands Free Kit
Lanyard
Cleaning Cloth
64MB RS-MMC Card and Card Reader adapter
USB Cable
Power Lead
Old charger lead converter (For the older, bigger charger's)
http://homepages.tesco.net/~louise.clout/review/n70/boxsm.jpg (http://homepages.tesco.net/~louise.clout/review/n70/box.jpg) http://homepages.tesco.net/~louise.clout/review/n70/allsm.jpg (http://homepages.tesco.net/~louise.clout/review/n70/all.jpg)
Click for larger images
Style and Design
The N70 is of a standard S60 candy bar design and shares a lot in common with the Nokia 6680. The keypad seems a bit small for my fat fingers but I believe I'll get used it as i use it more. The backlight is fine in the dark and all the keys are easy to read. The 2.0 Mega pixel camera is protected by a sliding plastic cover which will prevent the lens getting dusty and damaged.
The style was what drew me to purchasing the N70. Brushed Aluminium effect, fine contours and excellent design were a few of the reasons I chose the N70. The size of the N70 is comparable to most other smartphones.
http://homepages.tesco.net/~louise.clout/review/n70/n701sm.jpg (http://homepages.tesco.net/~louise.clout/review/n70/n701.jpg) http://homepages.tesco.net/~louise.clout/review/n70/n702sm.jpg (http://homepages.tesco.net/~louise.clout/review/n70/n702.jpg)
Click for larger images
Features and Software
The S60 line of phones have massive scope for customization and software functions. The N70 comes preloaded with tonnes of software for office and entertainment Quickoffice document viewers, F-Secure Anti-Virus, Adobe PDF Reader and Opera S60 web browser are a few of the applications that come with the N70. (Downloadable from here (http://www.europe.nokia.com/nokia/0,8764,77615,00.html))
The Opera Web browser is a fantastic application, letting you browse the internet and using it's "smart fit" rendering to make almost every page viewable on the screen. Games include, Card Deck (A selection of Solitaire type games), Snowboard 3D and the fantastic Snakes, a 3D version of Nokia's classic Snake game which debuted on the N-Gage platform. Snakes was a lot easier to play on the N-Gage because of its form factor but i still enjoyed playing it on the N70. 2 Java games are available to download from Nokia using the N70's own browser. These are Space Impact 3 and Snake II. They're worth a download as they're free and they'll only cost you whatever your operator does for the download. The N70 also has an MP3 player but as I have a 30GB iPod and the N70 only has a 64MB MMC card i haven't used it, but the FM radio is a nice addition and the N70 was the first S60 smartphone to have it AFAIK.
Screen, Accessories and Other things!
The screen on the N70 is superb but out of the box the brightness is set to medium and has a nice boost when maxxed out. (At the expense of battery life).
The screen resolution is low by today's standard of S60 devices but at least there's thousands of themes which will work perfectly which were designed for the 6600 upwards.
The accessories supplied are one of its weaknesses. I've found the headphones extremely uncomfortable. They hurt my ears after a while and i preferred my W550i's solution of being able to add your own headphones to your phone as well as use the ones which came with it. Everything else is fine but you can't really go wrong with a Lanyard, memorycard and Cleaning cloth!
The adapter to make the older Nokia chargers fit the N70 is a wonderful addition because it makes those old car chargers still usable with the newer phones, unlike when SonyEricsson changed their ports and i had to get new accessories for my phone! (SE take note!)
Ringtone volume is perfect and the vibrate is strong enough to warn you of a call when it's in your pocket.
Being able to change MMC cards on the fly is be a nice feature too as I remember the N-Gage and 6600 days of having to take my battery out, just to fit a new card.
Camera Quality
Having a 2.0 Mega-pixel cam is a very nice feature and one I feel which shouldn't be on any phone of this level any more. The pictures the N70 takes are decent enough but are not up to the K750i's brilliance, don't throw those digital cameras away yet folks!
Sample Pic 1 (http://homepages.tesco.net/~louise.clout/review/n70/sample1.jpg)
Sample Pic 2 (http://homepages.tesco.net/~louise.clout/review/n70/sample2.jpg)
My Daughter posed for the samples!
Summary
Overall I've found the N70 to be a fantastic phone with great looks, software and features but it could age faster compared to the other N-series phones due to the screen res.
Ratings:
***** - Excellent
**** - Good
*** - Average
** - Poor
* - Terrible
Looks: **** - A Beautiful phone. Nice screen and metallic looks!
Features: ***** - Cam, Radio and MP3 playback. Is there much else you need?
Software ***** - The S60 os is fantastic and there's plenty of free and buyable software out for it, plus the N70 comes with a strong line of software.
Accessories: *** - How uncomforable are those headphones? Better ones next time please Nokia!
Camera: **** - Nothing I've seen so far has beaten the K750i yet!
Overall - 21/25
Negative points:
Wifi would have been nice.
Screen Resolution.
Camera is a bit dodgy at times.
More Pics:
http://homepages.tesco.net/~louise.clout/review/n70/n703.jpg
http://homepages.tesco.net/~louise.clout/review/n70/n704.jpg
http://homepages.tesco.net/~louise.clout/review/n70/n705.jpg
I hope you enjoyed this review and the pictures I've supplied as much as i enjoyed writing it.
I'm going to read some other reviews now!
Any Gramatical or spelling errors please let me know!
Introduction
Yesterday I bought the Nokia N70, my 5th Series 60 handset. My first experience with the S60 Symbian OS was with the original N-Gage, I then went on to own an N-Gage QD, Nokia 6600, Nokia 7610 and now the N70.
Packaging and Contents
The N-70 comes well packaged but i couldn't help but think that this all could have fit into a smaller box after seeing some of SonyEricsson's packaging.
The box's contents were:
N70 Phone
Manual
Quick Start Guide
Nokia CD-Rom Software
Stereo Headphones/Hands Free Kit
Lanyard
Cleaning Cloth
64MB RS-MMC Card and Card Reader adapter
USB Cable
Power Lead
Old charger lead converter (For the older, bigger charger's)
http://homepages.tesco.net/~louise.clout/review/n70/boxsm.jpg (http://homepages.tesco.net/~louise.clout/review/n70/box.jpg) http://homepages.tesco.net/~louise.clout/review/n70/allsm.jpg (http://homepages.tesco.net/~louise.clout/review/n70/all.jpg)
Click for larger images
Style and Design
The N70 is of a standard S60 candy bar design and shares a lot in common with the Nokia 6680. The keypad seems a bit small for my fat fingers but I believe I'll get used it as i use it more. The backlight is fine in the dark and all the keys are easy to read. The 2.0 Mega pixel camera is protected by a sliding plastic cover which will prevent the lens getting dusty and damaged.
The style was what drew me to purchasing the N70. Brushed Aluminium effect, fine contours and excellent design were a few of the reasons I chose the N70. The size of the N70 is comparable to most other smartphones.
http://homepages.tesco.net/~louise.clout/review/n70/n701sm.jpg (http://homepages.tesco.net/~louise.clout/review/n70/n701.jpg) http://homepages.tesco.net/~louise.clout/review/n70/n702sm.jpg (http://homepages.tesco.net/~louise.clout/review/n70/n702.jpg)
Click for larger images
Features and Software
The S60 line of phones have massive scope for customization and software functions. The N70 comes preloaded with tonnes of software for office and entertainment Quickoffice document viewers, F-Secure Anti-Virus, Adobe PDF Reader and Opera S60 web browser are a few of the applications that come with the N70. (Downloadable from here (http://www.europe.nokia.com/nokia/0,8764,77615,00.html))
The Opera Web browser is a fantastic application, letting you browse the internet and using it's "smart fit" rendering to make almost every page viewable on the screen. Games include, Card Deck (A selection of Solitaire type games), Snowboard 3D and the fantastic Snakes, a 3D version of Nokia's classic Snake game which debuted on the N-Gage platform. Snakes was a lot easier to play on the N-Gage because of its form factor but i still enjoyed playing it on the N70. 2 Java games are available to download from Nokia using the N70's own browser. These are Space Impact 3 and Snake II. They're worth a download as they're free and they'll only cost you whatever your operator does for the download. The N70 also has an MP3 player but as I have a 30GB iPod and the N70 only has a 64MB MMC card i haven't used it, but the FM radio is a nice addition and the N70 was the first S60 smartphone to have it AFAIK.
Screen, Accessories and Other things!
The screen on the N70 is superb but out of the box the brightness is set to medium and has a nice boost when maxxed out. (At the expense of battery life).
The screen resolution is low by today's standard of S60 devices but at least there's thousands of themes which will work perfectly which were designed for the 6600 upwards.
The accessories supplied are one of its weaknesses. I've found the headphones extremely uncomfortable. They hurt my ears after a while and i preferred my W550i's solution of being able to add your own headphones to your phone as well as use the ones which came with it. Everything else is fine but you can't really go wrong with a Lanyard, memorycard and Cleaning cloth!
The adapter to make the older Nokia chargers fit the N70 is a wonderful addition because it makes those old car chargers still usable with the newer phones, unlike when SonyEricsson changed their ports and i had to get new accessories for my phone! (SE take note!)
Ringtone volume is perfect and the vibrate is strong enough to warn you of a call when it's in your pocket.
Being able to change MMC cards on the fly is be a nice feature too as I remember the N-Gage and 6600 days of having to take my battery out, just to fit a new card.
Camera Quality
Having a 2.0 Mega-pixel cam is a very nice feature and one I feel which shouldn't be on any phone of this level any more. The pictures the N70 takes are decent enough but are not up to the K750i's brilliance, don't throw those digital cameras away yet folks!
Sample Pic 1 (http://homepages.tesco.net/~louise.clout/review/n70/sample1.jpg)
Sample Pic 2 (http://homepages.tesco.net/~louise.clout/review/n70/sample2.jpg)
My Daughter posed for the samples!
Summary
Overall I've found the N70 to be a fantastic phone with great looks, software and features but it could age faster compared to the other N-series phones due to the screen res.
Ratings:
***** - Excellent
**** - Good
*** - Average
** - Poor
* - Terrible
Looks: **** - A Beautiful phone. Nice screen and metallic looks!
Features: ***** - Cam, Radio and MP3 playback. Is there much else you need?
Software ***** - The S60 os is fantastic and there's plenty of free and buyable software out for it, plus the N70 comes with a strong line of software.
Accessories: *** - How uncomforable are those headphones? Better ones next time please Nokia!
Camera: **** - Nothing I've seen so far has beaten the K750i yet!
Overall - 21/25
Negative points:
Wifi would have been nice.
Screen Resolution.
Camera is a bit dodgy at times.
More Pics:
http://homepages.tesco.net/~louise.clout/review/n70/n703.jpg
http://homepages.tesco.net/~louise.clout/review/n70/n704.jpg
http://homepages.tesco.net/~louise.clout/review/n70/n705.jpg
I hope you enjoyed this review and the pictures I've supplied as much as i enjoyed writing it.
I'm going to read some other reviews now!
Any Gramatical or spelling errors please let me know!