3Man
26-09-2006, 12:04 PM
Nokia N73 3G Phone Review
Photos
http://www.3g.co.uk/PR/Sept2006/N73Front.jpg
http://www.3g.co.uk/PR/Sept2006/N73Sideways.jpg
http://www.3g.co.uk/PR/Sept2006/N73Lens.jpg
http://www.3g.co.uk/PR/Sept2006/N73Back.jpg
http://www.3g.co.uk/PR/Sept2006/N73Moby.jpg
Specification Details
Size 110 x 49 x 19mm
Weight 116g
Display 262k colours
Display resolution 240 x 320
Camera Main camera 3.2 megapixels
Video recording / playback Yes/Yes
Audio playback MP3 / AAC /eAAC / eAAC+ / WMA
Connectivity Bluetooth, infra red
Internal memory 40MB
Memory card slot miniSD
Java Yes
Messaging SMS, MMS
Email client Yes
Ringtones Polyphonic, 3D
Internet browser HTML, WAP 2.0
GPRS Yes
Frequency Quad-band + 3G
Talktime Up to 226 mins
Standby Up to 370 hours
Nokia’s new understated cameraphone
Nokia tries a lot of variety with its handset design, and in some cases pushes at the outer edges of what we might think of as a mobile phone. The company also, though, works with the more traditional approach, and the N73 is in many ways a welcome breath of candybar fresh air in an arena awash with twisty clam shell N93-a-likes.
At 116g and 110x49x19mm the N73 can’t give some of the more superslim handsets currently around a run for their money, but it does feel tidy in the hand and pocket, and, importantly, shaves precious millimeters and grammes off the dimensions of its forebearer, the popular N70.
The star attraction of the N73 has to be its main camera. A front facing lens caters for video calling, but it is the main camera that grabs the attention.
Carl Zeiss optics are becoming something of a standard for higher end N range handsets, and in this case we have 3.2 megapixel image capture with an autofocus mode, flash, and a mechanical shutter which really does help you get clearer pictures.
Outdoor shots are particularly good, tending to the clear, crisp side of things which means you wouldn’t be embarrassed to show them to friends and relatives or keep them on file. We weren’t over the moon about the indoor test shots we took, but then no handset delivers as well as a digital camera indoors.
Nokia has thought quite hard about ease of use with the camera and for the most part has come up with the goods. The lens is protected by a large sliding cover. Pull it back and the camera software is activated. Now flip the handset into wide mode and use the mini joystick under the screen to make settings for the flash, self timer, exposure compensation, macro and other scene mode selection, white balance, ISO setting and suchlike. You just scroll down a column of icons click, scroll some more, click, and you are there.
Next use the side mounted button that falls neatly under your right forefinger to autofocus by depressing it half way, then to shoot. Now choose between icons again to email, print (now or later) or trash your shot. It is all about as quick as you can get, and should be quite efficient for shooting candid shots.
There’s a nifty little button next to the shutter button that lets you scroll through recently shot images. This we found very handy for showing off photos to people just after we’d shot them. It is basically just a shortcut to the handset’s Gallery application, but so much easier to get to than dropping out of camera mode and then into Gallery.
The N73 is a lot more than just a 3G handset with a camera tacked on, of course. We ought to take a little look at its general ergonomics and hardware design.
We’ve already noted that it is small and light. The front is dominated by the 2.4 inch screen, whose 240 x 320 pixels are fabulously bright and sharp. We also rather like the big softmenu, Call and End buttons that sit underneath the screen, and the mini joystick. This latter is very, very responsive – some might say too much so, but to our tastes it was very good.
The main problem with the front fascia is the number pad and the rather horrid arrangement of the remaining shortcut keys. There are four additional shortcut keys and they sit in pairs arranged vertically along the left and right edges of the number pad, with the Nokia menu and edit keys on the left, multimedia (for quicklaunching applications) and clear keys on the right. We found when trying to knock out quick texts one handed they got in the way and ran the risk of being hit accidentally. To make room for these keys the number keys themselves are a bit squeezed.
If you are thinking of using the N73 for music playback then the 40MB of internal memory should be enough to carry a few tracks around till you find yourself a miniSD card. Cards go in a slot on the bottom edge of the casing, where they are protected from loss by a cover. We found this to be a bit fiddly to open and very fiddly to close fully. This will be a nuisance if you intend to swap cards a lot to change music selections or take images from the camera to your computer.
Also with reference to music playback, the on-device stereo speakers might at first seem alluring. They are positioned one on the top and one on the bottom edge of the casing. They turn out music at a fair quality, but to be honest real stereo sounds were not easy to detect either from recorded MP3s or the handset’s FM radio.
The (white) headset does a better job of delivering stereo, which is just as well as it requires the Nokia Pop-Port connector, and while Nokia does ship converters to 3.5mm jacks with some handsets, they don’t with this one. You can use the stereo speakers to simulate 3D ringtones, but again these come across better when you are using the headset than through the twin on-device speakers.
Bluetooth and infra red are built in, but there’s no Wi-Fi, which is a shame in such an otherwise well featured handset.
The N73 runs Nokia’s S60 v3 software and apart from the applications already mentioned there is plenty more. Nokia’s Web browser does a good job, the Adobe PDF reader and readers for Microsoft Excel, Word and PowerPoint could prove useful. Outlook synchronisation is catered for by PC Suite and a provided cable, Nokia’s LifeBlog is here, there’s a voice recorder and unit converter, and a version of the snakes game.
Verdict
The N73 is a nicely designed handset from a general usability point of view, with the exception of those vertical shortcut buttons which are a bit of a pain. The camera is very good, though as ever better outdoors than in. All in all, this is quite a pleasant little handset.
Best features
Very good camera
Light and neatly designed
Reasonable built in memory easily expanded
FM radio
Pros
Very good camera, small and light, generally nicely featured.
Cons
Well, the on-board stereo speakers are disappointing.
Verdict
Nokia has gone back to basics in terms of hardware design with the N73, and packed in a very decent camera.
3G Total Score 85%
Buy Now (http://shop.3g.co.uk/)
This review covers the above mobile phone only and does not address the performance of any 3G Network. The score is based on a 3G mobile phone checklist.
Copyright : You are advised that this material is the copyright of www.3G.co.uk and is our own personal view only. (C) All rights reserved 2005. Whist every care has been taken in the preparation of this review, the author nor 3G.co.uk cannot be held responsible for the accuracy or authenticity of the information it contains, or consequence arising from it.
Photos
http://www.3g.co.uk/PR/Sept2006/N73Front.jpg
http://www.3g.co.uk/PR/Sept2006/N73Sideways.jpg
http://www.3g.co.uk/PR/Sept2006/N73Lens.jpg
http://www.3g.co.uk/PR/Sept2006/N73Back.jpg
http://www.3g.co.uk/PR/Sept2006/N73Moby.jpg
Specification Details
Size 110 x 49 x 19mm
Weight 116g
Display 262k colours
Display resolution 240 x 320
Camera Main camera 3.2 megapixels
Video recording / playback Yes/Yes
Audio playback MP3 / AAC /eAAC / eAAC+ / WMA
Connectivity Bluetooth, infra red
Internal memory 40MB
Memory card slot miniSD
Java Yes
Messaging SMS, MMS
Email client Yes
Ringtones Polyphonic, 3D
Internet browser HTML, WAP 2.0
GPRS Yes
Frequency Quad-band + 3G
Talktime Up to 226 mins
Standby Up to 370 hours
Nokia’s new understated cameraphone
Nokia tries a lot of variety with its handset design, and in some cases pushes at the outer edges of what we might think of as a mobile phone. The company also, though, works with the more traditional approach, and the N73 is in many ways a welcome breath of candybar fresh air in an arena awash with twisty clam shell N93-a-likes.
At 116g and 110x49x19mm the N73 can’t give some of the more superslim handsets currently around a run for their money, but it does feel tidy in the hand and pocket, and, importantly, shaves precious millimeters and grammes off the dimensions of its forebearer, the popular N70.
The star attraction of the N73 has to be its main camera. A front facing lens caters for video calling, but it is the main camera that grabs the attention.
Carl Zeiss optics are becoming something of a standard for higher end N range handsets, and in this case we have 3.2 megapixel image capture with an autofocus mode, flash, and a mechanical shutter which really does help you get clearer pictures.
Outdoor shots are particularly good, tending to the clear, crisp side of things which means you wouldn’t be embarrassed to show them to friends and relatives or keep them on file. We weren’t over the moon about the indoor test shots we took, but then no handset delivers as well as a digital camera indoors.
Nokia has thought quite hard about ease of use with the camera and for the most part has come up with the goods. The lens is protected by a large sliding cover. Pull it back and the camera software is activated. Now flip the handset into wide mode and use the mini joystick under the screen to make settings for the flash, self timer, exposure compensation, macro and other scene mode selection, white balance, ISO setting and suchlike. You just scroll down a column of icons click, scroll some more, click, and you are there.
Next use the side mounted button that falls neatly under your right forefinger to autofocus by depressing it half way, then to shoot. Now choose between icons again to email, print (now or later) or trash your shot. It is all about as quick as you can get, and should be quite efficient for shooting candid shots.
There’s a nifty little button next to the shutter button that lets you scroll through recently shot images. This we found very handy for showing off photos to people just after we’d shot them. It is basically just a shortcut to the handset’s Gallery application, but so much easier to get to than dropping out of camera mode and then into Gallery.
The N73 is a lot more than just a 3G handset with a camera tacked on, of course. We ought to take a little look at its general ergonomics and hardware design.
We’ve already noted that it is small and light. The front is dominated by the 2.4 inch screen, whose 240 x 320 pixels are fabulously bright and sharp. We also rather like the big softmenu, Call and End buttons that sit underneath the screen, and the mini joystick. This latter is very, very responsive – some might say too much so, but to our tastes it was very good.
The main problem with the front fascia is the number pad and the rather horrid arrangement of the remaining shortcut keys. There are four additional shortcut keys and they sit in pairs arranged vertically along the left and right edges of the number pad, with the Nokia menu and edit keys on the left, multimedia (for quicklaunching applications) and clear keys on the right. We found when trying to knock out quick texts one handed they got in the way and ran the risk of being hit accidentally. To make room for these keys the number keys themselves are a bit squeezed.
If you are thinking of using the N73 for music playback then the 40MB of internal memory should be enough to carry a few tracks around till you find yourself a miniSD card. Cards go in a slot on the bottom edge of the casing, where they are protected from loss by a cover. We found this to be a bit fiddly to open and very fiddly to close fully. This will be a nuisance if you intend to swap cards a lot to change music selections or take images from the camera to your computer.
Also with reference to music playback, the on-device stereo speakers might at first seem alluring. They are positioned one on the top and one on the bottom edge of the casing. They turn out music at a fair quality, but to be honest real stereo sounds were not easy to detect either from recorded MP3s or the handset’s FM radio.
The (white) headset does a better job of delivering stereo, which is just as well as it requires the Nokia Pop-Port connector, and while Nokia does ship converters to 3.5mm jacks with some handsets, they don’t with this one. You can use the stereo speakers to simulate 3D ringtones, but again these come across better when you are using the headset than through the twin on-device speakers.
Bluetooth and infra red are built in, but there’s no Wi-Fi, which is a shame in such an otherwise well featured handset.
The N73 runs Nokia’s S60 v3 software and apart from the applications already mentioned there is plenty more. Nokia’s Web browser does a good job, the Adobe PDF reader and readers for Microsoft Excel, Word and PowerPoint could prove useful. Outlook synchronisation is catered for by PC Suite and a provided cable, Nokia’s LifeBlog is here, there’s a voice recorder and unit converter, and a version of the snakes game.
Verdict
The N73 is a nicely designed handset from a general usability point of view, with the exception of those vertical shortcut buttons which are a bit of a pain. The camera is very good, though as ever better outdoors than in. All in all, this is quite a pleasant little handset.
Best features
Very good camera
Light and neatly designed
Reasonable built in memory easily expanded
FM radio
Pros
Very good camera, small and light, generally nicely featured.
Cons
Well, the on-board stereo speakers are disappointing.
Verdict
Nokia has gone back to basics in terms of hardware design with the N73, and packed in a very decent camera.
3G Total Score 85%
Buy Now (http://shop.3g.co.uk/)
This review covers the above mobile phone only and does not address the performance of any 3G Network. The score is based on a 3G mobile phone checklist.
Copyright : You are advised that this material is the copyright of www.3G.co.uk and is our own personal view only. (C) All rights reserved 2005. Whist every care has been taken in the preparation of this review, the author nor 3G.co.uk cannot be held responsible for the accuracy or authenticity of the information it contains, or consequence arising from it.