Nokia N78 review: Bitter sweet

Love it or leave it won't do here, we're afraid. Love it or hate it is more like it. There's so much to get excited about with Nokia N78. The excellent display and capable camera, topped with Navi wheel, FM transmitter, GPS and Wi-Fi sure round off a nice deal. And yes, the latest FP 2 is a downright treat. If only… Well, you must know already what we think of the package. Anyway, you're welcome to read on. Nokia N78 has a whole review up ahead to unleash its potential and a lifetime to beg for a facelift.

Nokia N78 official photos

Key features:

• 2.4" 16M-color display of QVGA resolution
• 3.2 megapixel camera with auto focus and LED flash
• S60 UI with Feature Pack 2
• FM transmitter
• Navi wheel
• 3G with HSDPA
• microSD card slot, 2GB card in the retail package
• GPS receiver and 3 months of free voice-guided navigation
• Wi-Fi
• Stereo speakers
• 3.5mm standard audio jack
• FM radio with RDS
• Bluetooth and USB connectivity (microUSB port)

Main disadvantages:

• Keypad or whatever they call it
• Shaky battery cover
• Not our kind of design
• Call, End and C key placement
• FM transmitter has weak signal

Nokia N78 stacks up just below the top of the multimedia phone market. The megapixel count and screen size are probably the only things to stop it from directly competing with the N95. It is still quite close and even offers a few features that the omnipresent Nseries ruler lacks.

Nokia N78 views

A nice - even if somewhat humble - alternative of Nokia N78 is Samsung i550w. Carrying a very similar feature-pack, it trades the FM transmitter and the Navi wheel for a trackball and a larger 2.6" screen. The best part about the Samsung is that it costs a great deal less than the Nokia N78, retailing at about 260 euro. Now, the FM transmitter and FP 2 are not exactly the first things one would choose to trade, but we can understand those willing to save themselves some money.

Another handset to rival the N78 is Nokia N82. The best cameraphone by Nokia to date is currently available for about 300 euro. The 5 megapixel camera comes with protective cover and Xenon flash, while a built-in accelerometer is also on offer. On the other hand, N82 too lacks the FM transmitter, which might sound as a deal-breaker to some.