Nokia N78

At first glance, Nokia N82 appears to excel N78 in many aspects, but a closer inspection reveals that the only thing that's actually better than in N78 is the camera. As for the rest of the features, N78 is either on the same level or better than N82 no matter what we looked at: software, performance, battery life, audio quality and a lot of other things.

Nokia N78 is a vivid example of a whole trend concerning the course of cameraphone development in 2008. The year of 2007 was remarkable for the megapixel race, the quality and size of images produced by mobile camera went through a period of rapid growth. As for now, this process seems to be slowing down. Nokia made an impressive record with their N95 and N82 models, leaving numerous competing models far behind. The twp devices became ultimate bestsellers while other brands' flagships enjoyed rather moderate sales (SE K850i, Samsung G800). The situation about the poorly balanced portfolio of Sony Ericsson led to a decrease in revenue in the first quarter of 2008, while the revenues and market share of Nokia are constantly growing. Accordingly, we can speak about the high proficiency of Nokia's marketing experts who almost never fail to forecast the audience's interests for any taken moment.

In 2008, the product priorities have shifted from impressive camera capabilities to GPS navigation, Web services, higher data transition rates and better connectivity. That's why in this year we won't see any Nokia devices sporting cameras above 5 Mp, none with optical zoom are expected as well. A cardinal step towards even better cameras can be expected in 2009, while in a shorter perspective the upcoming models will be equipped with camera units offering a quality on a level with Nokia N82 and hardly anywhere above (same video and photo quality, xenon flash), gradually becoming more and more miniature. A good example of this trend is Nokia 6220 Classic, the best offer on the mass market, judging by the camera power related to the phone's price.

Design and ergonomics
The device's design, in a fashion similar to Nokia N96, follows the style established by N81. In real life Nokia N78 has much better looks than in the official photos and produces a deeply positive impression. The glossy face surface is of a pitch black color, the only contrasting parts being the silver-colored navigation button and the multimedia menu launch button. The surface is very smooth and prone to greasing, the handset asks for a good rub every now and then. The material and assembly quality is on an average level, aside from any pronouncedly positive or negative remarks. The battery bay cover gives out a muffled screech on pressing. The physical dimensions are quite typical of an average smartphone. N78 is perceptibly slimmer than N82 and gives the hand a more comfortable feel.

The battery bay cover is fully removable and doesn't fit tight enough due to a very small number of holders. The plastic is rather thin and vulnerable to bending, N82 seems to have the upper hand over N78 in this aspect. The back surface displays a texture analogous to N82 and N96. As we have mentioned for a number of times, characteristic visual differentiation between Nseries and Eseries is carried out by employing different surface textures; the dotted pattern stands for Eseries, for example E51. Worn spots tend to become less visible against such a background. Three color variants are provided, the main being deep blue and the two other options brown and white. The camera lens is also seated on the back surface, it's a 3.2 Mp unit without a lens guard, the flash is a generic LED one; the photo quality is on a high level.

The side edges of the handset host multiple controls and functional elements. The stereo speakers are placed asymmetrically to provide for maximum distance between, which results in a very pronounced stereo effect. The sound volume and audio quality are nearly perfect. The volume buttons and the camera launch rocker are found on the right side, the left edge is the home to the charger slot, memory card slot (microSD) and the microUSB interface slot. A standard 3.5 mm headset jack is found on the top edge of the handset, which further improves the overall ergonomics.

The screen is 2,4'' large in diagonal, the matrix quality is very high, clearly beating N82 in terms of brightness and resistance to sun glare:

The keyboard looks like a few thin rows of buttons, in spite of the unusual design and brings no trouble. Though the buttons are rather thin, the feedback is good enough. There's a good deal of resemblance between these and the buttons of SonyEricsson W880i, sticking above the surface for a good deal. In comparison with Nokia N82, the keyboard became a bit more convenient as well as the controls. The controls block is covered with a solid piece of plastic, the buttons aren't segmented in any perceptible way, but at the same time aren't of the touch type. Due to the large surface of the buttons they quite easy to operate. The keyboard backlighting is of a white color, rather uneven at places. The key markings are placed next to the buttons, invisible if inactive. The keyboard has a very unusual and even stylish look about it. The silver-colored Navi Wheel and the multimedia menu launching button are the only two parts that stand out against the black glossy surface.

Navi Wheel which has seen a use in N81 as well, now is much more functional than in the preceding models, providing some functionality in all menus. The wheel is very sensitive, so sometimes it responses falsely to even the slightest touches, but you can always turn it off in the options. A thin semi-transparent brim inside the Navi Wheel is the light indicator which pulses in a bright white color at short periods of time. This option is called Breathe in the settings.

In camera and gallery modes, the numerical keypad isn't backlit while the function labels are still displayed on the action buttons.

Camera
Nokia N78 possesses one of the best cameras in its class. The camera used in Nokia N78 has a better quality than in N73, the updated specs are now F2.8/4.6, though the difference is minimal. N78 makes a fair cameraphone, outpacing the competitors in the quality of photos. Only yielding to a very limited number of devices, it makes a fine choice for everyday casual shooting.The lens is left unprotected, so it's very exposed to physical damage and requires manual cleaning prior to shooting sessions. Not far from the lens resides the LED flash, which is in a sense an outdated solution � the majority of modern cameraphones are equipped with xenon flash units. However, it has enough power to be effective at distances shorter than a meter. It would hardly make a decent flashlight, though. Also the flash helps the auto-focusing mechanism to lock on an object even in the dark.

The camera is launched by pressing the right side rocker button. It's position is optimized for maximum comfort during shooting. The sound volume controls act as the zoom controls in the camera mode, the maximum zoom ratio is 20x. Once the camera is activated, these buttons are backlight while the numerical symbols fade away from the keyboard. It takes about 4 seconds for the camera application to launch. In the viewfinder mode, the screen isn't as inert as in Samsung U900 in terms of refresh delay and rate, though Nokia N95 still does better.

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