Camera Phones Plaza

It is needless to say that Nokia has a biggest mobile phone portfolio. Nokia releases on a constant bases mobile phones, with or without any new features. It is not just the entry level and the middle level, too congested with similar phones, you currently can find so many Nokia series phones that you probably wonder where it is going to end. The E series and N series are probably at their end life cycle, especially because Nokia is running out of numbers.


However, Nokia recently showed that it can recycle names and numbers, but not early than a five year range. Even so, Nokia N79 is not a new phone. You already know its specs list from other N series siblings. It's all about design, and price for that matter. Being part of the 7x N series means that N79 will have a decent price tag for all the features it brings. And, indeed you get good features. However, N79 lacks some important N8x features.


Therefore, not only the plastic design will make this model look cheap, but also the lack of detailed features. Nokia N79 has a little too many disadvantages, such as   bad quality GPS, zooming in and out of photos (and browsing through the menu) takes a lot of time, average camera performances (although the camera is good in its specs), doesn't charge the battery using the USB connection, no view or editing software for Office documents. Also, you might be surprised (in a bad way) to find out that N79 (which should be a multimedia phone) lacks 3D graphic accelerator. Nokia N79 is the successor of N78, which by the way looked much more appealing that N79 does.

Also, if you are interested in better performances and you don't really care about the latest gadgets on the market you should definitely take a look at Nokia N82 (a better choice than the N79) or even N85, which already has a successor out on the market, N86. Both N82 and N85 are solid choices with better performances at the same price tag with N79 (however, keep in mind that N82 and N85 are 2008 N series phones). The only clear advantage of N79 is that it's sporting the current brand image of Nokia. When it comes to the design, you can easily see a small resemblance between N97 design and N79.

However, the N79's design is by far as good as the N97. The front panel is made out a glossy plastic (theoretically it should be matte) which is a magnet for both fingerprints and scratches. Even the display is vulnerable to fingerprints, because it is not covered with a special material to prevent finger smudges. Sure, it is not a touch screen phone, but it is inevitable not to touch even by accident the display. Above the display you can find the centered earpiece, while to the right you get the second digital camera for enabling video calls and the ambient light sensor. Under the display you get the navigational keys. Beside the four way keys plus one centered key, N79 sports another seven keys.


The four way keys (left, right, up, and down) surround the OK / Select key. To the left of this navigational buttons you get a soft key, the menu key, the multimedia key (which is not labeled), and call key. On the other side, N79 sport another soft key, the clear key and the end call key. Under the navigational keys you get the alphanumerical keypad. You get physical buttons (even if you don't notice them) making the usability excellent. The feedback is impressive and the keyboard functionality is first class. Surrounding the front case you get a nice stainless steel finish, making the design a little more stylish. Actually the design could have been nicer if Nokia would have introduced other colors to N79. You get this not so great white, because the old N78 included an all case glossy black.

On the left side of the N79 you get the covered micro USB slot, the charger plug and the micro SD memory card slot. Fear not, if you will see only one cover. Under this cover you will find both memory card slot and micro USB port. On the right side N79 sports two stereo speakers, the dedicated camera key and the volume controls. On the top Nokia included a centered 3.5 mm audio jack, a Power on and off button, and a switch to lock the phone.


On the bottom, N79 doesn't actually sports anything. The back side provides on the upper center the 5 megapixel camera lens with dual LED flash. The back cover is made entirely out of plastic. Overall, the build quality found on N79 is excellent. You get no weird noises or flex when using it. However, the plastic body is not that appealing at all, making the N79 look cheap. With a height of 110 mm, wide of 49 mm, deep of 15 mm, N79 weights about 97 g. Nokia N79 runs in 2G network - GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900, and in 3G network - HSDPA 900 / 2100.

Nokia included in N79 a 2.4 inches TFT display with a QVGA resolution (240 x 320 pixels), rendering up to 16 million colors. The display offers a good brightness level under direct sunlight. Also, the display features auto rotate function thanks to the built in accelerometer sensor. Nokia included in N79 an ARM 11 369 MHz processor. Unfortunately, this processor is not powerful enough to deliver a good user experience especially because of the power draining Symbian OS 9.3, with Series 60 version 3.2 user interface.


The operating system is good, offers a full range of functions. From a great organizer, good featured calendar, a detailed phone book, exceptional music player, and sufficient video player, all these great functions lose because of the slow processor. As you already imagined it, the user interface is fully customizable, allowing you to create, after your needs, the perfect menu. Nokia ships the N79 with a 5 megapixel digital camera, with a maximum resolution of 2592 x 1944 pixels, with Carl Zeiss optics, a decent auto focus and dual LED flash. Beside geo tagging, the camera also features several image editing options. The camera also records videos in VGA resolution with 30 frames per second.

The N79 sports a small internal memory, only 83 MB, but you can expand this value with micro SD memory cards or Trans Flash memory card, up to 8 GB. The connectivity is ensured by Class 11 GPRS (not usually used) with a maximum speed of 107 Kb, HSCSD, Class 32 EDGE with a speed growing from 177.6 Kbits to 296 Kbits, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g profile and UPnP technology, HSDPA (slow version) with a maximum speed of 3.6 MB per second, 2.0 micro USB connection, and Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP.


Nokia added in the N79 phones a 1200 mAh Lithium Ion standard battery (BL 6F model) which should provide a standby value in 2G networks of about 372 hours and in 3G networks up to 408 hours. Also you can get about 5 hours and 30 minutes talk time in 2G network, while in 3G network the talk time goes up to 3 hour and 30 minutes. These values should mean for an average user about 2 days and 6 to 8 hours. The retail package of Nokia N79 is quite good. You get beside the actual phone and battery, a 4 GB micro SD memory card, a two piece hand free with remote controls, a mandatory charger, a micro USB cable, and CD software. Overall, the N79 is a solid phone. It provides good features for a smaller price tag. Still the design looks cheap (even if it is solid built), the features are good but not extraordinary, and the N79 fits perfectly in the entry level N series line.