Nokia N70 review

N70 Nokia picture If you've seen Nokia's 3G 6680 then you might think the N70 has nothing to offer you. Certainly that handset and this are rather similar in looks and you could, on visuals alone, think the N70 is more of the same. But you'd be wrong. This is an altogether more advanced handset, with better specifications all round, and in most respects its quality shines. Orange, O2, 3, T-Mobile and Vodafone all have the N70 on their lists, so you've the full range of 3G operators to choose from, and it is available from free from all of them, with some tariffs under ?20. If you want the handset on its own, SIM-free, we found it online for around 350. You can pump up the volume of the speakerphone to a higher level than with most other phones but its performance can be hissy. Sound performance improves when using the supplied iPod-white headset, and when auditioning the phone's MP3 facilities but the sound quality is inferior to other comparable models. Nokia N70 Themes Free Nokia Themes download Nokia N70 Software Free Nokia Software download Nokia N70 Games Free Nokia Games download The Nokia N70 is a Series 60 handset, and as is usual with this operating system, the built-in calendar and contact book can exchange information with a PC. Both the software and connection cable to achieve this are included. Advertisement Photographs also turn out to be a bit of a disappointment. There's a two-megapixel camera on offer - but its pictures weren't fantastic. There is no focusing control, so close-ups are poor, lowlight images were grainy, and there was a slight yellow cast to our shots. The camera has a zoom of up to 20x. This might sound fantastic, but it's digital, so image quality degrades at every increment as you zoom using the navigation button. To its credit, Nokia acknowledges this and shows the number of pixels you'll be shooting at the zoom level you have currently selected. Oddly, there's a 2x zoom on the front camera too - during video calls you can zoom into your own nose, which we find a rather scary proposition. Connectivity is excellent, with Bluetooth, a built-in image print program and an easily accessed TransFlash card (these are limited to just 64Mb for now). There are dozens more features - including an MP3 player, full Symbian functionality and a radio - and this is both the handset's main strength and key weakness. As a consummate multimedia phone, the N70 is hard to beat, but its camera features really need more room to breathe.

www.nenokia.net 2007 (email nenokia@bigmir.net)