Nokia N76 – Split Personality

With the new Nokia N76 we see another high-profile clamshell device eager to snap up part of the market as it comes hot on the heels of the Motorola RAZR2 V8.

In terms of looks at least, the first impressions are good. The materials used on the outer shell are nice to look at and will certainly grab a lot of attention, but once again we see the common problem that we get with glossy phones – fingerprints. The external screen in particular is very susceptible to markings.

Aside from this, the build-quality is excellent, although there are a few design flaws that have been ignored or missed completely. The on/off button has been placed on the top of the handset along with the 3.5mm connector & mini USB, making changing ringing profiles difficult. When a set of earphones are plugged in this is actually impossible. By having the connectors fitted like this, Nokia have caused some major usability issues with the N76.

When the phone is opened up, you’ll easily notice yet another issue with usability. Weighing 115 grams (though under 14mm thick) the N76 is a little weighty and bizarrely, most of this seems to be by the main 2.2†screen. This means that the N76 is very top heavy and keeping it still in-hand when in use is very difficult; the Motorola RAZR2 V8 has a similar problem.

Yet another problem is the main keypad, which is far too flat, not responsive enough and is a little unpleasant to use. Even more so, it seems to have been copied directly from the V3 RAZR on which it’s based on. Not really the best template to work from.

Though the design and construction is a little poor, no such worries are noticed when putting the N76s’ spec sheet under closer scrutiny. One of the main attractions has to be the 2.2†main display, which as usual for Nokia scores top marks. Though the size of the display does come at the expense of design and weight, it’d be a tough decision deciding which to opt for.

Connectivity options don’t disappoint either, as the N76 comes with 3G (not HSDPA) for video calls and high-speed data transfers, as well GPRS & EDGE as back-ups.

As a music-phone, the N76 performs adequately thanks to the inclusion of a 3.5mm jack for direct connection of headphones. The standard FM radio also adds to the options. One grievance that should be mentioned is the music player is constantly running in the background, which slows the phone down enough to be noticeable, which is too much.

The 2MP camera doesn’t merit much kudos as it’s merely functional, coming with flash but no autofocus, making basic long to mid-range images adequate but anything close-up a little blurred & messy. You suspect that the camera in the N76 is only there because it would be criticised even more for being left out.

The Nokia N76 is a device that does confuse, due to the ‘Jack-of-all trades, master of none’ approach. It’s been given a smartphone UI, but not the connectivity options to back it up.

It has plenty of music options, yet has inconvenient design solutions for earphones and no A2DP for Bluetooth headphones is another oversight.

It definitely cannot be classed as a fashion-phone either as although it does look appealing, the cheap materials and susceptibility to fingerprints will immediately make many go elsewhere, I know I would. Overall this is not a bad phone, but a few flaws let it down considerably.

The Nokia N76 is currently available SIM FREE.