Every year, I receive a free phone upgrade through Orange, and this year I went into the shop not having a clue of what I wanted. I looked around at all the models available, and decided I would go for something that was more than just a phone, that could organise my life for me, and do much more. I ended up taking home the Nokia N70.
IN THE BOX --- Inside the box of the Nokia N70, you will find the phone itself, and a few other accessories. The first is the charger. It is a standard English 3-pin charger, with an adapter for European use too. There is a CD-Rom which can be used to connect your phone to your PC. I'll explain more about that later. You also have the battery, and a 64Mb memory card too, together with a very comprehensive instruction book. This book is more like a reference guide. When you want to do something, you refer to the book, and it will tell you how. You can of course read it from beginning to end, but to be perfectly honest, there isn't a lot of point. There are quite a few features to this phone that you will never use. It is much better to use it as a reference guide.
CONNECTIVITY --- As I just mentioned, this phone can be connected to a PC very easily. Installing the CD
software to your computer enables you to connect via a USB cable. You can then synchronise your contacts and your calendar with Microsoft Outlook, look through any installed programs and pictures, and change anything you like on the phone. Really, this means that you just control your phone from the PC. You can download and upload ringtones, and this can be in midi format, or in MP3 format. This is definitely a useful tool.
Your phone can also connect to the Internet using a 3G connection, or using a normal WAP connection. As you try to connect, you are told what is available to you, depending on the strength of the transmitter in your area.
POWER ON --- So, from powering up your phone with a very small button on the top, what can you expect? The phone is laid out in an easy to use menu. First, you can access your contacts. This can store addresses, phone numbers and e-mail addresses, and can be synchronised with your PC. You can add new contacts easily here too.
The next option is your call monitor. You can select between you call history, missed calls, received calls, and dialled calls. You can choose to delete anything here at any time, and it is a very user friendly system.
Next comes the messaging system. Whereas on some Nokia phones you have to select different options to change between SMS and MMS (text and picture messages), this isn't so any more. You can write a text message here and it selects the type of message you need automatically. You can also read your unread messages, and check your e-mail if you have set that up on your phone. If you have 3 unread messages, a number 3 appears on your display next to the message icon, so it is very easily to glance down and see outstanding items very easily.
The same numbering system appears with the next menu, which is the calendar. It tells you how many items you have remaining in your calendar that day. You can access your calendar very easily here, and again, it is very user friendly, and can be synchronised with your PC.
The next menu shows your three favourite applications, which are fully changeable to suit your needs. I have on mine LMA2006 which is a football management game, my clock, and my profiles - where I can change between general, vibrate, silent etc.
And the final menu on this screen shows your Internet connectivity buttons. I have a contract with Orange and so my options will link to Orange world, Information, Fun, Tools, and my own homepage.
SECOND MENU --- There is a second menu, which is accessed by a menu button on the left hand side of the phone. This menu is in a windows style display, and you can access applications such as your file manager, picture gallery, camera, log, tutorials etc. Roughly, anything which you haven't got a shortcut to on your main screen can be accessed here very easily.
SOFTWARE --- The phone comes preinstalled with some good software, for example, Symantec virus software which is a necessary thing to own. You get a free 6 months subscription with your phone too. You will also have media players, such as RealPlayer installed. This is very easy to use and fantastic at playing your MP3 files. You have a sound recorder, a word processor (QuickWord), spreadsheets (QuickSheet), and even Adobe Acrobat Reader.
CAMERA --- This phone actually has 2 camera included with it. The first is the largest. It is a 2 megapixel camera, which takes some very good pictures. I am extremely impressed with the quality of them. The phone screen displays them very well, but uploading them to my PC shows me just how good they really are. They are colourful, bright, well defined pictures.
The second camera is on the front of the phone, and is used simply for Voice chat. The phone is capable of making voice calls, and this camera is how that works. Personally, I haven't used this facility yet, although one of my friends uses it all the time and says that it works extremely well on this phone.
TECHNICAL ASPECTS --- Some people who read these review like to see the technical aspects of the phone, so here they are straight from the manual.
Battery talk-time = 210 minutes Standby time = 10 days Dimensions = 108.8x53x17.5mm Weight = 126g
Now the battery is something that needs talking about. 210 minutes of talk time is an interesting claim, and one that I have tested with a 240 minutes phone call! The battery lasted up to 240 minutes, but no longer than that. The standby time however is not so good. I would estimate it to be more like 2 days, which means the phone does need charging quite regularly. I now put it on charge every night when I head off to bed, and it suits me fine. When I stay away overnight, I must take my charger with me. I am quite disappointed with the battery length.
Another aspect to the phone which is a little tough is the size of the keys. If you have large fingers, if is hard to press the correct key sometimes. I have small fingers, and it has taken a lot of getting used to. You do adapt quite quickly though. I would recommend trying this out before you buy one of these phones.
PRICE --- I got my phone through Orange as a free upgrade and so didn't have to fork out the massive prices phones are costing now. This one, on the cheapest 3 tariff can be found for about £210. However, this is just a rough guide and prices vary massively. I would recommend shopping around, but this should give you an idea of what you can expect to pay.
OVERALL --- I would recommend this phone. I have used it for a while, and despite the problems with the size of keys and the battery length, I am very happy with it. It is reliable, easy to use, and does everything I ever wanted, and more.
Thanks for reading my review.
D
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I used this ohone after reading this review and found this review to be accurate in terms of operation and handling of the phone.
dave2069 24.07.2006 11:45
Great review, i love nokia phones and i get a free upgrade in a month. think i might go for the N80 though as i guess this is the next version up? nokia really have to sort out the battery life on these phones though!
Always be Ready So you be sure phone is always charged and ready to use. Car charger more
for your Phone Perfect for keeping Your battery topped up whilst in the Car or keeping your Phone going during along Journey Car Charger to Plug into cigratte Lighter Light weight and compact.
Always be Ready So you be sure phone is always charged and ready to use. Car charger more
for your Phone Perfect for keeping Your battery topped up whilst in the Car or keeping your Phone going during along Journey Car Charger to Plug into cigratte Lighter Light weight and compact.
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