Nokia N70 review: Universal fighter

Has the phone speed undergone any modifications? No, it has not - at least as far as improving is concerned. Nokia N70 works as fast as its forerunner 6681, for example. In some cases it is even slower. The truth is that any comparison between classic mobile phones and smartphones works in favour of the former ones. For this reason you would do better if you take smartphones as if they were computers, in which the start of any operation takes some time. Yet, it is not that bad. Ask the owners of Symbian smartphones.

The internal memory of Nokia N70 is 30 MB, which is really a lot. It is three times more than what its forerunners had (except for Nokia N90). An even bigger surprise is the presence of 30 MB of operational memory (RAM), which is again three times more. The Phone memory can be extended with RS-DV-MMC cards.

As you can expect, I did not have the possibility to check, whether all applications that have been prepared for older models work properly with Nokia N70. I once ran into a problem with ICQ VeriChat, which refused to start. All other programs I tested worked as well as before.

During the testing process, Nokia N70 got into such a state that my worst fears of how I would not be able to publish the review almost came true. It just refused to get started, until I entered the key combination to format the entire internal memory. I had to do this twice. The problem had its origin in the demo-version of a certain game for N-Gage, which I wanted to install in the phone in order to try it out. In the end, the only solution was to delete all game files with a card reader. The problematic games were Splinter Cell and System Rush.

To format the phone, you need to press and hold three keys - the green receiver, the asterisk and the 3 number key - and then start the phone. Do not release the keys even after the phone has started. You would better wait until the initial sound starts to play and the hand animation is displayed. In my case it all took about half a minute.

Camera and pictures: 2 megapixels makes a difference

Pros: Good pictures • Flash is helpful • A fairly good video • A new application for picture viewing • Picture editor
Cons: Camera's macro mode is useless • Slow reactions • Visible noise in some pictures

As we have already published a detailed review about the functions of the camera and the video applications of Nokia N70, I intend to be brief here. Nokia N70 is equipped with a camera with a resolution of 1.92 MP, which places it next to the few exceptional phones that can produce about the same picture quality. Contrary to the N90 model, it has not been blessed with the famous Carl Zeiss label. It does not offer auto focus either. Except the especially bad macro pictures, however, N70 takes pretty good photos. There is no doubt that it is one of the best photo mobiles ever.

Camera: lens with flash

Video shooting has also been touched up. The duration of each video record is only limited by the free memory space. In addition, the phone offers a better format: 352 × 288 pixels, which is four times more than most camera phones can do.

Have a look at a sample video

Sample photos: more photos can be seen in the dedicated Nokia N70 camera review.

How to deal with the pictures

The N70 is supplied with a new Gallery application for viewing pictures. Let me try to describe it: in the middle of the display is the enlarged preview of the pictures; the rest of the pictures in smaller previews are rotating around it. Visible are also the title of the selected photo, the date and time of taking, its size and the place, where it has been saved (in the inside memory or on a card). If you select a picture it gets viewed across the entire width of the display. From here you can reach other photos by pressing a key - the transition is nicely animated, almost like in a film.

Gallery main menu • picture preview • picture detail

Unlike older picture applications, the one in N70 is not able to show pictures across the entire display. It does use zoom, but this works in the smaller frame with status line. Yet, pictures can be displayed horizontally, across the entire screen through the slide show - an option accessible from the Gallery. Here you can not only set the transition speed, but also manually skip a picture or go back. Viewing can be accompanied by music too.

Horizontal presentation (in the left picture - transition speed options)

A little bit disappointing is the fact that the new gallery bypasses any standard file options. All pictures are displayed en block. You can only create virtual albums, which sort the files to a certain extent, but they are far from satisfactory.

Nokia N70 also offers a quite advanced picture editor. It contains sepia, black & white, and negative effects. The editor rotates photos, changes the brightness and the contrast degree, changes size, crops. Its menu also offers a red-eye solution as well as an option for adding frames, texts, graphic motives and drawings. It is possible to adjust the intensity of some effects, sharpness for example.

Picture editor • contrast settings (the bar on the right indicates the intensity of the effect)

Phone calls with Nokia N70

Pros: Rejecting a phone call with a SMS reply • Unlimited phonebook • Effortless synchronization • Excellent voice dialling • MP3 ringtones • Supports video calls
Cons: Limited call records • Slower phonebook

Nokia as a mobile phone

Not until this paragraph have we spoken about what makes a mobile phone a real phone. The first to come to one's mind is the sound quality. In the case of N70 I can neither criticise, nor praise its sound characteristics. In other words, the sound quality is standard; the loudness is good enough. The same holds true for the built-in handsfree. Calls can be recorded, but records are once again limited to 1 minute, which is quite a shame. I do not dare evaluate the quality of the incoming signal.

Dialling a phone number