Nokia N76 review: Elegant and smart

Two megapixels on the back

Nokia N76 has a 2 megapixel camera (maximum image size is 1600 x 1200 pixels) with the lens occupying an unusual place for a clamshell - on the back of the phone. The lens is not protected and lacks auto focus. It is accompanied by a fairly powerful LED flash offering the following modes: automatic, always, with red-eye effect correction, and off. The flash LED cannot be used as a flashlight.

  
Camera viewfinder (with the minimized music player running in background) • camera menu and exposure settings

You can take pictures with both open and closed phone, but always in a landscape mode - this is also the specific reason for the placement of the camera lens. Furthermore. this way the fingers of your right hand will lie perfectly on the side release button. Both displays offer an extensive camera menu with numerous setup options including exposure compensation, self-timer, white balance, color effects, 6 light modes, and even ISO sensitivity setup. Image size, release sound and other details are set up from deeper menu levels. The digital zoom reaches up to 20x. However, the more you zoom in the respective object, the worse the picture quality is.

Nokia N76 sample photos

 
 

20x digital zoom:

 

Color effects:

 

Images made under bad light conditions:

 
The LED flash works well at short distance • for distant objects you'd better apply night mode without flash

Exposure compensation:

Nokia N76 makes pictures of average quality. Colors are dull, with a slight purple tinge; noise is too visible. The camera has difficulties with high contrast areas and doesn't deal well with macro images. Text captured on a picture is virtually illegible. On the other hand, the camera records videos in MP4 and 3GP formats with maximum resolution of 320 x 240 pixels, which is good news. Record length is only limited by the available free memory.

• Sample video recorded with Nokia N76 (MP4, 2 MB)

 
Gallery • surfing existing pictures • application Lifeblog • memory indicator

Images are saved in the folder "Gallery", where you can also view other multimedia files kept in the phone. N76 offers an interesting application called Lifeblog, where all pictures available in the phone are displayed onto a time axis including those sent out or received in messages. The internal memory of the phone is 26 MB, but can be easily extended up to 2 GB by using microSD memory cards.

  
Video viewfinder • Gallery and its menu in a horizontal image • viewing pictures in a fullscreen mode

Telephony and messages in Symbian style

Nokia N76 offers the same communication functions like other phones based on Symbian S60. The number of both contacts and messages is only limited by the available free memory. The phonebook is detailed and can fit in numerous details. The contacts saved on the SIM card are displayed separately. The phonebook is searched through gradual typing of the initials of the searched contact, even though a predictive searching mode would have been more suitable. Naturally, contacts can be organized into groups, each of which can be assigned a specific ringtone as well as voice dialed. Nokia N76 offers relatively good voice control; you can switch between profiles or activate Bluetooth without having to teach the phone any additional voice commands.

 
Phonebook • searching • contact detail • working in the contacts' menu

Ringing profiles set up the entire audio performance of the phone. Their settings are extensive, as usual. Call filters and Airplane mode are available, as well. Of course, the phone can work without a SIM card. Nokia N76 works in GSM networks at the following frequencies: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz. Video calls are supported in 3G UMTS networks at frequency of 2100 MHz.

  
Caller groups • number of contacts • ringing profiles and its settings

The message editor is the same like in other Symbian phones. It manages SMS, MMS and emails and offers three font size options.

    
Message menu • selecting message type • list with received messages • reading SMS in a small and medium font

The email client works with SMTP, POP3, and IMAP4 protocols. It can manage more than one account simultaneously and transfers attachments. It can download email headers only or regularly check newly received emails too. The phone has a special application called "Setup guidebook" to help you set up an email account. Along with standard message types here you will also find audio messages, sent out via MMS. "Push to talk" is available too.

    
Three font size options in the message editor • creating MMS • audio message