Nokia N79 review: Swiss Army knife

20 November 2008
Nseries keep on throwing heavy-spec'd phones at us and there's no question they're hitting their best form in quite a while. About time we got less of a curve ball lookswise, Nokia N79 embodies a new approach to Nseries styling...

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  • ?
  • Anonymous
  • pqW
  • 23 Nov 2008

ive bought n79 today.
First impressions-amazing phone!
GPS is BETTER THAN GARMIN 350W, it refreshes faster, connects in seconds, and is very accurate.
wlan antenna is powerful, the screen is really big.

if you have questions, click me on infrardeca_at_yahoo.com

    • ?
    • Anonymous
    • 3CH
    • 23 Nov 2008

    the phones perfect in everyway, excpt for the Navi pad...man it just looks so Pre N82 ish......if only it had a better lookin navi pad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

      • P
      • Pinoy_Apple_Hater
      • RKp
      • 23 Nov 2008

      Is there still a point in getting an N-Series now? It used to be there were exclusive features in the N-Series that weren't available in the regular Nokia line, but today, almost all the latest features, the OS, and the UI can be found in non-N-series phones. Case in point: the N6220. A-GPS, Symbian v9 OS, Series60 v3 Feature Pack 2 UI, 16.7M color TFT screen, very usable camera, the only thing lacking is Wi-Fi, but that' not a dealbreaker for many people. N6220 is more feature-complete than most of the older & mid-range N-series phones that are still being sold today!

      I think Nokia made a big mistake in doing that, they should have clearly delineated the two line-ups with some killer features that aren''t available in the lower line. Otherwise, I would just wait a year or less to get the same features in the newest N-Series to trickle down to the N6xxx line.

      I mean why bother getting an N70ME, N73ME, N77, N80, N90, N91, N93i, etc., if there is such a thing as an N6220 available today? Can anyone give a decent answer?

        • l
        • luis
        • PrX
        • 22 Nov 2008

        Stumbler, 21 Nov 2008It seems I touched a nerve there by pointing out that the N... moreThe reason is simple: Nseries doesn't need improvements, they're still on the pole position, they don't need a 8mp camera when their 5mp cameras are ok. They prefer to have more profit launching some ''new products'' with the good old formula from N95 and the likes at an adequate price. There are many phones lacking a huge set of features incorporated on Nseries. And the only exceptions are Innov8 and PDAs like HTC Touch HD that costs quite a lot and the feature set aren't so different.

          • f
          • flavor
          • PFy
          • 22 Nov 2008

          i only need a minute to say that the softkey and d-pad of Nokia N79 is ridiculous... the design is okay, but I'm not quite interesting with it...

            • ?
            • Anonymous
            • nxS
            • 22 Nov 2008

            I need help asap please..
            what means bad gps sensitivity?
            just that that i took lot of time to connect with staellites?
            Will be this fixed in next firmwares?

              • s
              • splash
              • mxn
              • 22 Nov 2008

              when is this coming out in the UK to o2?

                • ?
                • Anonymous
                • M@T
                • 21 Nov 2008

                Stumbler, 21 Nov 2008It seems I touched a nerve there by pointing out that the N... moreThe n-series have come up with 16gb and fm transmitters this year, all of which are useful. About the 8mp, the i8510 may capture more detail due to the bigger lens, but why should i get an i8510 when n82 already exists? It delivers excellent 5mp images plus it goes for half the price of i8510? I would be trading bigger pictures for the xenon flash which is much more useful.
                Not having a dedicated 3d graphics accelerator only reduces the performance, but it doesnt make it bad. Its performance is still ok. Werent people happy with the excellent performance of n78? Yet it didnt have the graphics accelerator. Thats why i say it isnt a disadvantage to lack one.

                  • ?
                  • Anonymous
                  • ib7
                  • 21 Nov 2008

                  N79 is a redesigned phone?? i can't see it , list out la

                  even though they continue use n81 design ON N85, but they not like some rubbish brand, nothing change at all just the design different!

                  nokia got improve the feature! smart xpress on cover is old feature?? fm-transmitter also??

                  OLED screen is not a new thing?

                  adding the wmv code haven' t enough?? a device can play RM,MP4,3GP,WMV,FLV not enough??
                  better than some product until now only can play MP4 ,3GP ONLY!


                  the symbian version also the latest one

                  if all this feature cannot satisfy you, i bet you, you better don't ever buy a SONY ERICSSON phone

                  THOSE PHONE WILL MAKE YOU HE11
                  AS BORING AS HE11

                    • S
                    • Stumbler
                    • 0Bi
                    • 21 Nov 2008

                    Anonymous, 21 Nov 2008That review was totally biased. How can they say a disadvan... moreIt seems I touched a nerve there by pointing out that the Nseries haven't introduced anything new for a year now, just redesigning the same old phones.
                    And of course no HW accelerator is a disadvantage - my N95 had a HW accelerator and it was released a year and a half ago. And it used to take much better pictures, too. So that makes the camera of N79, even though it is better than the N85 rather disappointing.About the 8mp and lagging thing - have you checked out Samsung INNOV8 image quality? I can't see Nokia offering anything even comparable to that.
                    Frankly, i can't see how can a review saying: "Solid value as a brand-loyal upgrade and little competition let the N79 hope for quite a success." be biased against Nokia but if that helps you sleep better at night - Sure, call it biased and let's get it over with.

                      • ?
                      • Anonymous
                      • M@T
                      • 21 Nov 2008

                      Stumbler, 21 Nov 2008It seem to be the whimpers day today - You GSM did say that... moreThat review was totally biased. How can they say a disadvantage of n79 is not having a dedicated 3d accelerator? Just because they couldnt attack it on looks, they had to look for excuses? And the whole camera thing? One minute it takes better pics than n85, the next minute it takes bad pics. They should get their stories right. GSMArena's reviews are starting to sound different from all other websites and that wont reflect positively.
                      Lagging in what? Just because they havent released an 8mp? It doesnt really bring any superior function except for bigger pictures. No other manufacturer has bothered to put in useful extra functions like optical zoom. If n96 is a failure like you say, why has it sold more than any other 8mp handset? And dont worry about 5800xm, it is destined for success.

                        • ?
                        • Anonymous
                        • ib7
                        • 21 Nov 2008

                        pity ugly people , never ever see the real phone just can judge with a word-ugly


                          • S
                          • Stumbler
                          • 0Bi
                          • 21 Nov 2008

                          mds, 21 Nov 2008I find this review rather harsh and biased. I have read oth... moreIt seem to be the whimpers day today - You GSM did say that the N79 has better camera than the N85. Maybe if you bothered reading before posting you would have saved the world some time.
                          Look, I know it's hard for you guys to accept it, but Nokia is lagging behind the competition recently. It's not this or any other website's fault that it hasn't brought any serious innovation to the market for at least a year now. I wonder if the 5800 is going to change that or it will turn out to be yet another failure like the N96.

                            • S
                            • Stumbler
                            • 0Bi
                            • 21 Nov 2008

                            kitch, 21 Nov 2008This is solely biased review, on other websites there is no... moreJudging by the comparative photos the N79 is far away from even N95 8GB's standards. I can't figure out how is it going to match the N82...

                              • ?
                              • Anonymous
                              • 0Bi
                              • 21 Nov 2008

                              NSeries Fan, 21 Nov 2008Ouch. This review doesn't make sense! The screenshots are e... moreAre you insane? How are those two frequency response graphs the same?
                              http://i.gsmarena.com/vv/reviewsimg/nokia-n85/gsmarena_a001.png
                              http://i.gsmarena.com/vv/reviewsimg/nokia-n79/gsmarena_a001.png

                                • T
                                • To previous post
                                • m{j
                                • 21 Nov 2008

                                I like your style ;). But I don't agree that GSMArena are Nokia haters...

                                  • ?
                                  • Anonymous
                                  • 3Ce
                                  • 21 Nov 2008

                                  there are more nokia fans than any other brands, GSMarena have lost respect from every single nokia fan, every nokia review every sence the N78 has been taken further than just biased but on a personal, its amazing to see how you review lg, samsung and SE, you make the bitter sweet by saying thing like 'while this may not be the best phone on the market, its certainly has class' you say that for like all LG,s Samsung's etc... but when it comes to nokia "Zoomin is bloody slow, did we mention zoomin is bloody slow and that fact that zoomin is bloddy slow is there'

                                  So GSMarena your advice for N85 and N79 is that throw the phone in garbage cause zoomin is bloody slow? no phone has all the N85 and N79 specs in one excpt for i7110 even inovate falls short on FM trans and smart xpress on covers, the i7110 is huge, heavy and bad contorls, no but you choise to hate Nokia

                                  Anyone can buy the phone and review it, its your job to give a unbiased review and even admittin you are biased so childish and unprofessional, this has nothing to do with other brands, its all about being against nokia, Shame GSMarena

                                    • k
                                    • kitch
                                    • PES
                                    • 21 Nov 2008

                                    This is solely biased review, on other websites there is no difference between N82 and N79 camera except xenon flash. And i dono know why u guys highlighted zooming issue. Come on a kid knows how to update firmware so why didn't u update. I never faced zooming issue.

                                      • N
                                      • NSeries Fan
                                      • ji{
                                      • 21 Nov 2008

                                      Ouch. This review doesn't make sense! The screenshots are even copied from the N85 screenshots!! It's not the N79's screenshots that were posted! Even at their Audio Quality section, they used to show the N85's frequency response graph rather than the N79!

                                        • m
                                        • mds
                                        • TIE
                                        • 21 Nov 2008

                                        I find this review rather harsh and biased. I have read other people's views and some other reviews of this phone and found that the camera is better than N85. There was also no mention of the gps being worse than other similar nokia models.