Nokia N72- Review

I bought my dark plum color Nokia N72 on May 14, 2007. Since then I have used it for 14hours and 10mins. My earlier phone was the very elegant and a Nokia masterpiece, the 3120. Considering the varied differences in the two models, there is no point comparing the two. So, I straight come to the N72.

The GOODs of N72:

1. Elegant design with metallic and lusterless combination effects (Not effective in black color)
2. Beautiful chrome lining
3. Loud and clear speakers
4. good keypad (people with big fingers may have difficulty)
5. Pretty fast in-menu browsing
6. good 2 Mpixel camera with auto flash
7. Handy in-built voice commands for many applications/profiles/contacts
8. comes with all necessary accessories (music ear phone with answer and mic.; external speaker connection hub with answer and mic., USB cable, 128 MB MMC, Nokia signature thread, screen cleaning cloth)
9. Useful ‘camera, and music player’ dedicated keys
10. No software/OS problems (as reported by many others)

The BADs of the N72:

1. Very loose camera cover/slider
2. Pictures taken from camera not very great

The Nokia N72

It is a real high performance multimedia device. Unlike the earlier Symbian series 6/7 phones, this phone exits applications upon hitting the hang-up button. Especially, if u using the browser, or a game, etc. and want to exit, it works. It doesn’t run in the background and hence saves the RAM. The on-board 20 MB comes handy here.

I frequently use the in-built voice-command system. Unlike previous phones, where u had to record/save voice tags, in N72, the voice-tag is auto-made when u enter a contact or a profile name. So, u can say “General” to change profile, “Home” to call home, or say “Bluetooth” to activate/deactivate Bluetooth.

The camera is just about good. There are lots of shooting options like portrait, landscape, night, sport, etc. (Sony Ericsson phones with Cybershot™ score more here) The way u view pictures in the gallery is different and better than the previous versions (7610, 6681, 6680, 6600, etc..). You can slideshow with music of your choice and the display quality is excellent. The images look best at 50% zoom.

Close up in overcast conditions

Music player is new and different. The music player sports a new media information box which displays the ‘album art/ photo’ like in the Microsoft® Media Player 10 onwards, at bottom right. The song must carry the information, though. The sound quality is pretty good.

Still picture in good light

At first look, the keypad looked difficult. But when I used it, it was amazing. The keys have the very intricate design (little elevation at top and bottom of every key) that makes a little touch on the right button enough to effect. The keypad lighting is uniform and the dedicated camera button stands out among all buttons.

The camera slider is too loose and the camera gets activated if the cover slides during taking the phone out from the pocket. The camera pictures could have been better. One would expect more from a 2 Mpixel camera. Flash is handy, though not very powerful (Sony Ericsson phones’ flash is better and brighter). N72 is Bluetooth 2.0 and USB 2.0 enabled, meaning faster data transfers. The old problem of the incoming Bluetooth message being stored to phone memory is still there. Only files smaller than 15-16 MB can be transferred via Bluetooth.

At first look, the N72 is enticing. I just loved it the moment it was removed from its case and the salesman held it in his hand! I knew from that moment – I own it. It’s the N series and it surely is a fresh feel to the Nokia phones. The chrome lining and silver lining around the 5-way key, loudspeaker and switch-off button add the special look. My experience with this phone has been very good. My ratings:

Value for money: 10/10
Looks: 9/10
Mulitmedia features: 8/10
Personalization features: 8/10
Software supports: 9/10
Camera/Video: 7/10
Office features: 8/10

This phone is an absolute value for money. It has all the features a modern-day phone freak would want. Just buy a 2GB MMC and get going with the N72. Feel New, Hear New, See New!

Good luck!

You can also see this review and more on N72 at: http://www.mouthshut.com/review/Nokia_N72-126647-1.html