Nokia N75 Review - Introduction & Design

Nokia’s N-Series is their high-end line of “multimedia computers,” which are generally sold as unlocked handsets and marketed more in Europe than here in the states.  With their giant N-Series pavilion at CES 2007 in Las Vegas, the Finnish handset maker stated their intention to turn American consumers on to the ways of multimedia computing.  Along with opening Flagship stores in Chicago and New York City and a dozen or so “Experience Centers” across the land, Nokia also brought one of their N-Series handsets to a major US carrier.

The N75 brings the power of Nokia’s Series 60 platform to AT&T’s handset lineup, which means N-Series phones for American consumers used to heavily subsidized pricing (i.e. folks entirely unwilling to shell out $350 - 750 for an unlocked phone).  While the N75 is a multimedia powerhouse backed by the expandability of Series 60 running on Symbian OS, and the speed of AT&T’s 3G network, it’s also pretty big and plain looking for a flip phone.  And that 3G support is UMTS, not the faster HSDPA supported by other of AT&T’s newest handsets. 

As happy as I was to see the N-Series come to a US carrier, I have to say that the experience didn’t quite measure up the ones I had on the N73, N93, and N95.  Save for semi-disappointing battery life (my tests were generally fine, but prolonged 3G data use did drain the battery - changing the packet data settings helped tremendously), the N75 is by no means a bad phone - it’s quite good in many ways; I just don’t think it’s going to win many people over to the N-Series way of life.  And why no stereo Bluetooth support on a “music phone”?

Slim may be in, but Nokia’s built a big business making “sturdy” phones that are comfortable, easy to use, and - in the case of the N-Series - packed with features.  Sturdy definitely came to mind when I first unboxed the N75 - this is no ultra-thin handset.  20mm thick and weighing 124g, this clamshell smartphone is more luxury sedan than sporty Mini Cooper. 

Finished in a black soft-touch plastic with silver accents, the N75 is easy to hold so long as you don’t have small hands.  An external display and three music player buttons grace the front of the device, while the cover-less sensor and LED assist light for the 2MP camera can be found on the back along with the sliding battery cover.  The right panel of the phone houses a volume rocker switch along with camera and media shortcut keys, while the left panel shows Pop-Port and AC charger jacks along with a microSD memory card slot.  My review model “featured” a rather stubborn plastic cover tethered to the Pop-Port.

Opening the flip reveals a  big, gorgeous 2.4” LCD display on the top half, and one of the roomiest keypads you’ll ever see on the bottom half.  A standard 12 button dialing layout is augmented by the Nokia Series 60 treatment:  A 5-way directional pad is flanked by two softkeys, call, cancel, clear, and edit keys, and dedicated buttons for main menu and music.  The controls are finished in a nice two-tone silver.

The phone’s size, color scheme, and rubbery surfaces give it a sort of old-school look that’s enhanced by the oversized camera housing on the back.  I was mostly neutral on the N75’s look but gave it a relatively low score for design based on its blandness and lack of pocketability - it’s big and thick enough that, again, I can’t really see it catching on in today’s market.

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