I commend Nokia for breaking out of their “rugged, functional, not so sexy” design mold with the N76. Though it’s easy to knock it as a
RAZR knock-off, I still think it’s notable that Nokia built a slim flip phone without compromising any functionality. Series 60 OS, music player with external controls and 3.5mm headphone jack, 3G data (in Europe, anyway) -- this is a powerhouse of a handset packed into a tiny little body.
Problem is, packing all that functionality into that tiny body led to two design decisions that really hamper the N76. Slim phones have slim batteries, and the N76’s gets drained fairly quickly if you make use of the music player, stereo Bluetooth, and those S60 apps. I was able to regularly get a full day’s use out of the phone without much worry, but I know that’s not enough for folks used to charging their mobiles every other day (or even less frequently). So battery life is one knock against this Nokia.
The other knock is that darned headphone jack. Such a good idea, but such bad placement. It would have been hard, I know, but I think Nokia’s engineers could have found a way to move the jack to a side or bottom panel - anywhere to get it out of the way of the flip mechanism. But, alas, there it is on the back hinge. It’s not entirely unusable, but it’s a much bigger nuisance than it should be.
With higher-tech music phones like iPhone, Sony Ericsson’s Walkman line, and even the new Motorola RAZR2’s already on the market, it’s hard to justify N76’s premium price - especially in light of these design flaws. Still, it’s great to see Nokia pushing the style envelope a little. Their handsets have so much going for them under the hood that hopefully the N76 is a harbinger of great things to come from Nokia in the realm of form meeting function.
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