Like it’s big brother the
N75, the N76 sports two displays and both are excellent, though they’re both prone to fingerprints and smudges. On the outside there’s a 1.3” display capable of 160 x 128 pixels of resolution across 262,000 colors. Nokia gave this display pretty comprehensive capabilities, moving beyond the standard “external status display” to include camera viewfinder and music track and EQ information capacities. This display was bright and legible under almost all lighting conditions.
On the inside, the 2.4” display is a pleasure to look at. That’s the upside of the N76’s long form factor - there’s plenty of room for the main display. Though I wish they’d given this display the higher resolution found in handsets like the E60, at 320 x 240 over 16 million colors, this screen is nothing to sneeze at (or on ... sorry, couldn’t resist). Text, images, and video clips all looked crisp and bright in all but the harshest of lighting conditions. And an ambient light sensor adjusts the screen’s brightness according to external conditions.
Display options include customizable themes and wallpapers - minus any of the AT&T carrier branding found on the N75 - and one of my favorite Series 60 features, the Active Standby screen. Active Standby displays a row of application shortcuts and reminders of upcoming appointments and tasks on the home screen along with time, network, and messaging (voice, SMS, and email) information. If you’re like me and rely on your cellphone’s calendar to keep you on task and schedule, a feature like Active Standby is a huge plus.
I tested the quad-band GSM N76 on both AT&T and T-Mobile’s networks in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. Performance was excellent on voice calls on both networks. The handset exhibited virtually no hiss during calls, and people on the other end came through loud and clear without exception. The built-in speakerphone was pretty good, as well - not quite as amazing as the N75’s, but certainly better than average.
The N76 can also be used with wired or wireless headsets, and supports both stereo Bluetooth and standard headphones with 3.5mm connectors. Again, I was really disappointed to discover that plugging a pair of headphones into the jack makes it impossible to fully open the phone’s flip. Grrr. And while the music player includes a fully customizable graphic equalizer, the EQ settings can only be accessed when the phone is open. Grrr.
However, music playback with a quality set of stereo headphones was excellent. Nokia’s music player application is easy to use and pretty comprehensive, and after adjusting the EQ settings to my liking I had a near-iPod experience listening to my AAC and mp3 music files (WMAs are also supported). Music played back through the built-in speaker was loud, if quite tinny.
I had no trouble pairing the N76 to a Bluetooth headset (I tried several), and sound quality was quite good using both mono and A2DP-compliant stereo headsets. Voice calls made via Bluetooth came through loud and clear, though quality of course was dependent on the earpiece being used.
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