Nokia N73 Review - Making/Receiving Calls

Alfredo Padilla
Published on May 04, 2007 Comment on this

Intro
Making/Receiving Calls
Software
Other Features

Dialing Speed (6.13)
To test how easy it is to dial on the Nokia N73 we make five test calls to five different numbers, timing how long it takes to go from the standby screen until we hit the send button. We take the average of these times for our score. The Nokia N73 completed our tests in an average of 3.26 seconds, a solid score for a candybar phone that pleasantly surprised us given the Nokia N73's small keypad. Flip phones like the Sanyo M1 and Krzr K1m generally post higher times because of the time it takes to open the phone up. It should be noted that like all candy bar phones if you consistently lock the keypad your dialing speed will be slower.

Talk and End Buttons (4.0)
The talk and end buttons on the Nokia N73 flank the joystick just above the keypad. The buttons are silver plastic, elongated and raised above the keypad below them. There is very little differentiation between them and the soft keys that lie above them however, which can lead to mistaken presses. We also found tactile feedback when the buttons were pressed to be very slight. We much preferred the call and end buttons on the Sprint Upstage or Krzr K1m.

Call Management (6.0)

The call history on the Nokia N73 can be accessed from the home screen by hitting the dial button, however this version of the call history is limited in that only made, recieved and missed calls are available in three different lists that you can move between using left/right. A more complete call history that includes call timers is available in the applications folder in the main menu. We were pleased with the range of options that this call history offered, but wished it wasn't buried in the menu system.

While in a call you can change volume with the rocker keys on the right side of the phone. The left soft key turns the speakerphone one while the left soft key opens a menu that gives you access to features like hold and mute. You can also make a new phone call and then conference them together. Because the Nokia N73 is a smart phone you are also able to access all of the phone's software functions while in a call, meaning you can take notes or view your calendar and contacts. We would have liked to see the option to record a call, however other than this we were pleased with the in call options provided by the Nokia N73.

Startup to Call (2.72)
To test how long it takes for the phone to start up and make a call we time this process using the same five number we used for dialing speed. We take the average of the five times for our score. The Nokia N73 took an average of 36.7 seconds to complete this test. This is a reasonable startup to call time for a smart phone, faster than the Treo 750's 42.26 seconds. It was however much slower than the Blackbery 8703e, which took only 10.8 seconds to go from startup to call.

Ring Volume (8.53)
To test ring volume we set the phone to maximum volume and choose the loudest ringer we can find on the phone. We then measure the volume from four inches away using a sound pressure meter. The Nokia N73 measured 85.3 decibels on our sound pressure meter in this test. This is about average for a phone, lower than the 88.7 decibels the LG Chocolate posted, but higher than the Sprint Upstage's 80.9 decibels.

Ringtone Customizability (6.0)
The Nokia N73 does allow you to use music files as ringtones, recognizing the MP3, AAC and WMA files we placed in the sounds folder on the memory card as ringtones. We are pleased to see this option as it is not available on many phones. We were not however able to create our own ringtones on the phone or edit existing ones.

Non Audio Alerts (10.0)
The vibrate alert on the Nokia N73 is a little soft for our liking; it would be easy to miss in a pocket or bag. But it is not as bad as that on the Krzr K1m or Sprint Upstage. You will be able to notice it in your pocket the majority of the time.

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