Nokia N75 Review - Hardware
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Alfredo Padilla Published on June 14, 2007 Comment on this |
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Keypad
Text Words Per Minute (8.5)
T9 and Auto Complete (5.0)
The Nokia N75 supports T9 predictive text but does not support auto completion of words. The implementation of T9 also runs into problems at times, for example you can't use T9 to enter a web address. Generally speaking we found the T9 easy to use, although you may want to note that the * key is used to switch between different predicted words on Series 60 devices, which is different than many other phones.
One Hand Usability (7.62)
We also run our words per minute (WPM) test using only a single hand. We enter the same sample sentence and again repeat the test five times and take the average for our score. The N75 took an average of 25.18 seconds to enter our sample text with a single hand for a score of 38.1 WPM. This is again an excellent score and only a little worse than the N75's two handed score. We are again very happy with the N75's keypad as it is very comfortabl to use with one or two hands.
Keypad Backlighting (6.0)
The backlight on the N75 is a flourescent blue that does a good job of illuminating the symbols and numbers on both the keypad and the controls. There is a light sensor that will automatically turn the backlight on in low light situations. The duration of the backlight is controlled by the same setting that controls screen backlight. We would have liked to see a separate control for the keypad/controls, but we were pleased with the quality of the backlight and the presence of an ambient light sensor.
Controls
D-Pad/Joystick (3.0)
The directional pad on the Nokia N75 is small and fairly flat, except that the edges are ever so slightly raised. The center select key is large in comparison to the rest of the D-Pad and is raised higher than the rest of the D-Pad. The result of this design is a D-Pad that is very prone to errors an difficult to use. We did not like the D-Pad on the N75. It's not a patch on the excellent D-Pad's found on phones like the Treo 750 or even the flat but roomy one found on the Razr V3m. Touch Screen (0.0)
The Nokia N75 does not have a touch screen.
Jog Dial (1.0)
The Nokia N75 does not have a traditional jog dial or scroll wheel, however you can use the volume keys to navigate up/down lists on the external display. For this reason we have awarded one point to the N75 in this section.
Soft Buttons (5.0)
The soft buttons on the N75 are located above the directional pad to the left and right. They are not well differentiated from surrounding keys, but are good sized. There is not much play when they are pressed and tactile feedback is minimal. In use we found that they were generally accurate and easy to access.
Volume Control (5.0)
The volume keys on the N75 are located on the right side of the phone near the top. When open the keys are on the lower part of the flip. The volume key is a rocker with the top and bottom of the key slightly raised to help you differentiate them. We found that they were easy to access when needed and although they do not provide much tactile feedback they are comfortable to press. One thing that is different from most phones is that the keys will only function when you are in an application that has audio playing. This means you cannot use the keys to change volume generally, instead you will need to use software profiles.
Power and Standby (6.0)
The power key on the N75 is located on the top of the device when closed. It sits below the plastic casing which makes it hard to hit by accident, an excellent feature for a power button. This does make it a little difficult to press however. We found the easiest way is to insert a fingernail into the slit that divides the key in the middle. The key is used to bring up the profiles menu with a single press while a press and hold will shut the phone down.
Other Buttons (13.0)
In addition to the buttons above the N75 has several additional buttons that assist in navigating the phone. As a Series 60 device the N75 includes a menu, pencil and correct key. These three keys are joined by a dedicated music key in surrounding the D-Pad. On the left side of the phone are a dedicated camera key and another button that opens the gallery. Finally there are three buttons below the exterior screen: next, previous and play/pause. These buttons are used to control music of course, but are also used in the camera interface and for navigating other functions available from the exterior screen. Unfortunately none of the buttons are available to be configured by the use, however several have multiple functions. We generally found all of these buttons to be useful and well placed.
Display
Primary Screen Gross Resolution (8.0)
The N75's primary display is QVGA (240 x 320 pixel) resolution. QVGA has become the standard for mid to high end handsets and provides good quality, with little pixelation. The N75's display did a good job displaying items, including high resolution photos and web pages. Our score for gross resolution is standardized based on the total number of pixels supported.
Primary Screen Pixels per Inch (8.3)
Pixel per inch is a measure of how densly pixels are packed into a display. Higher pixel density leads to richer colors and less pixelation, while lower pixel density screens can seem washed out. The N75's pixel density is 166.7 pixels per inch (PPI). This is about the same as the Nokia N73's and is higher than the N95's 153.8 PPI despite the same screen resolution due to the N95's larger screen. This pixel density is about average for a phone, howver it's not as high as the over 200 PPI screen density found on some phones like the LG Chocolate.
Screen Physical Size (6.0)
The Nokia N75's primary display is a comfortable 2.4 inches diagonal. This is larger than standard phone screens like those found on the Sanyo M1 and Razr V3m which generally measure 2 or 2.1 inches diagonal. The extra screen real estate makes for a very comfortable viewing experience, especially when viewing multimedia like photos or videos.
Screen Brightness (6.9)
To test screen brightness we set the phone's brightness to maximum and point the browser to a blank white page to ensure we measure the maximum brightness. We then measure the brightness from four inches away using a lux meter. The N75's screen measure 69 lux in our test. This is about the same as the N95's 72 lux, but significantly lower than the N73's 95 lux. It is slightly above average for phones generally and should be sufficient for most users.
Screen Bright Light Performance (7.0)
To test how well the N75 handles bright light performance we shine a bright photography light onto the screen, equivalent to a sunny day, and judge how well we can discern items on the screen. We found that we could make out the menu items on the N75 fairly easily, but text was very difficult to read. It was about the same as the N73, but not as good as the very good bright light performance of the N95.
Color Depth (10.0)
Color depth is a measure of how many colors a phone's screen can display. The Nokia N75 can display up to 16 million colors on it's internal screen. This has become the standard for Nokia's N-Series devices and is significantly better than the 65,000 color displays found on Windows Mobile devices. Colors on the N75's screen are rich with good gradiation. This is particularly important when viewing photos or video. We were very happy with the color depth on the N75. Our score for color depth is standardized based on how many colors are supported.
Secondary Screen (9.1)
The Nokia N75's exterior screen is larger than the standard on phones at 1.36" diagonal. It is a full color display capable of 262,144 colors and has a resolution of 160 x 128 pixels, which is good for 150.7 pixels per inch. We found the exterior display to be very usable as a music manager, but a little cramped when used as a viewfinder for the camera.
Ports & Storage
Power & Data Ports (2.0)
The Nokia N75 uses Nokia's standard Pop-Port connector for data transfer and the "slim" version of Nokia's charging port for power. Both ports are located on the left side of the device. The Pop-Port is protected by a hard plastic cover that makes it a little difficult to plug items into the port. The positioning means that when a headset is plugged in the device becomes significantly wider, we would have preferred to see the Pop-Port at least moved to the top or bottom of the device. The combination of proprietary ports is disappointing. We would have much preferred to see the device use a Mini USB port as on BlackBerry devices. One of the more significant drawbacks of this set up is that you cannot charge the N75 via USB. Headphone & Jack Compatibility (0.0)
The N75 uses Nokia's proprietary Pop-Port for headphones. You can purchase an adaptor so you can use your own 3.5mm headphones with the device, but we would have much preferred to see a 2.5mm or 3.5mm port built into the phone. We are also disappointed by the lack of support for A2DP and AVRCP for Bluetooth stereo headphones. We do not award points for devices that use proprietary headphone ports.
Internal Storage (1.0)
The N75 ships with 40MB of internal storage. This is sufficient to handle contacts, calendars and email (as long as you don't have a large number of large attachments) but won't be enough to store multimedia. We recommend you invest in a Micro SD card if you want to take a lot of photos or carry around music and videos.
Expansion Slot & Format (6.0)
The N75 supports expandable memory via Micro SD. Micro SD cards have become the standard for mobile devices and is currently available up to 2GB in size. Although some 4GB SDHC cards are starting to appear we are not yet sure whether these cards will be compatible with the N75. The Micro SD card slot is located on the left side of the phone and is protected by a hard plastic cover. The slot is spring loaded, which makes it fairly easy to get cards in and out, although the small size always makes handling Micro SD cards fiddly. | Previous Next | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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