N-Series available in Thailand

[Thanh]

Hello :)

Just as information - here in Bangkok the Nokia N70 and N90 are available, D-TAC branded but unlocked (the branding is only an extra icion "D-TAC" in the menu that launches the web browser and a "screensaver" animation that after one minute is replaced by the standard clock or text).

The N70 costs 23.500 Baht (588 us$, 470 EUR) and comes with USB data cable, headset, charger (new plug! very thin....), charger adaptor cable to use ordinary Nokia charger, battery and 64 MB VD-RS-MMC. Further included are PC Suite and drivers CD, a "N70 Club membership card" and a coupon for Kodak printouts from a photo shop (Kodak QuickShare). I just bought one of those two hours ago :)

The N90 costs 29.900 Baht (748 us$, 598 EUR) and i haven't seen what's in the package but i expect a similar set of accessories. It is a very large phone, larger than the 6260!

Kind regards.....

Thanh

[heavy]

Hi,
Could you send some pitures taken with the n70 and also tell us how the phone is. How would you compare the picture quality with the k750i and both phones overall.

Thanks

[Thanh]

Hello :)

As much as i wish to write a detailed review, i just don't have the time to do so.... i am currently extremely busy with work here :)

The pictures taken with the N70's rear camera (2 Megapixels) are simply stunning in quality, i did not notice any "barrell effect" in them, very good colours and details. The zoom is amazing too, but if you zoom in too much it becomes almost impossible to hold the phone still enough.... the pictures get blurry due to minimal movements. The last 2 or 3 steps of the "extended zoom" are getting blurry even when the phone is stationary, i.e. sitting on a desk. Several different modes and extras can be actvaated, so there are things like "Portrait" or "Sports" mode, then the colour saturation, white balance etc can be set, night mode is there, a flash which can be set to automatic, on or off etc..... a lot of things that on previous phones required software like CameraFX, yes the N70 even got a set of frames right out of the box :) There is also a photo- and video editing software installed, original by Nokia, which does the job quite efficiently.... and about "video", also "Camcoder" or "Eti" are jobless now, since the N70 can record up to one hour of video with various extra settings, zoom and backlight.... WOW, i can only say. If it is set to highest quality, also here the files get perversely large - we tried yesterday, a video of just over 20 seconds is a huge 1.5 Megabytes. It's recorded in mp4, by the way, which my 6600 can't play.

So far my boyfriend has taken pics only in the "print" mode, which is the highest quality. The files are getting amazingly large, between 350 to 550 kilobytes! I believe that is too big to upload them here, and if i resize them, you can't see the full quality........

Also, due to the large file size, it takes a little while after "shooting" the photo for the phone to save it, but unlike the 6260, you can move the phone right after shooting, the picture will be sharp. In the 6260, if you moved the phone in the half second after pressing the capture button, the picture would be blur since the phone needed that long to record from the lens, actually.

The front camera in the N70 is not all that good, it is easily beaten by that in my 6600, even tough that one is VGA also. The reason is it's rather bad picture quality if there is no direct sunshine. As soon as it gets only a little dim, many multi-coloured dots appear in the picture (i could upload one of those, but it would be unfair because the rear camera is really stunningly good... so i don't want to set the bad exmple only, besides, in bright daylight also that front camera does make good pictures). The front camera offers only one zoom step, but that is efficient - since that cam is most likely only used for self-pictures or video calling anyway. Also video recording works with that camera!

I can not compare the N70 with any SonyEricsson, simply because i never used one of those.... my only Ericsson was indeed a real Ericsson and was the cute chubby T20,which has the best voice-dialing function i have ever seen :)

A propos voice dialling: The N70 has artificial intelligence! If your phone book contains only names that can be pronounced in english, don't bother recording voice notes..... just press that right softkey for two seconds or so and say the name, the phone will RECOGNISE IT without a note being saved! Amazing. But can cutely misfunction if you have non-english names.... like here in Thailand, try to dial "Aod"........ (pronounced "ood") or "Mae".... the phone will dial all sorts of contacts :) But it does work with two-word names too! "Frank Taipan" and "Frank Office" are clearly understood by the phone. It even understands "Thanh" which is vietnamese but can be pronounced english :) Just in my own case, i am saved in there on my various networks, i.e. Thanh Hutch, Thanh D-TAC, Thanh AIS...... Hutch is ok, but D-TAC or AIS the phone won't understand since it recognises only WORDS, not letters.... pronounce AIS similar to "aeis" (as a word) and it works! How to pronounce "D-TAC" as a word..??

About the N70's mp3 player i can only say that it sounds very good, both thru speaker (loud enough, of course no decent bass but heck, it's a PHONE) as well as thru headphones (and Nokia seems to use high quality capsules in those, they are better than the original Sony ones from my MD player!). It is real stereo, and even the low-level mp3's that are in that phone (from the 6260, they are in 64 kb/s format) sound fantastic! Definitely makes an iPod useless (and my boss just got one, gosh so difficult to use......). The radio too is of known Nokia recption quality and beats, as usual (!), my home stereo in terms of clarity and number of stations received. Even the Nokia 6510 did that already, so either Sony really doesn't know how to make decent FM receivers or Nokia just knows it :) The radio goes much louder than the mp3, by the way, via headset. But then, it might have to do with the mp3 files themself.

My boyfriend got that N70 since exactly a week now amd he's happy as larry :) It has so far NOT resetted or shut itself down even once, not mixed up it's ringtones or any settings, not lost a single SMS or anything. Compared to the 6260, this one is a brick, and i mean in terms of stability. So far we have not put much 3rd party software on it since most doesn't work, but also because that N70 does so many things out of the box! FSCaller is now on it (3.03, because the newer 3.04 wouldn't work), Agile Messenger, SeleQ, ProfiMail and ProfiExplorer, SmartMovie, MemoryMonitor, and Alarm Manager.

Alarm Manager: Amazing, even in this last-generation Smart Phone, Nokia still didn't figure out that some people want to set an alarm that rings every day, or at workdays, at the same time! Instead we are still forced to set it every evening for the next morning.... or to buy additional software for that simple task. How about an alarm clock that requires to wind up every evening and emits a realistic-sounding "ticktock" sound all the time? Eh, Nokia, an inspiration? I am looking forward (backward??) to it :)

In short (well i have written much more than my boss would allow me during working hours....) the N70 is a very good digital camera, an excellent music player, a camcorder and organizer (i forgot to mention that it out-of-the-box contains software to open just about any kind of office documents, such as word, powerpoint, even pdf! Also it'son-board e-mail client supports just about everything except hotmail, and THAT is finally supported by the version of the Opera browser which is on that N70, a full version, yes! And for the security with all that wireless stuff (bluetooth is there too, but NO infrared... but who is using that anyway?) there is Symantec Mobile Security, a registered full version too, which works perferctly with automatic live update etc just like Norton AntiVirus on the PC, and it already prevented one attack by Cabir :)

Oh, did i mention that you can actually also make phone calls with the N70??? And that it has a WAY better reception than the 6260? And that it goes WAY louder than ANY previous Nokia? It is one of those phones where i don't need to say "speak up, i can't hear you" but instead i have to turn the volume of my phone down not to hurt my ears when my boyfriend calls me with his N70.

Oops, and last one...... GPRS, a breeze to setup with the on-board "settings wizzard" which detects your country and network by the SIM and sets MMS, GPRS, WAP and E-MAIL for your network, automatically! But GPRS itself is just pure speed on this phone, don't ask me why, but compared to any other i had or have, the N70 is a rocket against snails. Particular against my 6600, which crawls along the GPRS data highway, the N70 is worlds faster. Must be a different GPRS class, and yes, it's definitely GPRS since AIS in Thailand doesn't have EDGE. And i am not even sure if the N70 does support EDGE.... one website says it does, the next says it doesn't. And the guy in the shop where i bought it didn't have a clue at all what's in the N70, he only knew it "beautifull" and how much it cost. Beautifull it is, solid it feels, stable it runs and wanting one i do. But i am happy that i got one for my love, and my 6600 does it's job still well.... but i definitely want a pop port phone again now, and i am eyeing the 3230. Maybe next week :)

Kind regards......

your Thanh

[Pwnage]

As much as i wish to write a detailed review, i just don't have the time to do so.... i am currently extremely busy with work here :)


awesome post mate,.. id hate to think how long a detailed review would be lol

[heavy]

Hey thanks for that brill post. Could you just answer another question which is: which phone has better camera quality the n70 or k750i and which is the best out of the two??
Thanks

[Thanh]

Hello :)

Thank you for nice comments.... but, if you had read it all..... you would have seen that i clearly stated.......

I cxan't compare with ANY Sony-Ericsson because i never used one of those......

So i still can't compare them, sorry........

Kind regards....

Thanh

[Klonstar]

...ok this is a pic made with a SE k750(settings: best quality and largest size), right from the phone...
...mayby Thanh can upload a N90 one, so we could compare them...


...@Thanh: upload them to www.imageshack.us and paste the link here...
...u can upload pics with a size of max. 1mb there...

...here is the k750 one: [img=http://img480.imageshack.us/img480/7010/dsc000052un.th.jpg] (http://img480.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc000052un.jpg) (click to enlarge)...

[Thanh]

Hello :)

zSince i have only few images of that phone on my PC as yet, i have just picked one and uploaded it there. Have a look:

http://img487.imageshack.us/img487/968/151020050355lh.jpg

And let me know what you think :)

Kind regards.....

Thanh

[Klonstar]

...can´t see much difference, both are made indoor and booth pics have realistic colours...

@Thanh: could u post one that is made outdoor, mayby on a sunny day, that would be great...

[Thanh]

Hello :)

Please try the following, outdoor and sunny picture from the same day :)

http://img379.imageshack.us/img379/1818/151020050529pz.jpg

Kind regards.....

Thanh

[Klonstar]

...thx, this is the pic I wanted to see, the colours are very strong and the whole pic is sharp...

...now cell phone cameras reached the quality of middle-price cameras and u can use them for good snap-shots...

...the future is now :-P ...

[Thanh]

Hello :)

The keyword here is "middle price"..... about four years ago i got my digital camera, a Sony CyberShot, as a x-mas present from my boyfriend. The cam has 2.1 Megapixel and back then costet as much as now the Nokia N70. I had to add a memory stick (it was supplied with 4 (!!) MB in the box) of 128 MB - then the biggest available - and a rechargeable battery, together these accessories costet another 7.000 Baht back then (the cam price was 23.900). So for 30.900 Baht i got a decent cam which caould (and still can!) take excellent pictures. But - nothing else, it's a camera after all.

And now? For less than that (26.000 inclusive a 512 MB MMC) i get a digital camera that is almost as good (2.0 Megapixel) and can also play games, movies, music, shoot video WITH sound (the Sony has no sound) and can even make phone calls. Did i mention that it is MUCH smaller and lighter too? And that the battery lasts MUCH longer?

Ok, the Sony still has a much better flash and an optical zoom which certainly beats the digital one in the Nokia N70. Also it got a load of photographic functions, yet i am not a pro and i have, like most other users of digital cameras, everything set to "auto". But simple snap shots, like the majority of all photos taken worldwide, there is no difference between the Sony and the Nokia. Printed on good photo paper they come out exactly the same quality, the Nokia ones just a tiny bit smaller.

Today of course you can buy a digital camera (let's stay with Sony because i know them well) for less than 10.000 Baht with 2.0 Megapixel, and for the 25.000 Baht you get a 5.0 Megapixel. But heck, it's four years passed since i got mine.... and let's see, i am totally convinced that in december 2009 Nokia will have a small phone in the market that includes a 5 Megapixel camera as well, at a price of less than 20.000 Baht.

On another point, one thing i forgot in my "review" and another point i just found yesterday, both worth mentioning i believe.

The MMC card in the N70 is truly "hot swap", meaning there is a bay on the side of the phone that can be opened without any need to open the back of the phone or take the battery out. The phone stays on and the MMC can be removed, yes sir. BUT you need either really slim fingers or some tool, because the bay is small and the MMC sits rather deep in there. To eject it, you have to press the MMC deeper inside, it will spring out then. I myself have to grow the nail on my little finger, otherwise i need to use something like a ballpen to get that task done. To insert the MMC back, you also need to press it in untill it stops, it will then spring a millimeter or so back into it's position and lock. Regarding the opening thingy, it made a little flimsy impression on me - i still believe in Murphy's laws on hot-swappable MMC thingies:

1) What is external and movable, can break.
2) What CAN break, WILL break.
3) What will break, will break in the most inconvenient moment.

Yet still when closed, it locks firmly into place. But me personally, i prefer the MMC under the back cover - changing it without the need to take the battery out is ok, the 6260 was good in that and my new 3230 has the exact same mechanism there as the 6260, which i like.

The second thing i just discovered yesterday is rather well tought from Nokia. When you're in the phone book, you may at any time copy your contacts to the SIM, so we know it of Nokia phones. But in the N70 you have TWO MORE options:

Copy to memory card
Copy from memory card

Which means that, finally, we can back up our contacts to the MMC and from there, save them on the computer, burn them on CD and put that into a bank vault!

Because just last sunday, i spent more than five hours (!) to input aproximately 200 names, along with numbers, e-mails, thumbnails etc back into my new 3230. On that one, the folder c:/system/data can NOT be renamed, using a file manager... and therefor, it is NOT possible to "import" a previously saved "contacts.cdb" file. I have now backed up everything with PC Suite, but again, Murphy's laws........

1) A phone can violently crash and delete it's data.
2) What CAN violently crash, WILL violently crash.
3) It will do so only if you are as far from a PC as possible.
4) It will do so only if you REALLY need your data right then.

Kind regards.......

your Thanh