Nokia N75 Review and Q&A
So many months of waiting and I was finally able to get
my hands on it. What is it? No, it’s not something you buy on eBay, IT, is the
Nokia N75, the first (and possibly only, the way things are going) US 3G S60
device. This is a full retail unit, NOT a proto. It has a real IMEI, and it is
MADE IN FINLAND!! Double Score!
Some preliminary data: the firmware is currently:
V10.1.154
20-11-06
RM-128
Nokia N75 (30.01)
I’m going to start this out saying, again, it’s not for
sale. Also, I have no idea when it’s going to be released. I’ve heard from
several different sources, however, of a May launch. Please take that with a
grain of salt and don’t come yelling at me when it doesn’t launch till June.
I’ll be reviewing several different aspects of this
device:
1. Build
Quality/Materials
2. Sound
Quality
3. Software
4. External
Screen
5. Misc.
6. Questions
and Answers
I’ve closed the comments on the other thread. Please post any other comments/questions on this thread. Photos can be found here, video taken WITH the device, here. I’ll work on a video OF the device, as well as more pics taken BY the device, in different situations. And now, without further ado….
Build Quality/Materials
- This phone is incredibly well
built. To me, the perfect description is that it’s a 6170 on a diet and on steroids.
It’s MUCH thinner, but just as solid-feeling. The keypad, as you can see, is
VERY nice. Big buttons with fingertip dimples, and great tactile feedback. The
button cluster up top is a bit cramped, but I think it will just take a bit of
time to get used to. - The black part is slightly
rubbery, but not annoyingly so. Just enough to offer some grip. At 4.36oz, it’s
slightly hefty, but not in a brick sort of way. It feels solid-heavy, if that
makes any sense. - The hinge is very sturdy, but
it does have the slightest bit of play between the top and bottom parts of the phone.
It’s a spring-assisted flip, meaning that there’s a “breaking point” at which
the flip will open/close itself. - There is a springed flap
covering the pop-port, and it’s kind of annoying to try to hold open. The
memory card door is easy to open and held on with a small strip of flexible
plastic, much like other recent devices.
Sound Quality
- External Speakers – These sound GREAT. Even at full volume there’s
very little distortion, and they have decent bass response. I would say at
4/10, the volume is comfortable for listening. Anything higher would be
suitable for outdoor environments. - Internal Speaker – again, at halfway, it’s comfortable for normal
conversation. That gives you another halfway to fiddle with to make sure it’s
loud enough for you. Call Quality is great, although there is a high-pitched
hissing sound if you press the device too hard on your ear. If I’m just holding
it up to my ear, I can’t hear it. - Loudspeaker – Again, very loud, and very clear and easy to
understand the other person. Unfortunately, there is no speaker shortcut key,
so I still have to wait for the call to connect before I can activate speaker.
Software
- Branding – my device is Cingular branded, and pretty heavily. What’s
worse is that Cingular has the menus ALL jacked up. The Office folder (with the
little calendar on it) is named “Tools”, the Tools folder (with the little
wrench) is named “Settings”, things are just tossed around everywhere, and
renamed all over the place. Luckily, it’s S60, so within a few minutes, I was
able to rename folders and move things around how I feel they should be. Of
note:- Cingular Video – expected,
though it’s really only a link with an icon, essentially.
- MobiTV – again, just a link to
the actual app, which you still have to download/install. Kind of annoying.
Only get 3 days free, it used to be a week.
- MobiRadio – 7 days free on this
one, and it’s pretty good. Almost 10 different channels, minimal buffering, if
any.
- MediaMall – haven’t touched it
since I put it (rightfully) in the “Crap” folder
- Music – this is a blue music note
with orange “sound waves” around it. It’s actually a folder containing:
- Music – general S60 music app
(the new one from the Music Editions, fyi)
- Music ID – you can hold the
phone up to a speaker for a few seconds and it’ll tell you what song it is
- MobiRadio
- Shop Music – 2 options: Yahoo!
Music and Ringtones. Yahoo! Music takes you to those pages, but there is an “Add
to my PC” option that I thought was interesting. Haven’t had time (or desire)
to play with this yet.
- Music Videos – haven’t played
with yet
- Billboard – haven’t played with
yet
- Community – not a clue what
this has to do with music, but it’s got little MSN-looking men
- Music Apps – another link-with-an-icon
- IM/Email folder
- IM – looks to be Nokia’s
built-in IM client, which is interesting, except for that I couldn’t get AIM or
MSN to login, and you can’t access the server settings.
- Just another linked icon to a
selection of different webmails
- Cingular Video – expected,
- Cingular’s Limitations
- This is what I’ve come across
thus far:
- No MP3 Ringtones larger than
600kb. Smaller is fine.
- Java Apps – this is actually a
tricky one:
- Games – install fine, play
fine. No worries.
- Apps – they’ll go through the
whole install process like normal, until you get to the part where you
designate Phone Memory or External Memory. No matter what you select here, it
simply exits the installation process. I’ve tried:
- Salling Clicker – from card
- Eqo – from web
- Google Maps Mobile – from web
- Widsets – from web
- Opera Mini – from web
- **UPDATE** - AFTER A HARD RESET, I AM ABLE TO INSTALL SALLING CLICKER, AND I WOULD ASSUME ANY OTHER JAVA APP. THANKS TO CHRIS @ EQO.COM FOR SUGGESTING THIS.
- *Update* - I can also confirm that they have not (at least in this firmware) crippled the data access. Both Google Maps Mobile and Eqo run fine with no constant connection nagging.
- I have another theory to test
on these, but it involves hard resetting the phone. It took me over an hour and
a half to install all 29 apps, AND reorganize the menu, so I’m kinda putting
this off. I steer clear of java typically, anyways.
- Missing Ringtones
- I don’t normally use built-in
ringtones, but this one has seriously like 5. AND they took out the best
Message Tone, number 2 (I think, whatever one sounds like three knocks). If
anyone wants to upload that somewhere for me, I’d appreciate it. - *EDIT* - Thanks to Jonny_Bruha for extracting the message tone for me. You can download it here:
- This is what I’ve come across
- S60 Apps
- Here’s what I’ve installed and
successfully used thus far:- QuickOffice – the phone came
with a full version, as far as I can tell
- M! Weather
- Symella – downloaded a 5.8mb
MP3 in 4 min. on the freeway this evening.
- PocketCaster – Used this 2x
this morning, works well other than not being able to see the screen while
recording.
- QuickOffice – the phone came
- Built-In Goodies
- Message Reader – I think this
is the first non-E-Series other than the 5500 to have this app. It’s WONDERFUL. Hard to understand
sometimes, but still great. If only I could get it to read Google Reader for
me, I’d be in business
- Voice Aid – similar, only reads
different phone things, like Time/Date, Contacts, Recent Calls, etc.
- Message Reader – I think this
- Gallery
- A welcome change is that when
you press the “Gallery” button on the side, the screen stays in portrait-mode,
with the thumbnails scrolling in a big oval. In the middle of the oval,
underneath the thumbnail is the photo details including
- File name
- File size
- Date/time taken
- A welcome change is that when
- It’s running S60v3 FP 0 (NOT FP 1)
- PC Suite
- I had a bit of trouble getting
it to sync via Bluetooth at first; had to uninstall and reinstall PC Suite, but
now it’s working fine.
- One thing I did notice: EMAIL
SYNCING!!
- I haven’t tried it yet, but I
definitely will.
- I had a bit of trouble getting
External Screen
- I think this is one of my
favorite parts. It’s totally usable! I’ll try to take some pics, since I can’t
do a screenshot out there. There’s three keys beneath, forward, play/pause, and
reverse. These also function as left softkey, center, and right softkey. When
using this screen, the side volume/zoom rocker is also a scroller
(unfortunately, it WON’T scroll when you have the phone open) - Most of the time, it shows a
miniature idle screen with clock (big enough to read) and date. The screensaver
shows Time AND Date even if you’re in a different profile. - You can also view/return missed
calls, read messages/email, and of course pull up the Media Library. - Somehow or another, you can
also pull up your calendar. I’m not sure how I keep doing this yet, and you can’t
scroll around in it or anything. I think it’s a glitch. - Holding down the camera key for
a moment activates the camera, using the external screen (landscape) as the
viewfinder. In this way, the phone is close to the size of a lot of the smaller
Sony digicams. Using the outer screen/buttons, you can adjust all the different
settings, the toolbar just pops up across the screen, though to switch to video
mode you have to open the phone, unfortunately. - You can also customize the
external display - Contrast/Brightness – you can
set this individual of the internal display - Open/close animation – you can
load your own or use the default or turn it off. Default is two L-shaped black
bars locking - Open/close tone – a la Samsung –
default, off, user-defined - Wallpaper/screensaver
Miscellaneous
- One thing I noticed that was
odd is that my Cingular branded E62 had 2 Catalog apps. The N75 doesn’t have
one at all. - You can rest it on its side for
timed shots (sounds stupid, but try doing it with the N73) - When videoing, you get a red
light from the flash to indicate that you’re recording. Could be good or bad,
depending. Not seeing any way to turn it off - Camera sounds CAN be turned off
if the phone is in silent mode - If you answer a call, turn it
on speakerphone, you can then close the flip without hanging up on them. Same
goes for using a Bluetooth headset - Battery is the BL-5BT, 800 mAh.
I get through the day with heavy 3G usage. It’s slightly better than the N80,
but nowhere near the N73. Shame. - ROM – 57.6MB – user accessible
~50MB - RAM – at bootup - ~15MB
- I can confirm A2DP on my unit.
Web Browsing/Internet
- 3G is fast. Regular browsing,
it’s not THAT much faster than EDGE, but the key comes in the multimedia, like
we discussed in Olly and the Guru. - S60 Internet Radio buffered 2x
in an hour and a half of listening. With EDGE, it usually buffers every
20-25min. - Streaming an (unconverted)
Office episode via Orb was rough. The video came through, and the audio, but
after about 5 minutes it started skipping. - Reading Google Reader/talking
on Fring while on a phone call is phenomenal - Finally rid of that annoying
GSM buzz on electronics - Just tried the Web browser with
Engadget.com. Usually this site trashes the memory, but I had no problems. A
good sign. - DSLReports speed test results - Using Services Browser
- 5k – too fast
- 50k – 41 kbit/sec - .826s
latency – 10.415s d/l time
- 100k – 100 kbit/sec - .672s
latency – 8.615s d/l time
- 200k – 120 kbit/sec - .799s
latency – 13.972s d/l time
- 600k – 77 kbit/sec - .696s
latency – 62.997s d/l time
- 1MB – 57 kbit/sec - .706s
latency – 142.238s d/l time
DSLReports speed test results - Using Web Browser
- 5k - too fast
- 50k - too fast
- 100k - 164 kbit/sec - .67s latency - 5.525s d/l time
- 200k - 263 kbit/sec - .667s latency - 6.71s d/l time
- 600k - 307 kbit/sec - .664s latency - 16.246s d/l time
- 1mb - 381 kbit/sec - .643s latency - 22.089s d/l time
Q&A
- Uneasyname – “I saw the model
is N75-3. Does this “3” mean anything?” Not
that I know of. - Tony – “Any out of memory errors
while web browsing?” Not yet. If you
have a site that’s guaranteed to kill it, let me know. My go-to Mobile Killer
is (ironically) Engadget.com, but it passed that with flying colors. - Donald – “Did you already shove
all of the stupid branded stuff into the “Crap” folder?” Just the Media Mall, plus the usual stuff. I put the Cingular Video and
whatnot all in the “Media” folder, cause it’s fun to have. - Colbey – “Is the camera lens
recessed enough, in your opinion, to keep it from getting scratched…” Honestly, no, but I come from the 6682 and
N73, I’m used to having that crap covered completely. I think for the normal
user, it’d be fine. Good question. - Drew – “What would you say the “sexyness”
of the phone is, on a scale of 1-10?” I
wouldn’t classify it as “sexyness,” more like, I dunno. I guess I’d give it an
8. That’s a tough question. - Name – “So does this phone have
A2DP?” I haven’t had a chance to test
this yet. I was going to go by a Cingular store on my way home (cause what’s
not fun about that?) but I didn’t feel like it. I’ll do it at lunch tomorrow. - Randy – “With respect to
Bluetooth, does it support OBEX?” It
took a bit to get it going, but it syncs great with my PC Suite, object
transfer both directions, and it has DUN, as well. - James William Pye – “Did they
cripple S60’s extensibility?…” I haven’t
come across a .sisx file that won’t install yet. However, see the note about
java apps under “Software.”
Those speed tests are very slow even for EDGE. What’s up with that?
No feature pack 1, that means no adjustable fonts, right?
Can u compare vs your 6682. I have an unlocked 6682 and my main interest in this one is bigger display and bigger keyboard. (Old eyes and all thumbs) How about some feedback on the music player. I bought PowerMP3 to get an equalizer. Finally, how fast (or not) going from app to app and screen to screen. Thanks
while in camera mode, hit the button that u call the gallery button. it will switch between video and images
if u hit the same button 1x from the default screen, that is how u access the calendar 
Is the camera transition from an N73 going to be easier than you thought? Meaning, is the N75’s camera better than most of the 2mps Nokia has released in the past year? Thanks…..
….also, great review! If we cant have it we at least have a sense of what it must be like. I think you’ve covered everything other than the camera quality but i’m sure your going to be loading us up with examples.
very nice review!!! I’m impressed keep it up man!!
wow… great review. thanks for the hopes and dreams.
Here ya go, buddy. Message 2 from my N73 ringtone backup.
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=F1A4O741
Thanks for the awesome preview/review. You wrote it the way s60 reviews should be written; you didn’t rewrite a user guide on the ins and outs of s60v3 and all of its features, you talked about all of the important things that make the N75 stand out from the rest. Very nice job. It was a pleasure to read.
Funny how it took you one day to post something so detailed, but we’re still waiting for Angel to give us something substantial after a month and a half other than a thread with 1218 posts and random questions half answered scattered throughout.
In terms of sound/speaker/loudspeaker quality, how would you rate it against an N80?
Sounds like the phone is much more stable than I thought it was going to be. In any case, excellent review that covered everything people would actually care about. I’m still on the fence about this phone, but everytime I see a new pic or read a new piece of info, it sparks my interest a little more. Sounds like it may be worth the wait.
@Jonny: Ya, I was thinking the same thing the other day about Angel’s N95 -
I have to second the comment about those data rates being pretty bad. At work in California with my N80 (so EDGE only, no UMTS love here) I get ~20-25KB/sec (yes, bytes) when downloading decently sized files - so that’s about 160-190Kbps. Now since UMTS is “theoretically” 50% faster than EDGE (EDGE is what, 234KB/sec, and UMTS is 384?), that would put me at 30-38KB/sec…impressive. I actually bought my n80 because I was tired of waiting for this phone, and have only had it for a month, but it’s tempting.
Symbian-Guru Reviews the N75
Ricky finally had some time to play around with his new N75 and gives us his extensive review. Pay close attention to the Cingular’s Limitations section, as Cingular has once again crippled the device to its liking. Not allowing certain
Now that you have some J2ME installations, can you tell if Cingular crippled J2ME TCP/IP access as they did in the E62 and RAZR V3xx? Specifically, with an “unsigned” (by Cingular) app, does it insist on asking for every web access, or can you authorize it a single time per program execution?
I’ve updated the review, but no, they have not crippled in that regards. Both Eqo and Google Maps Mobile run fine with no constant nagging.
Hey all, when Ricky told me about the data speeds I was just like you guys, disappointed that my EDGE phone could match the throughput. I think we are all missing two major points though:
1.) Even on the best EDGE device I’ve used so far (which still is the Nokia 6630, nothing can touch it for whatever reason), I couldn’t get as low of latency as he’s seeing. In terms of most applications, the latency is the real key, not necessarily the bandwidth (just like Megapixels don’t mean much if the lens is distorted).
2.) SIMULTANEOUS DATA AND VOICE! I’d pay a pretty penny right now to be able to have that, and UMTS offers it. While I’m missing calls when I stream shoutcast, Ricky is surfing the net while talking.
So, while I’m a bit disappointed like you all are, keep in mind that in real world usability, the latency and the data being independent from the voice are where 3G really shines.
-olly
What’s the RF performance like? Specifically how does it do in marginal reception areas.
To follow up on what olly said, I just ran a few of the dslreports tests on my n80 on Cingular’s EDGE network:
100k - 157 kbit/sec 1.479s latency
200k - 174 kbit/sec 1.124s latency
600k - 194 kbit/sec 1.045s latency
So even though I got matching and even faster speeds, my latency was 50-100% GREATER than on UMTS. Also keep in mind, if my EDGE numbers are beating his UMTS numbers - what would MY UMTS numbers be? Probably faster rates, and possibly even lower latency.
speed tests from your phone’s browser don’t mean anything, they’re typically wrong on 3g speeds. tether with the phone & do a speed test from your computer, it will show you how fast it really is….
Well, looking at the updated speed tests it appears Ricky is getting a much higher speed. With those speeds and the ability to use data and voice simultaneously, i’d say we have a winner!
Wow, it’s actually pushing right up on the “theoretical” 384kbps that UMTS is supposed to push - impressive. I’m not sure if I want 3g or wifi more (the n75 vs. the n80 I have). Currently I use wifi to download all of my podcasts while at home, and listen on the go. So do I want faster, but only some of the time (where wifi is available), or slower sometimes but faster the rest of the time.
I have to think, with 3g and an unlimited plan I could just use my server as my phone storage and stream everything - there’s definitely something to be said for that.
Message Reader was initially included in the 5500 Sport Edition before the E-Series
Thanks for the message tone, Jonny, I’ve uploaded it and added it to the review, so if someone else wants it, there it is.
I tried to get this review up as quick as possible so that you guys would have time to ask questions, and I greatly appreciate all the feedback and questions, hopefully I’ve answered all of them.
Probably the beginning of next week I’ll have another post covering usability over the long run. There’s alot of features I haven’t played with much that I intend to, cause I know you’re wondering about them.
I recorded a couple of hands-on videos last night with that camera I bought last week, and they were AWFUL. The camera’s going back, and I’ll toss a few more dollars that direction to get something half-decent. S’what I get for going cheap, lol.
Just two questions:
Does Opera Mini delay returning to the page when you save a bookmark? It takes like 20 secs on my N73…
How is the volume listening through BT or wired headsets (compared to N73 for example)?
Thanks!
I’ll give Opera Mini a run, though honestly I’ll probably uninstall it as soon as I test that out for you. Never been a real huge fan of it.
Volume/Call Quality through BT headsets is great. The hiss I mentioned in the review is not present (which leads me to believe it’s something in the speaker of the handset, cause it’s only present if you’re pressing it into your ear)
I haven’t tried any wired headsets yet, that’s on the list, as well. This weekend I’ll have a chance to take plenty of pics and videos, and I’ll dump some MP3s on there to see how it goes.
Hey Ricky
Thanks for a great review. I’m totally sold on that Message Reader application. Is there a way of extracting it so that we can try it? I use the N80ie.
Thanks once again
Does the microphone overamplify background noise in noisy environments? I currently have a 6230i and everyone complains when I’m outside or in a cafe that all the background noise is as loud as my voice. I’m thinking maybe this is a problem with candy bar style phones that do not place the microphone close to the mouth and have to over amplify. For example, my old Ericsson T28z flip phone is much better in this respect. So I want a new (probably flip) phone that doesn’t have this overamplifying problem. Thanks if you can provide information about how the N75 performs in this respect.
How easy will it be to take existing phones from 3G to 3G with HSDPA? I believe this may only be a software upgrade, or am I wrong.
for anyone concerned with the battery life (i’ve read 7 reviews where N75 got POUNDED for having horrible battery life)… the N75 comes with default setting for “Packet Connection” set to “When Available”… On a hunch I changed this to “When Needed” and my battery life nearly doubled.
Who knows why Nokia shipped them set that way by default, but marketing will be pissed cuz a good phone got bad reviews just cuz of that one little detail that kills battery life.
It’s an unfortunate mistake that’s giving this phone a bad rep and not one review has mentioned this and how to fix it.
to cb474:
Yes, it is a software thing, but:
Symbian OS 9.1 does not support HSDPA out of the box so this phone getting HSDPA is as likely as it getting S60 Feature Pack 1 w/ Symbian 9.2.
Actually theoretically Symbian 9.2 doesn’t have HSDPA natively either, I think Nokia wrote their own stack for the N95. I wouldn’t expect Nokia investing developer time to support a carrier handset like the N75 (once its out its out, i dont even expect firmware upgrades) so I HIGHLY doubt it.
Bright side is that I’ve had the Samsung Sync and the LG CU500 and I don’t notice that big of a difference in real use. You will only notice it if you tether the phone to a PC.
@Alexei - I keep mine set on “When Available” cause I have always set my S60 devices on that. Thus, changing it would provide an unequal comparison. It’s simply a small battery. It’s smaller than even the N95, which is just absurd.
@ricky:
I will agree with you, you are right. Regardless of what it’s set to, bottom line is that it’s still a device that needs to be charged every night. Every user should be prepared for that going in.
I heard some websites will start shipping unbranded N75’s starting on the first of June. I also heard Nokia stores in NY and Chicago are selling them unbranded already. I hope for an easy way (as easy as unbranding an N95) to unbrand the N75 and maybe gain the ability to disable the WCDMA radio to gain some battery life.
just a thought i had…
Thanx for the review, it is nice one!
I wanted to ask why you said “the N75, the first (and possibly only, the way things are going) US 3G S60 device”
Nokia has problems with Cingular or only S60 phones are problematic?
Thanx in advance for answer!
Does the screen get damaged from the keyboard like N71?
Has anyone figured out how to answer the n75 on speakerphone without opening the flap? Can an app be written to do assign an outside soft key to do this? You can do this on the nokia 6126 by pressing the camera button, but n75 only allows you to “decline” or “silence” the call using the soft keys on the outside display.
The phone is clearly oriented for music use but lacks a standard headphone jack or stereo bluetooth.
Given this shortcoming it would have been useful to be able reprogram the front buttons to non-music functions.
The “Music” or “Media” button on the main keypad is also very inconvenient when using other apps. If you push this key at *any* time you are taken to the music menu. I have lost count how many times I have accidentally pressed it while trying to “move” right while selecting a application or with the web interface. There is no way to disable this.
The G3 is nice but having the antenna on the bottom of the phone is a problem since you end covering it with your hand, to get G3 speed I find I have to hold the phone by the delicate “flip” half.
Also has anyone else noticed there are applications in the shortcut “idle screen mode” setting menu that are not available from the main interface? (position & landmark are two)
I would love to (re)install these “hidden” onto a one of the main menus.
How exactly did you get A2DP on your branded cingular phone? As far as I can tell it doesn’t unless you unlock it then unbrand it. Cingular is suppose to have a firmware update sometime but not sure exactly when. Can you please provide us with some insight on how you got A2DP cuz I want stereo bluetooth w/o having to unlock & un-branding it.
I have Nokia N75 from Cingular, Can you tell me how you make “Hard format” on your phone. My phone i hard lock. Cingular give me unlock code for my phone but doesn’t work. Do you know some way to unlock my phone and use with different sim card?
Thanks
Another shortcoming of the Cingular “branded” phones is that they disabled the 3g/GSM mode preference. That is you can not tell the phone not to use 3g or not( and thus optionally tripling your battery life )
dude!! how do you take the nokia N750 off silent!! help!
Hello can somebody help me unlock my N75 what information do i provide ??