What if sultry Angelina Jolie and NFL’s King QB Tom Brady somehow found themselves in matrimonial bliss and that led to a genetic mash-up? Imagine the beauty and ruggedness and now apply that to two of the hottest cellphones from Nokia’s stable – the briskly selling 6680 and the ultra sleek Nokia 8800. What you get is Nokia N70, a hot 3G WCDMA/GSM phone from Nokia, that is surely going to be a sizzler for many months to come. N70 is part of the Nokia’s N-series premium phones that are supposed to be less phone, and more convergence devices. High end digital cameras, music players and video cameras are supposed to be selling points of these phones.
First lets take the looks. It seems like the 6682 had a little nip-and-tuck, lost a few proverbial pounds (or at least some grams), got into fighting trim for a night out on the town. And then it went to Rodeo Drive and got itself a whole new wardrobe. The pearly white of 6682 has been replaced by the silver gray/steel gray combo. The faceplate/camera cover, despite being made of plastic type material has an “Apple Powerbook” like feel to it. Rest of the phone is a curvaceous (yet still masculine) steel gray plastic, but you would never think of it that way.
Now lets turn to other features. I have been using the Euro-version of Nokia N70 for nearly a week, and it has managed to not only meet but exceed expectations. Forget the excellent 2 megapixel camera, high quality of its photos, built-in FM radio, or the new S60 Symbian OS – it is a great phone. Period. Thanks to a top notch RF chip, the sound quality is crisp and clear. The phone came-up trumps in my blind dialing test, every single time.
The keypad, seems a little shrunk, but the bevel-type keys make dialing easier. The four-way navikey is very effective, despite its diminutive size. Writing short SMS messages is pretty easy, and not tedious. The peripheral keys however seem a little squished and take some getting used to, despite being in the all familiar spots.
The S60’s PIM is as usual pretty good. In order to make it work with my Mac, I had to do a little hackery, and for that I have top tip my hat to fine folks at MacOSXhints. (PC owners can use the accompanying software to get going!) The bluetooth helps you connect to Powerbook, and you are good to iSync. I paired the phone with three different headsets, without a problem, and also was able to use the Nokia bluetooth keyboard. (On short trips, N70 plus Nokia 770 and the keyboard is all that you will need. The phone and the tablet share a common charger, that is slightly different from traditional Nokia chargers. ) However, I must remind you that bluetooth drains the battery and be judicious in how you use it.
Phone’s 3G features are pretty much pointless in the US, since we use different frequencies here. I am told Cingular is going to sell this phone, and hopefully they will make it work with its HSDPA network that is supposed to launch any day now. (Apparently, this bit about Cingular is just a rumor, and not a fact.) Still the phone performed remarkably well on an EDGE network. It comes with Opera pre-installed and I have been using the phone to manage and moderate the comments section of my blog through WordPress control panel.
I like the audio (music) functionality of this phone. The accompanying headphones completely confused me. They have white cords, which perhaps was a tip-of-the-hat to iPod. However they did seem out of place. Nevertheless, I got over that, and explored the audio functions. The enhanced Visual radio is great if you want to catch up on the latest tunes etc. You need to go online (over the air) to register your location. After that you can simply preset your favorite FM radio stations. You can enjoy your own tunes if you have a big enough RS-DV (1.8/3V) MMC memory card. Once I can find a 1GB card, I am going to be playing back Ogg files using the OggPlay, my favorite mobile music player. The built in music player is pretty good and can handle all kinds of music including un-encrypted AAC files. Since I literally live walking distance from work, that will work, but not a chance the phone will replace my iPod.
Since Nokia is positioning N70 as a digital camera, lets take a look at its camera. The phone has two cameras – one in the front and one in the back. The front camera is 0.3 megapixels, but it is for making video calls, which are not quite possible yet in the US, so don’t really know how it works. The main camera is better than anything I have used, and I have become quite a shutter-bug. I will be posting some of the images later to my Flickr account, using the Lifeblog software.
Okay, now like a perfect marriage of looks, form and function, the phone has some problems. Switching between apps seems sluggish, and I do get a feeling that phone might be underpowered. I find the icons on the new phone a bit tardy, and not in sync with overall beauty of this phone. Given that a phone like this can cost a few hundred dollars, as a user I expect better.
Bottomline: On a scale of one to 10, this phone merits a solid 7.5 on a scale of one to 10, and a Very good rating.
Additional links:
Nokia press release and Nokia N70 website. Photos courtesy, Nokia PR
I bought the N70 last week and I totally agree with you. It is a great phone, just the buttons are a little too small for my hands. 🙂
With the launch of the N-Series Nokia have truely re-captured the title of best phone manufacturer If you like the N70 the N80 coming out Q1 06 is even better:
http://www.connectedinternet.co.uk/blog/MobileWireless/_archives/2005/11/20/1415385.html
– built-in WiFi
– bigger screen
– smaller formfactor
– 3MP camera
– better browser
Om, are you sure about the N70 being picked by Cingular? Some of those photos posted by Engadget are of the N80 with Cingular branding and partial FCC approval.
Although there appears to be a second version of the N70 without the UMTS band and second camera that I think has been FCC approved which could be picked up by T-Mobile because of the single NA GSM band supported by the N70. This was also posted by Engadget I do believe.
Tom Brady and Angelina Jolie? You had to put THAT image in my head? Thanks a lot, Om. I’m going to be distracted all day because of YOU.
Om – Nokia/Cingular said that the N70 was going to be carried by Cingular? That’s very surprising, unless a new version is in the works.
There are currently two known versions of the N70 in the world; the standard N70-1 which is sold everywhere except china and has triband GSM(900/1800/1900) and WCDMA 2100 (which allows UMTS services) and the N70-5, which is the china version and only has triband GSM.
Releasing a new version would be very strange, because as the first commenter noted the N80 fits cingular (and indeed, north american) requirements even better, with quadband GSM and WCDMA 1900.
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Also, no currently shipping N70 will be able to support HSPDA. No handset does, at the moment.
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I agree that the N70 is a great phone, but it has a number of shortfalls as compared to upcoming symbian handsets which make it not really a good buy:
1. No Wifi (Wifi will come with almost every single new symbian phone after this, including the E60, E61, E70, N80, N91)
2. low resolution screen. (the screen resolution of the N70 is 176*208, the same as the very first nokia series 60 phone, the Nokia 7650. almost every single new symbian phone will have QVGA resolution or higher, including the E60, E61, E70, N71, N80)
Symbian OS 9.1 on all new models is a bonus, but it’s hard to say whether it’ll be a bid deal. Early reports have said that it does make much better use of screen real estate however, which is a very good thing.
Oh – and cingular does not have GSM 1900Mhz everywhere (please correct me if i’m wrong). Only T-mobile does, which is why for the Nokia N90’s US launch the handphone is being sold with a t-mobile account.
i have read the macosxhints guide to adding the code to have iSync support the n70 and attempted it several times.
i cannot get it to work though.
i am using tiger 10.4.3 (fully updated) on a 1.33ghz 12in powerbook.
any ideas?
The N70 is indeed a very good camera phone. With the latest Symbian series 60 OS it is indeed very powerful. However, I do miss the Auto-focus (that is present in the N90). The image quality is ok, but not as good as the latest SonyEricsson phones. Take a look at the image gallery of pictures taken by the N70 here:
http://www.camphonereviews.com/gallery.jsp?model=Nokia%20N70
Cheers,
X 🙂
Om, I’m using the N70 and have already used the 6680. If you see from an average user’s point of view, there isn’t any major departures between the two devices. The keys are a lot cluttered in this one. The 2 megapixel camera is the lone cherry on the cake. Had there been Wi-Fi on this beauty (as you term it), it would have be worth noting. With no 3G here in India (and I presume even you can’t use most of the features in the States) gimme one good reason why one should not go for the Sony Ericsson K750i or the W800i in favour of the N70? These are affordable, have a better camera (with auto-focus) and play music (with a built-in equaliser) as well… The only reason that I can figure out to go for the N70 is its S60 OS. The present N-series is over-hyped and I’m waiting for the N80, that should prove Nokia’s mettle.
there is a whole lot why its better than 6682, and well don’t get me started on sony phones. that’s a different story all together.
better battery life, a better interface, much better sound quality and of course being lighter make it more useful.
I want one of those keyboards!
However, how can I transfer files via bluetooth to my PC. I refuse to use WinXP so don’t use the Nokia software. As a result, Nokia tech services refused to help me. grrrrr.
With the Widcom bluetooth software on my PC I can transfer files from every phone I have used but not the N70. 🙁
Otherwise it is a great phone.
S’ok. I just solved it.
Found that it works beutifuly in Linux. 🙂
Using a little app called “Bluetooth File Sharing” by Edd Dumbill.
Just another reason to stick with Linux. ^_^
so can anyone reply to alex’s post on having followed the macosxhints guide and still not being able to get it to work?
even with the new isync it doesnt work!
This N70 is like the best phone ever! i looooove it! the camera is great! even though it misses autofocus… but still and the video recording? amazing! love the resolution of 352×288, thats like a VCD in Pal.. cool! haha im so exited about this phone, i was at first not shure wheter to go for the Sony Ericcson W800i or this Nokia N70, but u know Nokia is one of the best manufactores of mobile phone’s! so i’ll stick with Nokia. jup connecting people! 😉
Yes, I agree M.Khan.
Though, I wish there was a way of reducing the volume or even turning off the start-up jingle.
It’s way too loud. 🙂
I just bought a NOKIA n70. Its really fantastic after having to see the reviews and the set itself. Am just afraid if there is any carrier in US that carry this phone. I would like to know if the cingular could give me service. It would be of great help if it does work with CINGULAR? thankyou
I agree that it’s a nice phone, however I found the Sony v800, although lacking some of the Nokia n70’s features, much more intuitive to use.
Also, the PCsuite software, when used via usb, under Windows XP is very buggy: after a little browsing, Explorer hangs and you need to restart.
And just now, the Contact Person sync module is hanging.
This is the latest version (Dec 2005) of PCsuite, dl-ed from nokia.com …
I think there are some serious memory leaks and/or pointer problems, as the event log shows bad memory access init’ed from the nokia stuff.
Clearly not ready yet imho.
Maybe the Bluetooth connectivity works better (which i don’t have on my pc yet)…
i wonder,does the n70 have an infra red,if not what if my pc doesn not have a blue tooth and what are main features bco
besides ebay, where can i buy the N70? i don’t see it on cingular’s site.
The N70 is a good phone to get – if you’re not in the US, or are only using t-mobile in the US.
pp: Don’t get the 3230 – the 6630/6680/6681/6682/N70 are definitely better buys; and if you wait a little the N80 will arrive: and that’s virtually the smallest symbian ever (and with full support for US UMTS frequencies), or you could get the E60 which is really the smallest symbian ever (but only europe/asia frequencies, and no 2MP camera)
This N70 is like the best phone ever! i looooove it! the camera is great! even though it misses autofocus… but still and the video recording? amazing! love the resolution of 352×288, thats like a VCD in Pal.. cool! haha im so exited about this phone, i was at first not shure wheter to go for the Sony Ericcson W800i or this Nokia N70, but u know Nokia is one of the best manufactores of mobile phone’s! so i’ll stick with Nokia. jup connecting people!
“Three are realising that there’s more to mobile content than bloody ringtones. […]”
lol … It’s the silly people that pay for them. ^_^
People, phones should only go “ring, ring”.
Anyway, I just found out that my N70 will not do multiplayer games. 🙁
I develop mobile games, and this was one aspect I was going to explore. I guess I should have done more research on the N70. But either way, I still think it is a good phone.
hello Mr.sir.
I bought new n70.I am interested 3D Aero Mission from Zapptrio. Is it possible to download 3D Aero Mission from Zapptrio which i have seen this in all sony erricson k750i in singapore. will nokia n70 support this particular game if yes where on the net i can find it.
2.can we do some thing to improve music effect (sound quality) in n70.
I have the N70 and my one problem with it is that it isn’t able to link up to my computer, there is something wrong with my phone’s software, so before you buy one just check your PC connectability
could somebody here upload a video taken with n70? It would be much appreciated.
I live in the UK and my gf got this phone. We have 3G in the UK and she can watch T.V broadcasted through 3G, it gets Living T.V, sky 1, Bravo, Cartoon netwok, etc its so cool. She got the phone free with at £18 a month contract from orange.
does anyone know how to setup the N70 for tmobile t-zones and MMS? i can’t seem to get web browsing to work. thanks!
you can go here http://www.nokia-asia.com/nokia/0,,78317,00.html to download settings to your phone so you can do web browsing.
Just bought Nokia N70 from Pakistan. Didn’t realize that inside the operating booklet is in another language,not in English. My question is where and how can I get this book in English. I don’t have any knowledge of N70 and how to use it unless I get book/instruction in English. Please help?
there isn’t advantage in buying nokia n70 as compared to nokia 6681,6680 , as both both has same software profile ,screen resolution,connectivity ,ease of use,picture or sound quality . only advantage is radio and 2 pixel camera ,which hardly make any difference in absence of autofocus. it is not cost effective at all in comparison…
please refer mobile review com for better judgement instead of following what others says…
the n70 is a dream cell phone
its very application
i need n70 without any payment .4 iam vry poor man …i ofenly use
My N70 worked a couple of weeks in South Florida and New Jersey in April and May 2006 with Cingular as the carrier. Now, not working.
Tools/Settings/Network Settings/Operator Selection and selecting Manual displays Cingular and T-Mobile but doesn’t connect. So, perhaps some hope Cingular is looking into the N70
its really d best phone in its range. I think dat i can get everything in this phone that i needed. Its really superb. Have fun with this new mobile nokia n70
I’ve owned mine for around 3 months now, and overall I’m pretty happy with it’s performance. However, it does have a few puzzling issues: .pdf & .doc files in Quickoffice crash the phone, Image Editor crashes the phone when attempting to edit images taken using the highest resolution. And, imported mp4 files refuse to play, it’ll only play files converted to .3gp!
I find the camera slide makes the phone feel cheap, and the covers are all easily scratched, but replacement covers are becoming more common.
On the bright side, it’s Symbian S60 so there is HEAPS of games and applications available for it.
All in all, I’d rate it 7.5/10
hi
could u plz tell how do i dowload songs from pc to my new nokia n70 and i ave 1GB mmc too. so to get more songs on my mobile what i’m i supposed to do?
hi …
i need a some of the software and video clips wit less memory for my mobile
… will any one help for me
Hiiiii…
I see the difference between the N70 & The 6680 . coz I used to have 6630 and I also have a 6680 . But I’m a apple computer user . and I see the N70 Can’t sync with the address and the contacts . But the 6630 & 6680 CAN !!!
But I also Give it 10 stars:
Bye
i want jawa&symbiyan software in my n91 mobile
Does the n70 go fast i have heard its extremely slow is this true???
(N70) when i type a phone number to dial, the phone number font is quite thin. Can i change it to bold
Turn ur N70 into a powerful torch! Use “Flashlight” to turn ON the LED flash. For more information visit http://my-symbian.com/s60/software/applications.php?fldAuto=1731&faq=2
N70Torch is yet the first and the best application for making use of the N70 camera flash in multiple ways. It can be used to turn on the flash for illumination and as well as for video captures.
http://www.otstudio.com/n70torch/features.html
Hi
Please can anyone tell me how or where can I get the symbian 8.0 version. I am from South Africa and everything here seems to be years behind. My N70 has version 2.0??
Hi Help …
What is the use of last lower left button of N70.
Thanks to help.
what is cost of N70
Hi Om! Very nice review of N70. Actually i too have written a review on N70 http://cyfernet.blogspot.com
The N70 is a great phone, i bought mine in greece and i cant read the directins lol but i have figured it out and i cant live with out my phone. I <3 it!!!
hello
how are u hope u are fine .i want to know if u mean this phone nokia N70 wat step will u take to get it .please reply me as soon as possible .
take care
How? Pc via n70 to the internet
Hi,
Please how can i turnoff the shutter sound when i use the camera for my N70
Thanks
Why Nokia N70 Getting very slow and whenever we working on that its getting Hang is there any latest version to get fast process in N70.
Hí i do like N 70 because of all brilliant functions that it has but i´d like how much is it on China price in USD reply me very soon as it is possible.
HOW MUCH IS N70 ON CHINA PLEASE?????????????????
hey, n70 is kick ass however, its has lost the will to live, wen i turn it on itbwill instantly retsrat and it will go on on on on doin thi, any1 got anysoluations, email me the them pleezzz!
i love the phone. so i need to know how much it is sold in Nigerain.send the price to me now.i am a nigerian and am proud to be.i love the phone so much.
Nikky love
Hey, I am getting this phone soon only around £100 now. But everyone is saying this phone is slow on the menu and such. Bye
Rob
hi bought my phone about 3 months ago. just want to ask re the standby time. i have read the specification that it is more or less 260 hours? but my turns off after 48 hours. is there a problem with the battery? but everything elses is fantastic.
My N70 having low audio quality and it wil take time to open gallery, low Picture quality for Camera. what will be the reason how can i correct this. any body pls replay…..
my e-mail ID : shibinsundar@yahoo.co.in
just want to know how can i use my IM on my phone N70. it requires me to fill up the following:
server name:
access point in use:
Web address:
asking for a help
I bought n70 about 9 month ago but i can’t listen to the FM radio.Once u open it says plug earphone even if the plug is there,also there is no bluetooth on the menu it bores or cause is China made.Any one who can help what to do pls my e-mail mosess62@yahoo.com.How can i connect into the internet?pls help
You are absolutely correct. It’s a gem of a phone at an absolutely stunning price. Just love it.
http://www.gauravgupta.in
I love my n 70 its damn cool
Please can any one help me with some good softwares .I will be grateful if u do so please…….My mail id sayooj666@gmail.com
I cannot sent email via my nokia n70.Please help.Via ovi.Mail.