Nokia N76

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Features
Although the Nokia N76 is marketed for its multimedia features, with a 3.5mm headphone jack and dedicated music playback keys on the exterior, it is in fact a smart phone running on the Series 60 (3rd edition, Feature Pack 1) Symbian operating system. Available in jet black and metallic red, the N76 is, however, targeted at the fashion-conscious crowd rather than business users. Admittedly, one of the most disappointing things about this Nokia is the omission of Bluetooth stereo, which means we can't use the phone with our favorite wireless headphone.

The quadband (GSM 850/900/1800/1900) N76 is also a 3G (WCDMA 2100) phone. Instead of using a proprietary port, the N75, like the N95, comes with a mini-USB outlet for connecting to and synchronizing with Microsoft Outlook (Calendar, Contacts, To-do, Notes, Email). Although the device comes with only 26MB of internal memory, it has an external card slot for up to 2GB of microSD flash media. Our only gripe is with the flimsy slide-out-and-up plastic flap that doesn't seem to close fully.

As a multimedia player, the N76 is capable of playing the typical MP3, AAC, eAAC, eAAC+ and WMA formats with WMDRM support for music and OMA DRM 2.0. Most, if not all, of the music features such as playlist and FM radio (requires a headset to be connected) can be accessed from the outer LCD using the three multimedia playback keys, volume control and Mode button on the right edge of the unit. So it isn't too shabby for a standalone music player. Oddly enough, while we could roll the music menu back to the first track when we've scrolled to the last using the external screen, we couldn't do that on the phone's main LCD.

The 2-megapixel CMOS camera (with LED flash) is also accessible from the outside without the need to flip open the clamshell N76. But with a number of camera-phones offering higher-megapixel resolutions, the camera on this Nokia is on the lower end. That said, we're inclined to say the megapixel chase is more of a marketing ploy since cramming more pixels onto an already small image sensor isn't going to improve image quality. On the contrary, the opposite is true. For video calls, there's a CIF+ (384 x 320-pixel) camera above the internal LCD that does the job.

We weren't impressed with the image quality from the 2-megapixel camera. In normal daylight, our pictures lacked saturation and turned out a bit soft. There was noticeable shutter lag, so it pays to keep your hands steady even after you press the shutter. Our night shots were practically unusable and were plagued by an obscene amount of noise when we turned up the ISO. For closer snaps with flash on, the resulting image was still ok but the flash tends to be a bit harsh on subjects.

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