# My N79 review :)



## frederick_benny_digit (Dec 9, 2008)

Alright so here's my review of my new N79. First of all, thanks for all the digit forum users who helped me out make the decision in buying a phone. I got this phone for 19.8K inclusive of all taxes. The N85 and N79 were launched recently and were said to be the replacements for the the N95 and N73 respectively. Here's my view on N79.....

<USED FEW PICS FROM GSMARENA SINCE I CUDNT TAKE ALL THE PICS MYSELF>

*i.gsmarena.com/vv/reviewsimg/nokia-n79/offic/gsmarena_002.jpg
*i.gsmarena.com/vv/reviewsimg/nokia-n79/offic/gsmarena_003.jpg​
The bundled accessories were :
->Handsfree + earphones
->Charger
->Micro USB Data Cable
->2 extra Xpress-ON Smart covers other than the one already attached (I got brown, white and red)
->Nokia Ovi Suite Disc
->TV Out Cable

*i.gsmarena.com/vv/reviewsimg/nokia-n79/gsmarena_032.jpg

The specifications of the phone are as follows ::

Dimensions: 110 x 49 x 15 mm 
Weight: 97 gms 
2.4" 16M-color LCD TFT display of resolution 240x320 pixels
5 megapixel autofocus camera with dual-LED flash
VGA video recording at 30fps 
Symbian OS 9.3 with S60 3.2 UI 
ARM 11 369 MHz CPU 3G with HSDPA support 
Quad-band GSM support 
Wi-Fi with UPnP technology 
Built-in GPS with A-GPS functionality and 3 months of free voice-guided navigation 
4GB micro SD memory card included
Built-in accelerometer for UI auto-rotation
3.5 mm audio jack 
TV out (cable provided)
Stereo FM Radio with RDS FM transmitter 
Stereo speakers 
Navi wheel navigation 
USB and Bluetooth v2.0 
One free N-gage game 
Keylock switch 


The N79 is a standard candybar phone. Its decent on looks and packs great features. Its quite light when compared to other phones and easy to carry around. The TFT screen looks great but not good visibility under sunlight, which is the case with many phones. It has a great keypad which is very soft and a blessing for people who love to text. This is a welcome feature over the N82 I feel. the new FP2 abd the new OS have made it quite fast. The interface still remains more or less the same. Due to the new FP2,the battery life is greatly improved. The N79 is powered by a standard Li Ion 1200 mAh battery, the BL-6F which does a nice job of powering it and provides nice battery life.On a heavy usage routine (Music+Games+Camer+video Recording) , it lasted for a day. On casual use, 2-3 days. The GPS reception is alo quite nice and voice based navigation works very well. It sports all the basic connectivity features like GPRS, EDGE, 3G, Wi-Fi etc.This is a great advantage. The basic layout can be changed to any of the 4 different views :Grid, V Shaped, Horseshoe or list. This makes the main view MUCH more sexy looking like the SE phones instead of the old S60 phones which never gave a sense of style. The new themes also have transition effects and such, making it look and feel great like a more style oriented than proffessional phone (read 'Haze' theme ). Also, there is a breathing feature in the phone. When the phone goes on standby the centre of the Navi Wheel glows lightly and then dims down. This repeats regularly and looks nice. Nokia calls it the navi Wheel breathing , and it does resemble that.
*i.gsmarena.com/vv/reviewsimg/nokia-n79/sshots/gsmarena_007.jpg
*i.gsmarena.com/vv/reviewsimg/nokia-n79/sshots/gsmarena_006.jpg


*i.gsmarena.com/vv/reviewsimg/nokia-n79/gsmarena_031.jpg​The swappable Xpress-On smart covers are fun to use and everytime you change the cover, the theme of your phone changes accordingly to match your cover. You can disable this if you want a standard theme. must say this is an added advantage since you can purchase new covers and keep your phone's look fresh. The phone works pretty fast too thanks to the ample amount of RAM available. The accelrometer changes the orientation of the display according to how your holding it. This is fun to use when you want to change the video you're playing from potrait to landscape or to view pics in different orientations. This is the first time I have used the Navi Wheel and it was fun. Its like adding the scroll button in the mouse  . You can scroll through applications or fast forward through videos using it or flip through pictures.

*i.gsmarena.com/vv/reviewsimg/nokia-n79/gsmarena_011.jpg

The music quality is good but if you couple the phone with a good set of earphones like EP630, it can give amazing sound. It may not match up to the best SE music phones around like W902 but for an average music freak like me, it is gr8.The music player can also be minimized to play in background. In this case a tab appears on the stand-by screen indicating the currently running track. The 3.5mm jack is great in this regard since you don't need a converter like old nokia phones which have a different port. That port is not existent on this phone since even the data connection to a PC is done via a micro-usb port whihc gives MUCH faster speeds than earlier models. You can connect the phone without any software for data transfers. Nokia Ovi Suite 1.0 is provided with the phone whihc is an application like the PC Suite with lot of features like Music Manager, backup maker, Multimedia Manaer , Synchroniser etc. The FM transmiter works good too.

The video playback is also very nice. It supports all the standard formats and you can also use 3rd party players like Real, Core or Smartmovie . The Ovi Suite can be used to directly convert videos that you want from the PC to the required format and quality and transfer to the phone. All you need to do is drag and drop.The 4GB provided gives ample space for all your videos and movies.

Now coming to the camera, The N79 sports a 5 MP camera which can shoot images at a maximum resolution of 2592 x 1944 pixels. It comes with autofocus and a dual LED flash and the image quality is quite decent. It is one of the average 5 MP cameras, but not as good as the Nokia N82. It offers extensive settings - from manual white balance and ISO to exposure compensation, sharpness and contrast settings. Various effects are also at hand, labeled color tones.The photos for an average user will seem great though. The camera also has a sliding cap which can be used to protect the Carl Zeiss lens when its not in use.If you are an enthusiast for taking pics, you can get N82 in the same price range which features a Xenon flash for taking good pics at night too.The video recorded was of 30fps and really good. I took around 5 videos in different light conditions. Those taken in well light and daylight conditions were great, but at night time outdoors, the videos (also the photos) were a bit grainy owing to the not so powerful flash. But as I said before, if you just want to take decent pics and take some good videos for your personal use, this phone will definately do the job.It also has geotagging which allows you to link your images with geographical coordinates although Ive never used it.

Here are a few pics I took using the phone:

*img183.imageshack.us/img183/579/08122008033jc4.th.jpg

*img530.imageshack.us/img530/7271/08122008051il2.th.jpg

*img244.imageshack.us/img244/7826/09122008064if4.th.jpg

*img352.imageshack.us/img352/1826/10122008130ig2.th.jpg

*img254.imageshack.us/img254/4738/09122008082rz5.th.jpg



There is a keylock switch available which is handy to lock the keypad instantly.Nokia N79's right side hosts the stereo speakers, the volume rocker and the dedicated camera key. Both controls are reasonably large and comfortable enough to use - no complaints here. Also, I observed that the layout of the buttons make it quite spacious and not cluttered . It feels neet due to small factors like having a single port for TV Out and audio jack, having the micro USB and memory card slot under the same cap which saves space.
A new version of the useful "Search" application is also aboard Nokia N79. It has a reserved line in the active standby menu, which is hardly a surprise given how useful it is. The application itself finds almost every item in your handset containing a given keyword. From messages to settings, every bit of data is checked and then all results are displayed on the screen. Its like Google Desktop searchbut for you phone. Just GREAT !!
I have not tried the Wi-Fi yet so can't comment on it. I havent heard of any probs on the Wi-Fi on the other NSeries phones so I dont expect anything new here either.There are many NGage games given with the phone but on trial basis. You get an activation code using whihc you can make any one of the games to full version and enjoy it. I took Asphalt Street Racing. The built-in GPS receiver works with Nokia Maps, which is one of the navigation applications to offer the most detailed maps. Haven't used it personally so cant comment on it.Nokia N79 comes complete with an elaborate browser to make use of the great connectivity set. The browser has excellent page rendering and works in both portrait and landscape mode.

*i.gsmarena.com/vv/reviewsimg/nokia-n79/sshots/gsmarena_073.jpg
There's also a software called WAVE SECURE given. It is claimed that you can use to "Track down the thief, get alerted when your mobile phone is stolen!", "Remotely lock and secure your mobile, disable it in the case of theft or loss" ,"Wipe out and delete your data remotely to protect your privacy" etc. Will let you know more of this feature later. learn more of this at *nokia.wavesecure.com/ . You can get infinite more softwares from the net to use in this phone so the possibilities are limitless.

N79 is a grat all rounder and can be termed as a jack of all trades. I think I made a great decision in buying it. If your needs are a good cam, great music and good looks , this phone is a definite goody in its price range.


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## gforce23 (Dec 9, 2008)

Nice mini review. Quick questions - are the xpress-on covers mentioned on the box? Did all the boxes have the same colors? I thought there was a blue version as well.


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## Coool (Dec 9, 2008)

Nice review...post some pics of ur phone..


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## frederick_benny_digit (Dec 9, 2008)

thnx guys



gforce23 said:


> Nice mini review. Quick questions - are the xpress-on covers mentioned on the box? Did all the boxes have the same colors? I thought there was a blue version as well.



thr r other colours too...blue,green etc. they are shown behind the box...its not mentioned on the box what colours are present inside though...maybe its supposed to be a surprise 

but i cant be sure cause i read in a review that they got the same colours as i did...



Coool said:


> Nice review...post some pics of ur phone..


 sry dude am outta station rite now...n net is REALLY slow here, not to mention that i dont have my cable with me.
will post the pics as soon as i get bak which is a week from now....


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## hahahari (Dec 9, 2008)

can you tell me what colours they supplied along with it???

Thnx man


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## frederick_benny_digit (Dec 10, 2008)

i got red, white n brown...the brown 1 roks...


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## Cool G5 (Dec 10, 2008)

Nice review 

What about the free ram on startup. Can you tell me, how much of it is available on bootup?


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## frederick_benny_digit (Dec 11, 2008)

Free RAM is 72MB, plenty for even the very hardest of uses

(Got this info from net for N79 specific...any idea as to how i can chk it myself on the phone ??  )


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## Cool G5 (Dec 11, 2008)

frederick_benny_digit said:


> Free RAM is 72MB, plenty for even the very hardest of uses
> 
> (Got this info from net for N79 specific...any idea as to how i can chk it myself on the phone ??  )



You can check it via X-Plore. Look for the amount, under the RAM drive. Alternatively, Handy taskman too shows the amount of ram.


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## Lucky_star (Dec 11, 2008)

Nice review.


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## shady_inc (Dec 11, 2008)

Hey.! There's an N79 in my house too.! 
Got for 19.9K in Mumbai.
>The camera is pretty decent for a 5MP shooter.Although, you get grainy images while shooting in dark environments.Image quality is better in my Motozine ZN5.
>SQ is pretty good, like any other N-series model.I couldn't tell much difference between this and Motozine.
>The cool effects of the UI remind me a lot of Compiz Fusion.! 
>Looks pretty OK.Not a head turner for sure.
As pointed out, it's a great all rounder phone.!


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## vilas_patil (Dec 12, 2008)

Nice review


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## a55a55in (Dec 12, 2008)

nice review dude. btw could u tell me the place u brought the cell frm. i stay in blr too. the dealer my place is askin more than the price u mentioned.


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## frederick_benny_digit (Dec 13, 2008)

a55a55in said:


> nice review dude. btw could u tell me the place u brought the cell frm. i stay in blr too. the dealer my place is askin more than the price u mentioned.



got it from Hot Spot on B.E.L road 

hope u get a good deal thr...try telling him than AXIS offered u (X-200) , where

X= price offered at first in Hot Spot
 they'll respond 

AXIS is the shop right beside their store which also has a good range of phones but the guy sitting there is too smart to be fooled 

PS: Welcome to digit forum


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## a55a55in (Dec 14, 2008)

tnx m8. will try that out


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## frederick_benny_digit (Dec 14, 2008)

Coool said:


> Nice review...post some pics of ur phone..



bak to bangalore...alright here are a few pics i took using this phone....ive also edited the 1st post to show these pics under the camera section...


*img213.imageshack.us/img213/3901/08122008023wx8.th.jpg

*img183.imageshack.us/img183/579/08122008033jc4.th.jpg

*img530.imageshack.us/img530/7271/08122008051il2.th.jpg

*img244.imageshack.us/img244/7826/09122008064if4.th.jpg

*img352.imageshack.us/img352/1826/10122008130ig2.th.jpg

*img254.imageshack.us/img254/4738/09122008082rz5.th.jpg


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## frederick_benny_digit (Dec 16, 2008)

Cool G5 said:


> Nice review
> 
> What about the free ram on startup. Can you tell me, how much of it is available on bootup?





Cool G5 said:


> You can check it via X-Plore. Look for the amount, under the RAM drive. Alternatively, Handy taskman too shows the amount of ram.



chked it via x-plore...its says 69.9 MB free


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## gxsaurav (Dec 26, 2008)

I m going to buy Nokia N79 this week & want to ask few things. 

1) Did you get a 4 GB memory card bundled?

2) The bundled earphones are not In-ear type so I will buy new ones but this way I will loose the hands free mic. Tell me, can I plug something like EP-630 on the bundled handsfree or do I need to connect the headphone in the phone's socket?


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## Coool (Dec 26, 2008)

^^ N79 comes with a 4gb card bundled..


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## frederick_benny_digit (Dec 28, 2008)

gxsaurav said:


> I m going to buy Nokia N79 this week & want to ask few things.
> 
> 1) Did you get a 4 GB memory card bundled?
> 
> 2) The bundled earphones are not In-ear type so I will buy new ones but this way I will loose the hands free mic. Tell me, can I plug something like EP-630 on the bundled handsfree or do I need to connect the headphone in the phone's socket?




ya bundled  it says n79  4GB on the cover ^

n u wont loose the handsfree even if u wanna use other earphones...ill demonstrate it using some pics (taken using this same fone  )

complete headset:  
*img514.imageshack.us/img514/7889/28122008167op8.th.jpg

*img387.imageshack.us/img387/2179/28122008168rf6.th.jpg

just the handsfree mic+playlist controller(made up this name cause i dont know wat its called) :
*img243.imageshack.us/img243/3664/28122008169tw0.th.jpg

the earphones alone : 
*img266.imageshack.us/img266/5179/28122008170qx7.th.jpg


hope that clears stuff up for u...the bundled earphones can be used directly but thn u gotta use the fone to chng songs n all...else u can use the handsfree with ANY earphones u want n use the mic as well....


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## gxsaurav (Dec 28, 2008)

Thanks for the pic. Means that control box is the mic itself. In that case I can continue to use the control box with the in-ear earphone of my Sony Ericsson HPM-75. If I buy EP-630 then overall the cord will be very long, so instead I will go with this method.

Thanks for elaborating. I m getting it for 19k available in stock in Jumbo Electronics chain here Lucknow. How is the deal?


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## frederick_benny_digit (Dec 28, 2008)

19k inclusive of all taxes is a fair deal

make sure u get a sealed package, make him open it n show u all the accessories n verify that they operate fyn before taking it home

do let me know how u find the fone


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## gxsaurav (Dec 28, 2008)

Yeah, the package is sealed. I will obviously check everything before I leave the shop, & if there is a problem, being Lucknow...i can always pound on the shop if something wrong happens


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## krazzy (Dec 29, 2008)

gforce23 said:


> Quick questions - are the xpress-on covers mentioned on the box? Did all the boxes have the same colors? I thought there was a blue version as well.


There are two colour versions of N79: White and Grey. The White model comes with Blue, Green and Brown while the Grey model comes with Brown, Red and White. *frederick_benny_digit *has got the grey model.


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