Ben
24th November 2006, 01:37 AM
Well, the day has come! Am I mental? Am I completely off my trolley? Yes, but read on...
Usually I'd buy my SIM-Free wares from mPhone, TheOrder, Mobilefun etc - but not this time. No, this time I deliberately paid a £100 premium on my order, because this time I ordered from shop.nokia.co.uk - that's a big premium to spend in the name of research! Why spend the extra? Well, the last few SIM-Free Nokia's I've purchased, and other brands for that matter, have been, well, a little less than satisfactory. Hardware issues, software issues, you name it - it hasn't been a pretty picture. So, this time, rather than join the rat race desperate for the latest gismo, I've held off and bought a post-release product from a reputable source - none other than Nokia themselves.
So, first off lets talk about the shop.nokia.co.uk service. It's basic, and that's generous. £4.99 for Royal Mail registered postage, and it actually came via TNT as far as I can tell, ordered Monday, processed Tuesday, received Thursday. No tracking. Yes, it's far from the fastest service available, but it's acceptable, and delivery options are available right up to £20. They state that they will only deliver to the registered cardholder address, so I entered a different address instead. Sure enough, I got a call on Tuesday, but after confirming my name and address they went ahead with the dispatch without any futher questions asked. I've had to fax statements over to places like TheOrder before when ordering to a different address than the cardholder address, so this was a welcome improvement.
The handset itself arrived in perfect condition. Unlike the N80, the N73 came bundled with a standard-Nokia-charger to new-Nokia-charger converter so those old Nokia chargers aren't redundant anymore. A lot of Nokia chargers are rated differently though, so I'd think twice before using it. The N80 charger is rated the same, FYI, so at least now I have two of the new style. Excuse my spelling, I've had a bit to drink. The handset also came with white iPod-esq headphones, though this, of course, is no iPod. As a music player it's vastly inferior, but we all knew that anyway.
The stereo speakers (one top, one bottom) are acceptable. They're an improvement on past Nokia's, but they're no replacement for a stereo. What is a possible replacement, however, is the camera. It's pretty awesome, and that huge screen really makes taking pictures easy. I'd read that lag was bad, but to be honest it's no worse than most cameraphones, and doesn't bother me. This is definitely worthy of taking those wonky pictures we all take when we're out on the tiles, and talking of tiles I'll be sure to put it to the test this weekend.
Memorycard-wise, fortunately the N73 also takes the miniSD card so I was able to transfer my existing 2GB card, containing all my applications and text messages, to the new phone. Combined with the S60 transfer facility, used over bluetooth, I had everything over onto the N73 in the blink of an eye. The handset, of course, detected Vodafone and installed all the correct settings, while a few things like changing the security code from 12345 were left for me to do myself.
Crashes? Yes. Two in a day to be precise, under heavy usage. One total crash, one reboot. No new software is available yet from Nokia and given that this is a post-release handset I find this a little worrying. Still, the glorious screen (seriously, the Messaging menu and interface on this baby is sublime) and detailed camera is enough to make you forget about this. In a couple of weeks? Well, if there's no new software I'll start to get angry. At least the reception is vastly improved on this over the N80, and the battery life - well that's just astoundingly better, after a days heavy play I'm still on full, where as the N80 could barely manage a day under normal load.
The keypad is small and a little awkwardly laid out. The keys themselves, however, are a pleasure to use as on most Nokia's, and they're wonderful for texting. They have a surprising amount of travel. The C key is in a totally random place, and I often find myself pushing the media shortcut key, but that's just from being used to the N80 layout and I'm sure I'll get used to it in time. What I do appreciate is that if I do push the media shortcut key, and press it again to close it, whatever I was doing before returns to the screen unscathed.
Call quality is awesome. Enough said. The first call I received, while I was actually transferring my contacts over BT, was markedly better than on the N80, which was already great. The case is sturdy, if a little creeky, and the battery cover is impossible to remove :D On the upside of that, it's also difficult to accidentally open the camera unlike the 6680. You really have to see the screen to believe it *dribble*, it must be at least 50% brighter than the N80's and being much more flush to the front fascia makes it much less like using a phone that's the other side of a tunnel. In fact, as you stare at the N73 screen you'd be forgiven for thinking it is actually floating proud of the device!
Would I recommend this phone? Absolutely. Would I recommend shop.nokia? The jury is still out. Yes, the handset shipped with the latest software - that's good. However, there are still bugs, which is a little annoying. Only time will tell whether that extra money was a worthwhile investment.
Oh, and before I go, if you get one of these phones check the area under the (overchunky) battery. It's very different to other Nokia's, much more 'hardcore', and includes the reassuring 'Made in Finland' badge. It all looks very industrial, and the design of the handset as a whole isn't a million miles of something Apple might produce with iPhone. If only they'd partnered with Nokia for their original iTunes handset rather than Motorola - they might not have needed to create an iPhone at all!
This is a Nokia to be enjoyed. Despite missing WiFi, a frankly useless technology on a phone at this moment in time, and HSDPA, again pretty useless unless you need to use your handset as a modem due to not having a lovely HSDPA datacard or USB device, it feels right up-to-the-minute. It's relatively responsive, and the big screen makes all the interfaces an absolute joy on the eyes. Bin your specs and get an N73.
Usually I'd buy my SIM-Free wares from mPhone, TheOrder, Mobilefun etc - but not this time. No, this time I deliberately paid a £100 premium on my order, because this time I ordered from shop.nokia.co.uk - that's a big premium to spend in the name of research! Why spend the extra? Well, the last few SIM-Free Nokia's I've purchased, and other brands for that matter, have been, well, a little less than satisfactory. Hardware issues, software issues, you name it - it hasn't been a pretty picture. So, this time, rather than join the rat race desperate for the latest gismo, I've held off and bought a post-release product from a reputable source - none other than Nokia themselves.
So, first off lets talk about the shop.nokia.co.uk service. It's basic, and that's generous. £4.99 for Royal Mail registered postage, and it actually came via TNT as far as I can tell, ordered Monday, processed Tuesday, received Thursday. No tracking. Yes, it's far from the fastest service available, but it's acceptable, and delivery options are available right up to £20. They state that they will only deliver to the registered cardholder address, so I entered a different address instead. Sure enough, I got a call on Tuesday, but after confirming my name and address they went ahead with the dispatch without any futher questions asked. I've had to fax statements over to places like TheOrder before when ordering to a different address than the cardholder address, so this was a welcome improvement.
The handset itself arrived in perfect condition. Unlike the N80, the N73 came bundled with a standard-Nokia-charger to new-Nokia-charger converter so those old Nokia chargers aren't redundant anymore. A lot of Nokia chargers are rated differently though, so I'd think twice before using it. The N80 charger is rated the same, FYI, so at least now I have two of the new style. Excuse my spelling, I've had a bit to drink. The handset also came with white iPod-esq headphones, though this, of course, is no iPod. As a music player it's vastly inferior, but we all knew that anyway.
The stereo speakers (one top, one bottom) are acceptable. They're an improvement on past Nokia's, but they're no replacement for a stereo. What is a possible replacement, however, is the camera. It's pretty awesome, and that huge screen really makes taking pictures easy. I'd read that lag was bad, but to be honest it's no worse than most cameraphones, and doesn't bother me. This is definitely worthy of taking those wonky pictures we all take when we're out on the tiles, and talking of tiles I'll be sure to put it to the test this weekend.
Memorycard-wise, fortunately the N73 also takes the miniSD card so I was able to transfer my existing 2GB card, containing all my applications and text messages, to the new phone. Combined with the S60 transfer facility, used over bluetooth, I had everything over onto the N73 in the blink of an eye. The handset, of course, detected Vodafone and installed all the correct settings, while a few things like changing the security code from 12345 were left for me to do myself.
Crashes? Yes. Two in a day to be precise, under heavy usage. One total crash, one reboot. No new software is available yet from Nokia and given that this is a post-release handset I find this a little worrying. Still, the glorious screen (seriously, the Messaging menu and interface on this baby is sublime) and detailed camera is enough to make you forget about this. In a couple of weeks? Well, if there's no new software I'll start to get angry. At least the reception is vastly improved on this over the N80, and the battery life - well that's just astoundingly better, after a days heavy play I'm still on full, where as the N80 could barely manage a day under normal load.
The keypad is small and a little awkwardly laid out. The keys themselves, however, are a pleasure to use as on most Nokia's, and they're wonderful for texting. They have a surprising amount of travel. The C key is in a totally random place, and I often find myself pushing the media shortcut key, but that's just from being used to the N80 layout and I'm sure I'll get used to it in time. What I do appreciate is that if I do push the media shortcut key, and press it again to close it, whatever I was doing before returns to the screen unscathed.
Call quality is awesome. Enough said. The first call I received, while I was actually transferring my contacts over BT, was markedly better than on the N80, which was already great. The case is sturdy, if a little creeky, and the battery cover is impossible to remove :D On the upside of that, it's also difficult to accidentally open the camera unlike the 6680. You really have to see the screen to believe it *dribble*, it must be at least 50% brighter than the N80's and being much more flush to the front fascia makes it much less like using a phone that's the other side of a tunnel. In fact, as you stare at the N73 screen you'd be forgiven for thinking it is actually floating proud of the device!
Would I recommend this phone? Absolutely. Would I recommend shop.nokia? The jury is still out. Yes, the handset shipped with the latest software - that's good. However, there are still bugs, which is a little annoying. Only time will tell whether that extra money was a worthwhile investment.
Oh, and before I go, if you get one of these phones check the area under the (overchunky) battery. It's very different to other Nokia's, much more 'hardcore', and includes the reassuring 'Made in Finland' badge. It all looks very industrial, and the design of the handset as a whole isn't a million miles of something Apple might produce with iPhone. If only they'd partnered with Nokia for their original iTunes handset rather than Motorola - they might not have needed to create an iPhone at all!
This is a Nokia to be enjoyed. Despite missing WiFi, a frankly useless technology on a phone at this moment in time, and HSDPA, again pretty useless unless you need to use your handset as a modem due to not having a lovely HSDPA datacard or USB device, it feels right up-to-the-minute. It's relatively responsive, and the big screen makes all the interfaces an absolute joy on the eyes. Bin your specs and get an N73.