N73 - A Long Term Review

For a change, here’s a review with a difference. It’s easy writing a review looking at a device, playing with its features for a few days and jotting down a few words describing the product. The real testament to a products quality is a “long term” review.


If we have some auto buffs amongst us, they might be fairly well versed with the concept of “long termers”. The term is used to describe cars that the auto magazines use for a fairly long amount of time and the result is a much more detailed look in to the product than a review or a preview where little nuances and features or even downsides might be missed out on.


That brings us to the current review here.


Lets talk about the N73 here. Outdated? Well, it seems fairly outdated considering the fact that we have the flagship N95 and now the N96 in sight.Also, cousins N78 and N82 have stolen the limelight from the good ol N73 which was once upon a time the flagship, if not the best phones from the Nokia stables.As of now,the feature packed music edition retails for considerably less than its well endowed cousins and it still is a steal at this price. We’ll talk about the music edition here.


Looks and Screen:

A quick look on the design front - it is a fairly conservative approach. The massive screen dominates the front and surprisingly, there is still space left for a larger screen had Nokia wanted to add more real estate.

The 240*320 , 2.4 inch screen is bright and crisp. Visibility in daylight is great.. But not exceptional.


Camera:

On the imaging front, the phone sports a decent 3.2 mega pixel camera. The Image Quality is great for a phone although there was an issue with the previous firmware version with a blue haze during night shots. At 3.2 megapixels, the camera is still better than the “standard” 2 mega pixel count which almost all mid end handsets sport these days.


I will delve straight into the main part of the review now. Almost everyone has seen or used the N73 once. How does the handset fare on a long term basis? Read on:



The year that was:

Having used this phone for over an year now, here are the things I have noticed. The build quality is good. I have had four or five falls and on one occasion, the memory card popped out! There is still a scratch to be seen even after these falls and for starters, I am not very careful when it comes to phones. I do not even have a screen protector on. Apart from these, there ae no squeaks or issues with the moving parts -especially the flimsy camera cover.

I'd give an 9.5 on a scale of 10 for build quality.


Being a heavy user, I wanted the phone to have a good keypad and joystick. The keypad is not bad but is a tad slippery. The major problem I have faced with this phone is the joystick. The joystick has been giving me problems since the second month I got this phone and as lazy as I am, I did not bother to take it to the Nokia Service Centre. The problem is interesting it itself, the joystick tends to “jam” and looses tactile feedback when the temperature drops! Funny as it sounds, it works fine in normal temperatures.

As for other daily use wear and tear, there is nothing much to speak about. Apart from the joystick issue, there has been no issues with 11 months of heavy usage.


Firmware Updates:

The Nokia Online Update service is an easy way to upgrade a phones firmware, I was not to be left behind and am always on the latest version. The previous version had rendered the equalizer useless and was full of issues. Thankfully, we have an update now. The online upgrade is fairly simple to use. Make sure you have a good internet connection and steady power supply so that the process is not interrupted – or a visit to the Service Center is imminent!


Overall Experience:

Apart from the irritating joystick issue, the phone has been excellent. No hanging, slowness and technical issues have troubled me. From my experience, the music edition is still a good buy with the 2GB Micro SD! Smartphone buffs on a budget – look no further!

For any further queries or if you want to know something more, just post a comment and I will answer.