Nokia N77 RM-194 V2.0720.1.0.1 18-05-2007 REVIEW by markyap
N77 is currently the only nokia phone available in the philippines today that is OPENLINE and have DVB-H Mobile TV feature.
as another S60 phone, I wont go into too much detail with regards to specs as we all know them already and can be found all over the net.
so ill just pretty much be concentrating on its TV feature and give my personal take on the unit, some random thoughts with some comparison on the n73
Whats interesting:
the brightest twinkle of the n77 is the DVB-H Mobile TV (myTV service from Smart Telecom) feature which is a joy to use. I didn’t expect to enjoy watching TV on a small screen but it just makes me smile. The sound quality is top notch. Video quality is superb. Very sharp & vivid. Colors just jumps out. Simply amazing! no noise or snowy reception here.
Totally digital. its like satellite TV in that shows playing have titles so you know exactly what you are watching or whats on next. you can browse thru the program guide on whats showing up to 7 days ahead. you can also schedule a reminder for your fav shows.
Its live TV (probably several seconds delay from cable tv as video/audio needs to be re-encoded and aired via the DVB-H format) but the cool thing is you can replay segments of the show you are watching incase you miss something or want to review something. so you can switch to "replay" or "live" play.
Just under 5 hours of continuous TV usage before battery dies out from a full charge. not bad at all.
Mobile TV dedicated button is beside the camera dedicated button. it replaces the "review last photo/video" button found on the n73.
Since the left side doesn’t have any buttons or latches, the flat side allows the unit to stands up on its side to view the phone as a TV set.
Asian version comes with a stand...but i prefer not using it...
Nice finish. Sleek. Nice keys. Nice to the touch. Easy to press. Better then n73 IMO. Plus I like the color scheme.
Camera with LED flash is only 2mp compared to the n73's 3.2mp but it isnt bad at all…its faster than N73. Little to no lag in shooting. Fixed focus means one press click. No need to half press to get focus which seems to favor many users. However its quality ultimately isn’t as good as an AF camera phone like the n73 specially on closeups but they mostly suffer from lag time to focus and take the shoot. distance shots and night shots appear as good as the n73 judging from the phone LCD screens.
Free channels like MTV is available. so for MTV fanatics, this is the ultimate phone for you
Free channels are accessible with any simcard in the phone (globe, sun, smart).
only paid channels like cartoon network and natgeo need Smart Sim to work plus a subscription.
Compared to Globes offering which is even more unreliable and harder to setup...subscription for Smart's myTV aint bad at all. a months subscription of 488 for all available channels is less than the price one would end up paying a half hour show on globes network.
Whats not so interesting:
The myTV reception Smart Telecom offers has limited shows available to date. Just ten programs. Although we are to expect more to come soon.
No local channels available yet.
Cartoon Network,Entertainment Central,Jack TV, Pinoy Box Office, MTV,CNN, Basketball TV,Solar Sports, PBA,The History Channel, & National Geographic.
Network signal doesn’t translate to myTV signal. Indoors I get poor reception in that the show im watching stops for a few moments before continuing with the show. TV reception is interrupted and it just gets annoying.
the only minor issue I had with the video quality was the frame rate which appears to be around 15-20fps. But images quality makes up for it.
One more thing, during the recent blackout in cebu, panay, camotes…myTV service was also down
maybe just a coincidence. bottomline, its not yet perfected. Better reception and reliability of access should be further addressed.
Mobile TV doesnt work in offline mode or when phone doesnt have any sim.
Lack of bundled microSD memory card is a downer
upside is its easy to find a microSD at low prices these days.
What I think:
I have somewhat mixed feelings in recommending this unit. For 16,500 promo price, not bad. TV feature is great when your in a great spot.
However i wish they will roll out local channels soon and increase reliability in reception.
Other than that, phone works great as an S60 3rd edition and its very stable.
It pretty much does what n73 can do with noticeable speed difference and better joystick with only a few trade-offs.
So if you can appreciate the free MTV reception or the paid channels, its thumbs up :mrgreen:
Nokia N77 REVIEW
Originally Posted by Xerc
Nice review. Short but direct..
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