N73: A Delayed Review

Unfortunately, I dropped my two-month old N70 while riding a bus. It's my second Nokia phone after my N6230. Since, I was already having the feel of the NSeries, I look for a cheaper phone with a wider screen, higher megapixel camera and can be used as modem. I was able to explore my cousin's N73 and I was impressed on the clarity of its camera. So, I look up the internet for its features and it satisfied my requirements. I bought one last February and had been using it to browse the internet in a handy way. I have the classic version. There are other versions such as the Internet Edition and Music Edition.

When I bought the phone, I settled with its features and neglected its build. It has 3.2 MP
Camera with Carl Zeiss lens, HSCD, 40 MB internal Memory, Infrared, Bluetooth, supports java apps and more. All features are good enough for my budget and for my needs. What disappointed me is its joystick and its camera cover. The joystick looks like it will loose and pop out within a half years use. It's very prone to being pulled out especially whhen I put it in my bag and forgot to place the phone in its pouch. After a month use, it's already showing sign of looseness. I read from forums that joystick placement costs around PhP 1500. As for the back slide cover, you cannot easily replace it with a cheap casing because the camera is dependent on it. You have to be careful everytime you open the back cover because there are exposed pins on the right side which are connected to the camera. Another thing, the door of the memory card slot is made of stiff plastic so when you open the slot, make sure you don't break the thin connecting plastic. On other phones, that part is a flexible material.

Also, the phone is also becoming slow to respond. I am already experiencing hangs in my installed applications and the startup is taking more than 30 seconds. I don't store mp3's on it and the pictures are just few but I have lots of mobile applications as you can relate them with this blog. I had read that the RAM is around 12 MB at restart and the Lifeblog Apps is causing the slow performance. But, the Lifeblog cannot be uninstalled. Others say you should always upgrade the firmware but I am not interested to take the risk of bricking the phone and compromising the photo quality.

On the bright side, I like the softness of the keypad. I used to drop my N70 before becuase the keypad is cluttered and the clear (C) key is so near the edge. And it has a sleep function which saves my battery life. By the way, if you want to put a wallpaper, it won't fit the whole screen, only 80% of it.

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