Nokia N78

At 4.5 by 1.9 by 0.6 inches (HWD) and 3.9 ounces, the N78 cuts an unobtrusive profile. It's similar in looks to the N82 but thinner and lighter, and it features a slick, black glossy face and a dark chocolate brown back (the N82 is silver). The display is a standard issue 2.4 inch, QVGA 240 by 320 pixel LCD, oriented vertically. There's an ambient light sensor on board to adjust screen brightness depending on the surrounding light.

Nokia may have sacrificed a little function for form here. The sleek keypad lights up whenever the phone is activated, but actual typing was difficult; although the keys engage with a positive click, they're extremely small.

And this is the only way to input data there's no touch screen, no QWERTY keypad, and no SureType style setup like on a BlackBerry Pearl. The N78 does include one interesting control feature: the Navi wheel, which looks like a standard five-way control pad.

But the Navi wheel also responds to a light touch, as if it were a square version of an iPod's click wheel. It performed well when scrolling through Web pages, but positioning it for other tasks was difficult.

Generally, it just ignored the touch feature and used it as a regular control pad. In testing, the N78 turned out to be a solid voice phone. Calls sounded clear in both directions, both indoors and out, albeit with a touch of hiss in the background most of the time. it experienced no reception issues even in remote areas.

In addition, the handset's lightweight body was very comfortable to hold for extended periods. The N78 paired on the first try with an original Aliph Jawbone Bluetooth headset Its speakerphone sounded well balanced but was loud enough only for indoor use.