I have had the Nokia N78 in my hands for about 24 hours now. WOW, I’m so happy I’m reviewing this device. Initially I didn’t have high expectations for the N78 but I’m very happily surprised. This is the first S60 v2 I have used and I’m really enjoying it for the most part.

First off the UI is so much faster and sleeker. The menu fades as you surf around the device. It also has a spinning circle to show it’s thinking and an icon showing there’s a memory card inserted. The first thing that comes to mind when you see the phone is “what was Nokia thinking fusing the buttons together?”. I was really concerned that it would ruin the experience but it really doesn’t. I haven’t typed any SMS on it yet and I don’t think it will be a good experience but it’s not as bad as I thought it would be.

The 2 big negatives that stick out in my mind like a big red oozing sore thumb are no US 3G (which is a problem for me running Truphone) and taking the back cover off is almost as hard as opening a can of beans without a can opener.

I am running the N78 on AT&T and have had no problems using the internet on it.

All in all up to this point I am pretty satisfied with the phone the way it is. 3G and a better key pad would make a world of difference.

If you have any questions feel free to comment here and ask away.

UPDATE:

1. June 4 I forgot to mention that when I use Gmail on the N78 that each and every time I try to open an email or go into another filtered box I am asked if it’s ok to use the internet. Very annoying.

2. June 5 I turned off the touch wheel almost as soon as I got the phone. It’s overly sensitive and almost useless to me.

I am undecided on how you now see the “Open Applications”. It’s now across the bottom and fills up the  screen as more and more apps are open and fills horizontally.