We saw the Nokia N79 Mobile Phone way back in August 2008, when it was announced by Nokia. The phone got the FCC approval in October and was finally launched into the world markets.

Exterior

The Nokia N79 comes in a candybar form factor - which Nokia calls as Classic - weighing in at a mere 97 grams. The phone measures 110 x 49 x 15 mm, and I rarely notice it when it’s in my pocket - trust me, that’s lightweight! The phone features a standard 2.4″, QVGA display. There are dedicated camera buttons on the right side - for taking snapshots and zooming. The zoom button doubles up as volume control.

Package

One of the cool things about the N79’s package is that it comes with three different Xpress-on covers. The review unit was a canvas white N79 and that came with light sea blue, espresso brown and olive green covers. If you happen to purchase the seal gray one, you will get covers in espresso brown, coral red and white. The phone came with a 4GB memory card, which was quite sufficient to try out my collection of music and podcasts.

Battery

The phone’s battery lasts for for an impressive amount of time, given that I did quite a bit of browsing (on T-Mobile’s EDGE network, so I can’t vouch for 3G) along with a fair amount of talking. It lasted for about 3.5 days before giving up. However, when I connected the phone as a Bluetooth modem to my laptop to access the internet, the battery would, as expected, run out pretty quickly, lasting no more than a day. Charging the battery is also pretty fast - it takes about 1.5 hours for a full charge.

Browsing

After having used Opera for mobile phones, I can’t say that I am very impressed with the current state of the default web browser on the Nokia phones - and the N79 doesn’t fare any better. I used to be a fan earlier, but no more. Still, it’s handy to use and usable at most times (except when it crashes). If you have big fingers like me, the N79 will annoy the heck out of you - its buttons are that small. Add to it the fact that the important Menu button is placed between the left softkey and the call answer (green) buttons, right next to the Internet shortcut button and it only adds to the confusion: which button do I press to access the menu now? However, after a while you get used to it.

Camera

The camera on the Nokia N79, while a 5 megapixel one, isn’t the best out there; in fact, photos from this cameraphone are just about average. If you include low-light photos (with flash), the quality is dismal. The phone appears to have been made to make it more of a music/sports phone, judging by the recent announcement of the N79 Active edition, and this explains the compactness as well to some extent, I guess.

I’ve added a few sample photos from the N79 here.

Availability

Although not yet available through US carriers, you can still purchase it unlocked from PureMobile, the folks who sent over a white N79 for this review.

Nokia N79 Unlocked GSM Cellular Phone - available for US $427, excluding taxes and shipping.