As you would guess, the box is the same old NSeries box with the same simple layout and just the images and logos replaced. There are logos to let you know that there is a 1-year free navigation GPS licence, a 2GB microSD memory card, and Carl Zeiss optics camera lens.

The N78 retail package includes:

• Nokia N78 (including Nokia 2GB microSD Card MU-37)
• Nokia Battery BL-6F
• Nokia Travel Charger AC-5
• Nokia Music Headset HS-45/AD-54
• Nokia Connectivity Cable CA-101
• User guide
• Quick Start guide
• DVD

Picture: N78 box

Picture: N78 charger

The NSeries small charger will fit even in your shirt pocket, but the tiny pin that goes inside the phone is very fragile, and can bend or even break easily. Nokia should also start including travel adaptors with its chargers, even if its just on the flagship products. Unfortunately there is no USB charging.

Picture:N78 next to a N95 8GB

Most of my friends heavily associate the N78's design to the N81: “it's that phone that looks like the N81, what's it called again?”. And that is true, as Nokia has decided to produce glossy NSeries phones which look very similar. The N78 is essentially a N81 with a different form factor, keypad, and operating system.

Picture:N78 connected to USB cable

The phone is extremely glossy on the front cover which that attracts a lot of fingerprints, and even though it makes the phone look stylish, during the day, the big mess is very noticeable.

Picture:N78 back cover

Picture:N78 and N95 8GB back covers

The back cover is another problem: it's not glossy, but it gets scratched very easily. It contains patterns that we saw on the N82's back cover, but now under a black background.

Picture:N78 hands-on

I don't want to just stay here complaining about the phone, simply because it's just beautiful. When you can't see all the dust, scratches, or fingerprints, you see a simple shiny phone, which is very light and feels good to the hand.

Picture:N78 close-up

Picture:N78 close-up

The keypad gives us mixed reactions, the small keys do add style, but it's not as easy to type with them, especially with the key '5', as it's deep. The hidden soft and dedicated keys are another part of the design, and so is the “breathing” that comes from the navi-wheel. The camera keys have a white backlight to them. The navi-wheel is easy to use, but it becomes irresponsive at times, and to add to the issue, it's not used as much as it should be used.

There are a few buttons missing, such as the last gallery item, and the pencil key, although both have been scratched out from most S60 phones. A Bluetooth shortcut key would be welcome as well, such as the one included on the Nokia E51.

Picture:N78 and N95 8GB bottom part

Picture:N78 and N95 8GB right side

The bottom of the phone is left simple with just a microphone. The right side has a large camera button which offers a comfortable press, a volume rocker which also works for zoom, and at the very top, one of the two speakers.

Picture:N78 and N95 8GB top part

Picture:N78 and N95 8GB left side

Picture:N78 hands-on

The top part of the phone features the 'on/off' button and a 3.5mm audiovisual jack, and we do like it on that position, as it is easier to place the earphones' connector. The left side of the phone has a microUSB port at the top, a comfortable-to-open memory card slot, and at the very bottom, a charging port and the other speaker. As you can on my hands-on, the left bottom speaker can get covered when you hold the phone, which means that there was a wrong placement that will block sound depending on how you hold the phone.

There is quite a lot of keypad light leakage at the bottom of the phone, as it is usual from glossy-look phones.

We have more complaints: there is no accelerometer (motion sensor) for auto rotation and games; and worse, the ear speaker is ridiculously soft, you can't hear a thing! Perhaps my unit was damaged?

Picture:N78 and N95 8GB back cover

Once you remove the back cover, which is a bit difficult, but nothing compared to how long it takes to click it back in, the battery, SIM card, and antenna of the back cover are visible.

Picture:N78 and N95 8GB back parts

The battery is a BL-6F with 1200mAh, same as the N95 8GB's one, and offers up to 24 hours of continuous music playback, which is just excellent. The SIM card is really hard to remove as you have to drag it out with the surface of your finger.

Picture:N78 display

The display is clear and visible in direct sunlight.

So to sum it up: the display is nice and clear; it's not very easy to use the keypad; there is a lot of dust and fingerprints but only visible during the day; the ear speaker is very soft; the battery has quite a lot of power; a 2GB memory card is included which is satisfying; there is light leakage from the keypad; the phone itself is light, but has a solid build.

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